The Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy, Senator Stephen Conroy, today met with young Australians advising Government on cyber-safety.

"Young Australians are extremely active online and have a wealth of advice on responding to cyber-safety issues," Senator Conroy said.

"My talks with these school students have highlighted the very real issue of cyber-safety and also provided some invaluable feedback for Government."

"The advice will be taken into account as the Government continues to develop its broad-ranging strategy for cyber-safety."

Five representatives of the Government’s 300-strong Youth Advisory Group met the Minister in Canberra today at Parliament House. They also met the Consultative Working Group on cyber-safety and its Sub-Committee on Cyber-Bullying.

"Since launching in May 2009, nearly 8,000 posts have been made to the Youth Advisory Group online forum, y@g Online," Senator Conroy said.

"Such energetic participation in the y@g Online forum demonstrates how passionate young people are to help create a safer online environment."

Youth Advisory Group members provided a range of initial advice, including:

• An anonymous chat facility for kids to discuss their problems with a professional.
   
• Promotion for cyber-safety tools and website.
   
• Simpler explanations and assistance on social networking sites.

"This advice and all future recommendations from the Youth Advisory Group will be closely considered by the Government and the Consultative Working Group on cyber-safety," Senator Conroy said.

The Youth Advisory Group is one component of the Government’s $125.8 million cyber-safety plan, which includes a comprehensive range of measures such as:

• $49 million for an additional 91 AFP online child protection officers,
   
• $11.3 million for the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions,
   
• education and information,
   
• resources such as help-lines and the CyberSmart website (www.cybersmart.gov.au),
   
• ISP filtering,
   
• consultative arrangements with industry and child protection bodies, and
   
• research to identify possible areas for further action.

Youth Advisory Group member advice examples:

"We need an anonymous online chat facility up for kids to talk about their problems with a professional." Youth Advisory Group member.

"One website up that has it all and have a very easy way for kids to report bad things." Youth Advisory Group member.

"Really promote the website so kids just know where to go." Youth Advisory Group member.

"Help us to understand the differences between different social networking sites and help us to understand how to use them safely." Youth Advisory Group member.