Staying safe online over the holiday period 

New resources for younger children and their families

'Mighty heroes' is a new resource for children aged 5-8 that features four short-animated videos and conversation starters for parents and carers. The resources encourage children to use their strengths to stay safe online and talk about online issues with trusted adults. Go to esafety.gov.au for the full resource to share with your networks. 

eSafety’s Youth Advisory Council

The eSafetyCommissioner's Online Safety Youth Advisory Council has been exploring how to encourage young people to seek support and engage with reporting systems when they experience online abuse. Young people have indicated:

• They want it to be less intimidating to make a report
• They want adults to take their reports seriously and not blame them when they ask for help
• We need to better understand the unique contexts and barriers that young people experience that can make it harder to report

The Council continues to meet and start actioning these recommendations. 

Talking to culturally and linguistically diverse families about sensitive topics

As part of eSafety’s commitment to the National Strategy to Prevent Child Sexual Abuse the team has been working to understand how to best support parents and carers with diverse online safety perspectives and needs. 

As part of this work they have commissioned Orima Research to conduct a literature review to obtain further insights into how to best support culturally and linguistically diverse families. The findings help to understand the barriers to engaging with sensitive topics and how to best reach families.

Find a copy of the key insights here:  pdf ESafety CALD literature review summary (267 KB)

For more information email the team at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..  

Learn more about technology gifts this holiday season 

The eSafety annual Gift Guide is a great resource for adults as they plan gifts for children and young people this holiday season. In 2022, the guide features smart toys, tablets and drones, as well as new immersive technologies such as augmented/virtual reality and wearables or haptics that stimulate our sense of touch. 

The eSafety Gift Guide offers advice on what to consider when giving children and young people these technologies, including whether a device is age appropriate and what parental controls are available. See the stakeholder kit attached for content you can use to get the guide out to your audiences and networks.  

Save the date 

Safer Internet Day is 7 February 2023

This year will mark 20 years of celebrating the initiative worldwide. It’s a great time to start community conversations about online safety. This Safer Internet Day the eSafetyCommissioner is calling on Australians to Connect. Reflect. Protect. 

Connect safely and with purpose – by keeping apps and devices secure and using social media in positive ways.  

Reflect before we act – by taking a moment to consider how what we do and say online may affect others.  

Protect ourselves with knowledge – by telling family, friends or colleagues about eSafety and how we can help.   

Start planning your campaigns, events and celebrations now for next year. Sign-up to receive updates and support throughout the campaign. 

Parent and carer webinars in 2023

The eSafety live webinars give parents and carers the knowledge, skills and tools to support their children to have safe online experiences. The webinar schedule for 2023 is being planned.

Term 1 topics are:

•  eSafety 101 – how eSafety can help you
•  Setting your child up for success online
•  Getting the most of gaming
•  Navigating online friendships 

Keep an eye out for the 2023 schedule on the eSafety Parent webinar webpage for more details.