The national online safety program, ThinkUKnow, has marked its 10th anniversary of educating, training and alerting schools and communities to the dangers of child exploitation online.
In a statement marking the anniversary, the Minister for Home Affairs, Peter Dutton said the Australian Federal Police-led program was launched in 2009 in response to the increasing number of online safety issues and child exploitation reports.
“Over the past 10 years, the program has grown exponentially, now reaching more than 17,000 parents, carers, and teachers and 200,000 students every year,” Mr Dutton said.
“With an increasing number of reports of child exploitation received each year, the need for the ThinkUKnow program and online vigilance has never been greater.”
He said that in 2018 alone, 17,893 reports were received, almost doubling the previous year’s total of 9,741 reports.
“It is through partnerships and working together that we can collaborate, coordinate and prevent the exploitation of children and vulnerable people,” Mr Dutton said.
He said the ThinkUKnow program currently had a footprint in all metropolitan areas and continued to train State and Territory police presenters and industry volunteers.
“Reaching all members of the community is a priority, especially communities in regional and rural areas who can be hard to reach and may be more vulnerable,” the Minister said.
