Australian Government spends $3m to combat cyber bullying

Stuart Corner
Tuesday, 04 August 2009 13:24

IT Industry - Strategy

The Australian Government has initiated a $3 million national pilot project designed to curb cyber-bullying in Australian schools.

At least 150 Government and non-government schools in urban, rural and remote Australia will participate in the pilot which will run until 30 April 2010. It will help confront safety issues in e-communications, including cyber-bullying and examine the effectiveness of existing cyber-safety programmes in schools.

The pilot programme will be developed and conducted by the Alannah and Madeline Foundation (AMF), a national charity dedicated to protecting children from violence. Following the pilot, the Foundation will provide a report to the Government on the findings and put forward recommendations. The pilot's outcomes will also be assessed as part of an independent evaluation and taken into account in the Government's review of the National Safe Schools Framework (NSSF), which is scheduled for completion in June 2010.

A cyber safety campaign run by the Alannah and Madeline Foundation was one of the principal beneficiaries of the Telstra Foundation's Spotlight on Cyber Safety grants which have just been doubled to $6 million over six years.

According to Telstra "The Alannah and Madeline Foundation's emphasis on creating resilience and empowering children to protect themselves while enjoying the benefits of using technology are the guiding principles for all the Telstra Foundation's Spotlight on Cyber Safety grants."

The pilot project was announced jointly by the minister for education, Julia Gillard and minister for youth, Kate Ellis. It follows the formation by the minister for broadband, communications and the digital economy, senator Stephen Conroy, of a Youth Advisory Group made up of 305 young Australians to advise the Government on a range of online issues, including cyber-bullying.