eSafety News
From the eSafety Commissioner:
Support for neurodivergent families
April is World Autism Understanding Month — a time to recognise and celebrate the diverse strengths, perspectives and experiences of autistic people, as part of the wide spectrum of neurodiversity. 💙
Every young person deserves to feel safe, confident and empowered online. For many neurodivergent young people, the digital world can be a powerful place to connect deeply, explore interests, and thrive in ways that work for them.
Our ‘Using your neurodivergent mind to thrive online’ page is designed for neurodivergent young people, including autistic young people. It offers practical guidance on online safety, building good digital habits, and using personal strengths to navigate the online world with confidence.
This month — and every month — we’re committed to building communities, online and offline, where autistic and neurodivergent voices are respected, included and celebrated.
Parental controls and conversations to keep you child safe
No parental control tool is 100% effective. They are a helpful starting point but they’re not a complete solution on their own.
What really makes a difference is helping build your child’s online safety habits by combining technology with open conversations, guidance and trust.
Alongside parental control tools, you can help keep your child safer by:
- talking with them about what they like to do online, as well as the risks involved, and how to be safer online
- making sure their online activities are supervised, especially for younger children
- joining in their online activities when you can – play a game together, watch what they watch, explore apps side by side
- being aware of who they are connecting with online
- teaching them to follow the steps for reporting online abuse
encouraging your child to reach out to a trusted adult for support if something doesn’t feel right.
Using parental controls as a conversation starter, rather than secret setting, helps children understand why boundaries exist. Involving them in decisions about what’s set and reviewing them together as they grow can reduce stress, increase trust and mutual understanding and make online rules clearer and easier to follow.
When your child feels they are trusted, they're more likely to come to you for help when it really matters.
Check out our advice on parental controls for your devices, apps and services.
Reset for Term 2
A new school term is a great opportunity to reset family tech habits — starting with how your family shares personal information, photos and videos online.
Children don’t always understand how small details shared online — like their school, location, or images — can travel further than intended or be used in ways they didn’t expect. Helping them build strong privacy habits early supports their safety now and into the future. By involving children in everyday privacy decisions, families can model consent and help children feel confident, respected and in control of their online identity — while building trust around technology use.
We have practical, age-appropriate advice to help your family protect their privacy online.
Our website also has advice specifically for young people and kids to explore. You can share the below links with your child to help build healthy online habits:
👣 Digital footprints – explains how online actions can have a lasting impact. You can use this page to start a positive conversation about protecting your child’s reputation and future online. 📸 Consent and sharing photos or videos – helps young people understand why consent matters when sharing photos and videos, and how respectful choices can protect both themselves and others online. 🔒 Keeping personal information safe online – provides helpful information for kids to understand what personal information is, why it’s important to protect it online, and how simple choices can keep them safer. 🎮 Mighty Heroes online safety adventures – use stories and game as a fun way to start conversations about online safety, kindness and getting help when needed.
Social media age restrictions – we’re here to support
As eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant said, ‘while the onus is on age-restricted platforms to take reasonable steps to keep children under 16 from having accounts, parents are proving pivotal partners in this cultural reset.’
We’re here to support your family as this major reform continues to evolve. If your child currently has an account on an age-restricted platform, it’s important to be aware that these accounts may be removed or deactivated at any time.
Our Social Media Age Restrictions Hub continues to provide clear, practical information for families. You can:
❓ Explore the FAQs for parents and carers to help answer questions for your young person. 💬 Use conversation starters to talk about their social media experiences and check in with how they’re feeling about the changes. 🖥️ Watch on-demand videos as a family to help guide conversations with under-16s about age restrictions.
We remain committed to holding platforms accountable, and ensuring these restrictions deliver real change for Australian families.
Trusted online safety guidance for parents and carers
Our free live webinars give you the knowledge, skills and tools to support your children to have safer online experiences.
Check out the webinars coming up and register now so you don’t miss out:
- Navigating screen time: tools for today’s families — NEW Suitable for parents and carers of young people in primary and lower secondary school.
- How AI is influencing new online risks for children and young people — NEW Suitable for parents and carers of young people in primary and secondary school
- Exploring the online experiences of boys and young men Suitable for parents and carers of young people in upper primary and secondary school.
Share the 'On Your Terms' survey with young people in your life
The Australian Human Rights Commission is running a national survey asking young Australians aged 14–18 their views on consent, respectful relationships and sex education.
It’s anonymous and takes just 10-15 minutes to complete.
The insights will help shape how Australian schools teach consent and respectful relationships into the future, supporting schools to build safe and inclusive learning environments. ✔️
👉 Share the survey with a young person you know: On Your Terms Survey