$129m to keep Australian children safe from cyberporn

Stuart Corner
Tuesday, 13 May 2008 18:38

IT Policy - Government Tech Policy

Conroy said real world 'live' pilot involving ISPs and their customers would follow an Australian Communications and Media Authority laboratory trial due to be completed in June 2008. A real world live pilot will follow the ACMA laboratory trial. Consumers will have the ability to participate in this pilot.

The Government is also developing a range of measures that it says will "help empower children to be responsible online participants." It will provide parents, teachers, trainee teachers, librarians and children with "up-to-date, comprehensive and age-appropriate online cyber-safety resources and assistance."

It intends to overhaul the existing online safety website, to develop a new web site specifically for children, provide education resources and a dedicated cyber-safety help line, expand the terms of reference for the Cyber-Safety Consultative Working Group to include all aspects of cyber-safety and facilitate a Youth Advisory Group to ensure programs remain relevant and on target.

The former government's National Filter Scheme which made home-based PC filters available via download or from a CD-Rom will be closed to new users from 31 December 2008, with existing PC filter users to be provided with support from the PC filter companies until 30 June 2010.

According to Conroy, "This program had a very limited take-up and only 20 percent of those who did download the filter continued to use it." said Senator Conroy. Its funding will be redirected to "support ISPs making available a filtered internet service, or 'clean feed', to all homes, schools and public internet points accessible to children."

The previous government announced, in June 2006 a package of measures worth $116m, almost the same as those in the Labor Government's budget. However the bulk of it was to be spent to provide every Australian family with a free Internet filter.