A new online safety Youth Advisory Council has been established, with the aim of giving young Australians a voice in shaping future online safety policies and designing youth-centred initiatives.
Announcing that the Council would consist of 24 young people from across Australia, eSafety Commissioner, Julie Inman Grant said that younger Australians should not continue to be at the coal face of the great social experiment called the ‘internet’.
“They spend a lot more of their life in the online world than older people, so we need them to share their opinions and experiences on how to make the internet safer and more inclusive,” Ms Inman Grant said.
“The Council will provide advice to Government about issues that young people experience online and explore ways of supporting them to have positive online experiences,” she said.
The Commissioner thanked the many young people who applied for Council membership.
“We were so impressed with the quality of the applications and the passion we saw from young people to help play an active and meaningful role in making the online world become a safer place,” she said.
Expected to begin its work in coming weeks, Ms Inman Grant said the Council is to co-design and develop safety resources that will help maximise the benefits to young people of being online, as well as minimising potential harm.
“The Council will also give young people the opportunity to ensure their lived experiences and opinions are heard and understood by online safety policy makers,” she said.
