A new Centre of Excellence is to be established at the Queensland University of Technology to conduct a world-first longitudinal study of the digital lives of children from birth to eight years of age.
Announced by the Minister for Education, Dan Tehan, the Centre is to be led by Professor Susan Danby and will collaborate with national and international experts at five Australian universities and 33 academic and industry partner organisations from Australia, Europe, Asia and the United States.
Mr Tehan said today’s children were growing up with unprecedented access to technology and there was a need to better understand the effect it was having on them.
“This new Centre will undertake a family cohort study, run children’s technology laboratories and lead research programs to improve our knowledge of the effects of digital technology on children,” Mr Tehan said.
“The results of this research will benefit parents and inform improvements to children’s health and education policies.”
Minister for Industry, Science and Technology, Karen Andrews said the rapid evolution of digital technology made it vital to understand its impact on the lives of children.
“Digital technology can improve our quality of life and drive economic growth, but we need to shape how our kids grow up in a digital world,” Mrs Andrews said.
Professor Danby said there was currently a lot of conflicting information about the role of digital technology in young children’s lives and through evidence-based research the centre would deliver clear messages for all concerned.
“Through the centre, Australia will be better able to respond to national issues and problems related to young children and digital technology including the amount of screen time use, social media and digital gaming, and online safety, and develop a better understanding of how children live in a digital world,” Professor Danby said.