In relation to the growing AI concerns, Bravehearts advocates:

• Greater awareness and education.
• For Commonwealth, and state and territory laws to include clear definitions of AI-generated CSAM and to ensure legislation is continually reviewed.
• For Commonwealth, and state and territory laws to ensure that production of intimate images, including digitally created images, and sharing or threatening to share intimate images are included as crimes.
• That Commonwealth, and state and territory governments recognise ‘nudify apps’ as designed to sexually harass, abuse and extort victims, and to ensure these apps are banned.
• Technology companies must be held responsible for ensuring safety.
• To develop a robust research agenda to ensure an informed response to risks of developing AI.
• Clear reporting options and available support for those impacted by online abuse.

Download the full Briefing Paper: AI and Child Sexual Exploitation

• While some jurisdictions have embedded child safe organisation requirements in legislation, there are some that still need to enact supporting legislation or amendments to current legislation.
• Funding needs to be provided for resources and support for staff training on the relevant child safe standards in their jurisdiction.
• Contextual prevention is an approach to safeguarding that focuses on understanding and addressing the environmental and situational factors that contribute to harm, rather than solely focusing on individuals who might cause harm.

Download the full Briefing Paper: Child Safe Organisations and Safeguarding

Our recommendations include:

• The duplication nationally of the Western Australian Community Protection legalisation, which provides for the restricted public disclosure of limited information.
• Strengthening of existing inter-jurisdictional and ‘multi-agency’ relationships for the monitoring of sex offenders post-release.
• Increased public awareness of safety and protective skills.
• Improved access to rehabilitation programs, both within and outside of custodial settings.
• A focus on providing support to address factors associated with risk of reoffending.
• Identifying and providing prevention and early intervention programs with sex offenders.

Download the full Briefing Paper: Community Notification Laws

Child sexual offenders often present as trusted and good members of the community; while for other offender-types, evidence of good character and conduct may be a redeeming feature, this very aspect of a sex offender’s public image is about gaining the trust of children, parents and carers and the community generally. It allows sex offenders to perpetrate their crimes.

Download the full Briefing Paper: Good Character References

• Bravehearts supports developmentally appropriate sex education for schools.
• Bravehearts recommends that as part of a holistic approach to cyber-safety, prevention messages and online support.
• Age verification measures to inhibit child access to pornography.
• Australian authorities should enforce Australian laws against the distribution of child sexual abuse material by adult pornography sites.
• More research into the prevalence of Australian children making and selling sexual content.
• There is a need for coordinated action between law enforcement, the financial sector, the technology sector and regulatory bodies.

Download the full Briefing Paper: The Impact of Pornography on Children and Young People

There are key areas that need further focus:

• Research on sexual abuse grooming has grown significantly over the past few decades; however, several important gaps and limitations remain.
• Increasing awareness and education on grooming is essential because grooming is often subtle, manipulative, and misunderstood, making it difficult to recognise and prevent.
• There are legislative and legal process challenges in addressing grooming offences.
• There is a growing opportunity to consider the integration of AI tools to detect grooming behaviours online.

Download the full Briefing Paper: Understanding Grooming

• While Bravehearts advocates for a centralised national Working with Children Check (WWCC) system, we understand the complexity of this given jurisdictional legislative differences, and we support, at the bare minimum, a centralised database of WWCC decisions accessible to all States and Territories.
• All child and youth-focused organisations (including those that employ young people) have a responsibility to ensure a child safe environment (see Bravehearts Briefing Paper Child Safeguarding).
• Bravehearts strongly recommends the adoption of mandatory child abuse prevention training for all WWCC applicants.

Download the full Briefing Paper: Working With Children Checks

Education and awareness: Children, young people and parents and caregivers should be equipped with the information and skills they need to lessen vulnerability against online harms.

Safety by design: The concept of Safety by Design emphasises the importance of user safety and rights as fundamental in the design and development process of online products and services.

Digital duty of care: Companies should be held responsible for users’ safety, placing a duty of care on to digital platforms.

Disruption through AI: AI-driven algorithms have the ability to identify and analyse potentially harmful online content, such as CSAM, grooming activities, and cyberbullying.

Children’s Digital Privacy Code: Bravehearts supports the development of a Code.

Download the full Briefing Paper: Working With Children Checks