Cyber Safety Policy ‘may block online education tools’

By NICOLE KUTER
THE Australian Federation of AIDS Organisations fears that sexual health education for young Australians will be compromised under Senator Stephen Conroy’s Cyber Safety Policy.

General Manager of AIDS Action in Canberra, Andrew Burry, said online sexual education tools are vital for use in raising awareness of health issues among young Australians.

“Young people have a less trusting relationship with their primary health care providers when they face issues around sexuality,” he said. “It is difficult for them to seek information, so to be able to do so in an anonymous safe way, electronically, is really an important thing.”

The Australian Federation of AIDS Organisations is concerned that some of their educational websites may be blacklisted under The Government’s Cyber Safety Policy.

“The real problem we see is that there is no transparency when all is said and done,” Mr Burry said. “We don’t know what sites will be on the blacklist… what we do know is that somebody is going to decide what other people should or shouldn’t see based on criteria which is not clear to us.”

Liberal Senator Gary Humphries said The Federal Government is keeping details secret because Senator Conroy’s policy is flawed.

“I don’t think he’s [Senator Conroy] got a plausible, well thought out plan and he’d rather keep the details of the policy behind closed doors in order so that people can’t see nakedly how ineffective this scheme is going to be,” he said.

The Australian Federation of AIDS Organisations was one of 174 organisations which sent a submission to Senator Conroy’s department calling for more transparency on the policy.

Senator Conroy said, “My department will consider the submissions and examine whether the ideas can be used to enhance the proposed accountability and transparency measures.”

A policy adviser for Senator Conroy, Emma Dawson, said that the Cyber Safety Policy was not an internet filter.

She said the blacklist would only contain material which was illegal to possess in Australia and websites could not be inadvertently blacklisted.

However, Ms Dawson said the blacklist would be determined on a complaints-based system whereby some material internet users find offensive could be included.

Ms Dawson said there had been a lot of misinformation surrounding the Cyber Safety Policy.

“People are too focussed on the Internet filter, people should instead be focusing on the significant amounts of money The Government has put into internet education programs,” she said.

Mr Burry said the view most people have of the internet is one of misunderstanding.

“It [the internet] has been around for years and I’m a bit puzzled as to how it’s assumed this ogre image and why it’s suddenly so bad,” he said. “To me, the natural growth and development of the internet is one that’s becoming safer if anything, regardless of what Governments think they can do.”