STUDENT WELLBEING 

SOCIAL MEDIA AGE RESTRICTIONS & YOUR FAMILY 

From 10 December 2025, many social media platforms won’t be allowed to let Australians under 16 create or keep an account. The information on this page will help you understand why, and how you can help your under-16 through the change.

You’ll find answers to frequently asked questions (FAQs), tools to help you work through it together, and links to helpful resources you can explore. To view these, click here

SUBSTANCE USE & ADDICTION

Experimentation with substances such as alcohol, vaping or drugs can be a common part of adolescence, but for some young people, occasional use can quickly develop into risky or harmful patterns. Curiosity, peer influence and stress are often contributing factors, while today's easy access and social normalisation make early exposure more likely. Substance use can affect a young person's mood, judgement, learning and relationships and may signal deeper issues such as anxiety, trauma or low self-esteem.

To read more information about this, please click here

CYBER SAFETY

Child Safety - Sadistic Online Exploitation | What is it?

Sadistic Online Exploitation (SOE) is the deliberate and malicious use of the internet to harm, manipulate or exert control over others for personal pleasure, gratification, sense of power, ideological beliefs or to corrupt victims and inflict ongoing harm. This will often incorporate alternative forms of psychological, emotional, or physical abuse through digital means. Offenders from violent online groups use threats, blackmail and online manipulation to coerce victims into producing, sharing or live streaming acts of self-harm, animal cruelty, sexually explicit acts and in the most serious cases, suicide. It is a form of online exploitation by people in known extremist online groups who manipulate victims to engage in progressively violent acts.

Right now, Australia is experiencing this growing, global threat. To read about how this happens and what victims should do, as well as recognising potential warning signs, please click here