Guides for psychologists, parents, and clinicians
Australia has one of the most active online safety regulatory frameworks in the world, and clinicians are increasingly called on to help clients navigate it. This hub brings together everything on PsychVault about online safety — from the eSafety Commissioner's tools and the under-16 social media laws to deepfakes, gaming microtransactions, and how to report online harm.
A practical Australian guide to online safety for parents, young people, schools, and clinicians, covering eSafety reporting, under-16 social media rules, cyberbullying, sextortion, deepfakes, phishing, malware, gaming p
A practical Australian guide to the under-16 social media rules, what platforms are age-restricted, what children can still use, where parents get confused, and what schools and clinicians should say about it.
A practical Australian guide to what cyberbullying actually looks like in real life, including exclusion, screenshot abuse, emoji-coded bullying, fake accounts, love bombing, ghosting, and school-facing red flags.
A practical Australian guide to sextortion, intimate-image threats, fake nudes, deepfakes, nudify apps, and image-based abuse, including first steps, reporting pathways, and what adults should avoid saying.
A practical Australian guide to AI companions, chatbots, privacy, deepfakes, emotional dependence, and the risks of using AI for support, advice, or therapy-adjacent care.
A practical Australian guide to choosing the right reporting pathway for cyberbullying, image-based abuse, sextortion, scams, hacked accounts, and urgent threats, without freezing in the moment.
A practical Australian guide to phishing, malware, trojans, fake giveaways, hacked accounts, and account theft, with simple family rules for links, downloads, passwords, and reporting.
A practical Australian guide to parental controls, monitoring software, Screen Time, Family Link, console settings, purchase controls, and how to use oversight without turning family online safety into a secrecy war.
A practical Australian guide to gaming spending risks, including currency distancing, loot boxes, battle passes, skins, gifting, status pressure, and why modern games can feel more like platforms than toys.
Online harms can take many forms: cyberbullying, sextortion, image-based abuse, phishing, malware, and coercive control using technology. Each of these intersects with mental health in different ways. Psychologists working with young people, families, or trauma clients are often the first professionals to hear about these issues — before the police, before a school counsellor, before parents are even aware. The articles in this hub are designed to give clinicians and families the clear, accurate information they need to respond, support, and report effectively. We cover what each type of harm looks like, which Australian authorities to contact, and what psychoeducation materials can help.
Download ready-to-use clinical tools from PsychVault's resource library.
The eSafety Commissioner is Australia's independent regulator for online safety. It accepts reports of cyberbullying of children, adult cyber abuse, image-based abuse (non-consensual intimate images), and illegal or harmful content. It can issue removal notices to platforms and take enforcement action.
For cyberbullying targeting a child under 18, report to the eSafety Commissioner at esafety.gov.au. For adult cyber abuse (seriously harmful targeted abuse of an adult), eSafety also accepts reports. You can also report to the platform directly and, for criminal threats or harassment, to state or territory police.
Australia's Online Safety Amendment (Social Media Minimum Age) Act 2024 requires social media platforms to take reasonable steps to prevent children under 16 from creating accounts. Platforms face significant fines for systemic failures. The law places responsibility on platforms rather than parents or children.
Provide immediate support and safety planning, then help the client report to the eSafety Commissioner (who can issue rapid removal orders for intimate images), the Australian Federal Police's ACCCE, and the platform where the abuse occurred. Document carefully and assess risk of ongoing contact with the perpetrator.
