Enhancing Online Safety for Children Bill 2014 and Enhancing Online Safety for Children (Consequential Amendments) Bill 2014

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1 Committee Secretary Senate Standing Committees on Environment & Communications PO Box 6100 Parliament House CANBERRA ACT January 2015 To Whom It May Concern, Enhancing Online Safety for Children Bill 2014 and Enhancing Online Safety for Children (Consequential Amendments) Bill 2014 The Australian Psychological Society (APS) welcomes the opportunity to make a submission regarding the Senate s Enhancing Online Safety for Children Bills (2014). I also refer the committee to the submission made by the APS in response to the original discussion paper and to other relevant APS material, such as our submission to the Joint Select Committee on Cyber Safety and materials developed on racism, media representations, the sexualisation of girls and violence Drawing on psychological research and practice to enhance online safety The APS is well placed to contribute to the proposed Bill based on psychological research and best practice as it relates to online safety among children and young people. From a psychological perspective, the APS believes the following components are essential in preventing harm to children and young people online, and urges that these be considered, and implemented where applicable, prior to and alongside legal measures to address harm: While there is the potential for harm, the online environment is associated with unique opportunities for positive learning, connection

2 and communication. The potential of online technologies should be promoted alongside harmful aspects. Online safety is most appropriately conceived of within a child and adolescent development framework that encourages and supports development of respectful relationships and positive relationship skills among young people. Enhancing online safety for children and young people therefore involves supporting the development of young people as competent online citizens, promoting online-literacy, and fostering young people s ability to critique information and use socially responsible behaviour in communicating online. Parents and guardians need to be supported to confidently and openly communicate with young people about online safety, and to model effective conflict resolution skills. Widespread parent education about the purchasing, monitoring and safety of products, responding to online safety concerns and working with both their children and schools is required. Schools need to be supported and resourced to develop whole school online safety policies, in conjunction with young people, and to implement best practice strategies to address online safety and bullying (e.g., teacher training to deal confidently with e-safety concerns). These policies should be part of a broader student wellbeing and discrimination policy and not seen as separate to those concerns. Despite their ability to effectively use online technologies, children and young people will need protection from content that exploits their immaturity and could harm their development. Those most at risk are young people already vulnerable in other areas of their lives, such as those who are homeless, face financial disadvantage, Indigenous and/or LGBTI. All children need to be protected by the legislation, including secondary students (some of whom may be 18 in their final years of school) and those who may not be citizens or residents (such as asylum seekers). Everyone has the right to be respected, safe and free from violence, harassment and bullying, as stated in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

3 Responding to the proposed measures Together with other measures (as listed above), comment is provided on each major component of the draft Bills below. Children s E-Safety Commissioner The APS supports the establishment of a Children s E-Safety Commissioner as a point of contact for online safety issues, with the function of: coordinating government efforts to enhance online safety acting as a centralised point of contact to deal with online safety working with social media services to remove inappropriate content administering a complaints system for cyber-bullying material targeted at an Australian child supporting, conducting, accrediting and evaluating educational and community awareness programs, and making grants available. As the APS stated in our submission to the original discussion paper, the Society supports a structure for the establishment of a commissioner that enables maximum independence from government and one that is integrated with, and works collaboratively with existing structures and organisations. While not in a position to comment on the appropriateness of ACMA as this body, the APS recommends that the Commissioner also work closely with the Australian Human Rights Commission, in particular the National Children s Commissioner, to ensure that e-safety is framed as a broader child development/rights issue. The APS also strongly urges the government to work with existing organisations that are already undertaking some of the functions identified in the discussion paper. For example, the APS is aware that the Alannah and Madeline Foundation has a program called esmart which is evidence-based and provides a framework to help improve cybersafety and wellbeing in Australian schools see collaboratively with other government (funded) programs, such as the National Children s Commissioner, will also ensure programs are coordinated, duplication is avoided, and government resources are best targeted. As recommended in our original submission, the APS recommends that young people are engaged in the development of the model of the Children s e- Safety Commissioner, in setting the agenda for this function and in all key decision-making processes. Organisations with expertise in working with young people and the law (e.g., Youthlaw) and in promoting online safety

4 among young people (e.g., Alannah and Madeline Foundation) could also be involved in an advisory capacity. Complaints system The APS supports the establishment of a complaints system for cyberbullying material targeted at an Australian child. It is important that the scope and breadth of complaints investigated by the Commissioner is made publicly available and that there is broad consultation around the parameters of the system in its establishment. The APS support the submission by the Federation of Ethnic Communities Councils of Australia (FECCA) which emphasises ensuring complaints mechanisms, resources and information are accessible to CALD communities, including the adequate provision of interpreting and translating services. Of equal importance is prioritising cyber-racism and its impacts on CALD communities as a key area of focus by the Commissioner. Social media services (two tiered scheme) The APS supports the focus on working with social media services to remove inappropriate content. The Bill sets out a two-tiered scheme for the rapid removal from large social media services of cyber-bullying material targeted at an Australian child. The APS supports the outlining of clear expectations of social media services to comply with certain basic online safety requirements and of the Commissioner maintaining a register of social media services that have not complied with online safety requirements. While the APS supports the intent of the two-tiered system to regulate social media services and thus to create a safer online environment for children, the Society has some concerns about the evidence base for implementing such a system (of both soft regulation and legislation/compliance) and thus its effectiveness. The APS therefore recommends rigorous process and impact evaluation to determine the effectiveness of this approach in rapidly removing inappropriate material and more generally in enforcing compliance with online safety requirements. The ability to issue fines to social media providers should they not fully comply within a short time period needs to be incorporated within the powers of the Commissioner.

5 End-user notices The APS supports the issuing of end-user notices as an alternative to other legislative measures, particularly where persons posting material are also minors. While it is important for there to be some compliance measures in place to ensure end-user notices are effective, the APS supports an approach to e-safety whereby legislative measures are seen as a last resort to protect against extreme and dangerous practices. Clearer guidelines are needed to determine at what point matters are referred to the Federal Court, and these guidelines need to be developed with input from key stakeholders referred to above (young people, youth legal experts, cybersafety organisations working with young people). Developmental research supports an education and restorative approach to cyber bulling rather than one that is largely punitive. In general, any legal framework should aim to prevent rather than punish, having the effect of setting boundaries and providing community education as to the type of conduct the law regards as unacceptable, as well as providing a degree of deterrence (Alanna & Madeline Foundation). This involves providing lesser penalties for young offenders, prioritising diversion programs where appropriate (rather than fines, especially where the offender is a young person) and considering the impact of fines on those already financially disadvantaged. Other provisions It is important that along with schools, the Commissioner works with other youth organisations that support disadvantaged young people (such as those in out of home care, Indigenous young people or those involved in the justice system). General The APS acknowledges that online harm is a significant individual, community and public health issue. The Society commends the Government for its focus on reducing harm to children and young people. However, caution is warranted in terms of adopting a solely legal framework to address what is a complex psychological and social issue. While the APS acknowledges the significant role of social media in contributing to online harm, attention is also drawn to other forms of online harm that are not explicitly covered in the proposed Bill, such as cyberbullying from individual to individual (via mobile phone or ), and the posting of inappropriate content on websites, via or mobile phone

6 such as sexting (when the motivation is to cause distress to the subject of the photo or the sender). The APS recommends that the Bill also address these harms alongside that occurring via social media. The APS would be happy to provide further comment on this policy should you require it; or for further information about our submission please contact me on Yours sincerely, Heather Gridley FAPS Manager, Public Interest About the APS The APS is the premier professional association for psychologists in Australia, representing more than 21,000 members. Psychology is a discipline that systematically addresses the many facets of human experience and functioning at individual, family and societal levels. Psychology covers many highly specialised areas, but all psychologists share foundational training in human development and the constructs of healthy functioning. A key goal of the APS is to actively contribute psychological knowledge for the promotion and enhancement of community wellbeing. Psychology in the Public Interest is the section of the APS dedicated to the communication and application of psychological knowledge to enhance community wellbeing and promote equitable and just treatment of all segments of society.