Wellbeing and Inclusion at AHS

A safety message from the Australian Centre to Counter Child Exploitation [SEC=OFFICIAL] 

OFFICIAL

Dear Secondary School/College Principal,           

A safety message from the Australian Centre to Counter Child Exploitation

I am writing ahead of the school holidays to seek your assistance in sharing an important message with your school community.

The Australian Federal Police (AFP) through the Australian Centre to Counter Child Exploitation (ACCCE) and state and territory police, are seeing a concerning global trend of teenagers (predominantly male) being targeted online to send explicit images of themselves and then blackmailed, known as sexual extortion or sextortion.

Victims can suffer serious psychological impacts and unfortunately there have been instances of suicide and self-harm directly linked to victims of this crime. 

We are urging parents, carers and educators to have important safety conversations to help prevent young people from harm.

How can you help?

·         Distribute the poster attached to this email around your school. The poster is designed for under 18s and provides advice around how to avoid sextortion and what to do if impacted by it. It also provides advice about reporting to get help from specialist investigators at the ACCCE.

·         Share on any digital platforms the AFP ThinkUKnow Online blackmail and sexual extortion response kit which has been created to help young people to manage incidents of online blackmail and sexual extortion. This resource can be distributed widely and outlines what sexual extortion is, what it may involve, a typical progression of behaviours and how to report and to seek support. 

·         Include a short article to parents and carers via newsletter or school communication channels regarding the topic to ensure families are informed about support over the holiday break. The Word document attached contains information for families that can be copied into newsletters and distributed as needed. 

For further information

To report online child sexual exploitation: accce.gov.au

For more information about sextortion: accce.gov.au/sextortionhelp

To access resources: thinkuknow.org.au

For more advice, email: online-child-safety@afp.gov.au    

Thank you in advance for your support in helping to keep young people safer online. 

 Important: Parents, Students, Teachers and School Community, Please read this document to raise awareness. See link: