Online Safety Grants Program – Round 3 recipients
eSafety has awarded $2.25 million in new grants to nine non-government organisations under Round 3 of the Online Safety Grants Program.
Click on the + symbol to find out about each recipient and their project.
Deakin University
Project name
CyberNinjas: Empowering our children to be cyber smart in the metaverse
Project description
This project will co-design, develop and pilot an innovative online safety program aimed at increasing children’s awareness of, and preparedness for, the metaverse. The program will combine interactive storytelling, 3D immersive technologies, and artificial intelligence to deliver impactful online safety training for children and their communities, with the aim of developing safer online behaviours and habits in the metaverse.
Focus areas
- Preparing our children and young people
- Supporting innovation
- Preparing our communities
Audience
Children aged 8 to 16 in metropolitan and regional Victoria and regional NSW.
Funding
$423,765
Centacare Catholic Family Services
Project name
Power up: Online
Project description
This project will provide evidence-based, co-designed and integrated online learning modules that can be integrated directly into schools’ learning management systems. The curriculum-aligned modules will feature Port Adelaide Football Club AFL and AFLW players and cover a range of issues including privacy, contact with strangers, bullying and online grooming. The learning modules will integrate various formats including videos, activities, quizzes and animations.
Focus areas
- Preparing our schools
- Preparing our children and young people
- Preparing our communities
Audience
Upper secondary school students across South Australia and the Northern Territory.
Funding
$390,773
K.I.D.S Foundation
Project name
Netys, the trusted eSafety friend
Project description
This project will deliver an innovative online safety education program for young children using augmented 3D technology to transform static imagery to animation. The program promotes play-based pedagogies with Netys welcoming children into her ‘ePlayground’, giving them a voice in creating their safe online environment. Through various scenarios, children will learn how to navigate the internet safely to reduce the risks and threats associated with the online world, while also benefitting from the many play and educational opportunities it can offer.
Focus areas
- Preparing our children and young people
- Preparing our communities
Audience
Children under 5 and early years primary students (aged 4 to 6) across Australia and their educators.
Funding
$381,147
Scope (Aust) Ltd
Project name
Be safe online
Project description
This project targets the specific online safety needs of children and young people living with communication disability, cognitive impairment and low literacy levels, who are at higher risk of online abuse and other online harms. The project will identify, adapt and co-design e-learning resources and Easy English documents to help protect against online abuse and promote the safe use of digital technologies for this cohort. Key focus areas of the resources will include:
- identifying and accepting a ‘friend’ on social media sites
- opening suspect advertisement links
- how to block unwanted contact
- avoiding exposure to inappropriate material
- sharing private information online.
Focus areas
- Preparing our children and young people
- Preparing our communities
- Delivering safer online services
Audience
Children and young people across Australia with communication disability, cognitive impairment or low literacy levels, and their parents and carers.
Funding
$277,976
The Butterfly Foundation
Project name
Body kind online
Project description
This project will develop an innovative e-learning body image program and resources, which aim to:
- strengthen social media literacy in relation to body image
- support body image resilience online
- promote a balanced approach to nutrition and physical activity
- support positive attitudes towards help-seeking.
- The project will also provide evidence-based universal resources for parents and educators, in support of a whole of school community prevention approach to body image safety in online environments.
Focus areas
- Preparing our children and young people
- Supporting innovation
Audience
Children aged 12 to 16 across Australia.
Funding
$276,938
Western Sydney University
Project name
Reconceptualising digital safety in family homes post COVID-19
Project description
This project responds to research that consistently shows how parents and grandparents find parenting technology use one of the most difficult aspects of family life – a difficulty that became more pronounced with rapid changes in children’s internet use during and post COVID-19. The project will create an evidence-based, holistic ‘Family Digital Safety’ resource that guides the safety of children aged 10 to 13, as newly independent internet users. Building on key messages from eSafety’s research on youth engagement and online safety, the project will be underpinned by the perspectives of children in this age group, alongside those of their parents and grandparents.
Focus areas
- Preparing our children and young people
- Preparing our communities
Audience
Children aged 10 to 13 years and their parents and grandparents.
Funding
$127,313
Western Sydney Community Forum
Project name
Our safe community online
Project description
This project will upskill community workers to facilitate online safety learning for at-risk young people including those from hard-to-reach communities or who are disengaged from formal education. Community-based organisations, community influencers and community-based media outlets will collaborate to upskill community workers to facilitate learning about online safety and develop a suite of supporting resources. The project will include a focus on high risk online safety issues such as sexual exploitation, radicalisation and bullying.
Focus areas
- Preparing our communities
Audience
At-risk young people in Western Sydney including from diverse social, cultural and economic communities.
Funding
$170,539
University of Tasmania
Project name
Chatbot enabled cyber safety for adolescents
Project description
This project will create and pilot a chatbot to support adolescents in dealing with the risks posed by cyberbullying, grooming and image-based abuse. The project aims to evaluate the suitability of a purpose-built chatbot to support secondary school students to seek help by connecting them to relevant resources and services. Following the evaluation in this project, the chatbot could be hosted on school websites and networks alongside existing resources, or integrated with existing filtering software alerts, providing access to the chatbot when content filter alerts are triggered.
Focus areas
- Preparing our children and young people
- Supporting innovation
Audience
Secondary school students and teachers in Tasmania.
Funding
$113,689
Charles Sturt University
Project name
Protecting children from smartphone leakage of security sensitive information
Project description
The project will develop technological resources to measure smartphone leakage of sensitive information and deliver behavioural change interventions that will encourage children to use smartphones safely. Evidence-based training workshops will be developed for children, teaching staff and parents, with the aim to:
- raise awareness about the dangers of smartphone data leakage
- empower children with the knowledge to protect themselves from smartphone leakage of sensitive information.
Focus areas
- Preparing our children and young people
- Supporting innovation
Audience
Secondary students and teachers, parent and carers in regional NSW.
Funding
$87,870
Last updated: 16/12/2024
