The AFP-led Australian Centre to Counter Child Exploitation (ACCCE) will today (10 September) launch its updated ThinkUKnow community education program, as new figures show it received more than 100,000 reports of online child sexual exploitation (OCSE) in the 2025-26 financial year.
The exact figure of 100,194 reports, released as part of National Child Protection Week (6-12 September), equates to an average of 275 reports a day, or 8350 a month.
This represents an increase of roughly 21 per cent on the previous financial year's total of 82,764.
It's a trend that has continued into the current financial year, with 15,008 reports already received by the end of August, 2026.
Previous report tallies totalled 58,503 in 2023-24, 40,232 in 2022-23 and 36,600 in 2021-22.
Reports, which focus on Australian victims and offenders, come chiefly from the United States National Center for Missing and Exploited Children but also through members of the public and government agencies.
AFP Commander Human Exploitation Joanne Cameron said the confronting figures did not necessarily equate to a corresponding rise in offending, as greater education and awareness continued to drive stronger reporting of OCSE.
But they underscored the importance of this year's National Child Protection Week theme: 'Every conversation matters, shifting conversation to action'.
"Every report of online child sexual exploitation we receive is a report too many, as it represents unimaginable trauma for victims at the hands of offenders who don't have the slightest remorse about the harm they cause," Commander Cameron said.
"It's predatory, it's horrific and it ruins lives."
Commander Cameron said as technology and the use of AI continued to evolve so, too, did the scope and reach of offenders, who could target children and teenagers in their homes in just minutes.
"We don't want parents and carers to fear their children being online, because there's so much amazing stuff they can do, discover and learn," she said.
"But we also have to be realistic about where the risks lie, the same as we do in the offline world.
"In the time it takes a parent or carer to make a cup of coffee, a young person sitting in their bedroom could have been groomed and convinced to send compromising material, which could then be used against them.
"What this means is that prevention is critical, both in teaching our children and teenagers to operate safely in the virtual world, and also in educating ourselves about the role we have to play.
"Because ultimately, this is not an issue we can police our way out of."
The description 'online child sexual exploitation' serves as an umbrella term for behaviours ranging from online grooming and sexual extortion to the livestreaming of child sexual abuse.
All are covered in the new 9th edition of ThinkUKnow, an award-winning national OCSE education program developed by the AFP in collaboration with all state and territory police agencies and industry partners.
With community and classroom presentations, modules and resources, content in this edition is targeted at parents, carers, teachers and students from Foundation to Year 12.
Age-appropriate material covers topics including boundaries and body cues, identifying trusted adults and protected behaviours, with the high school presentations covering issues such as sextortion for financial gain, sadistic online exploitation, red flags and offender tactics.
Characters from the ACCCE's award-winning children's picture book Jack Changes the Game are also used in the student presentations and age-progressed through the years, with all content linked to the Australian curriculum to ensure it's age-appropriate and relevant to students' learning.
ACCCE Online Child Safety Team spokesperson Kristy Thomson said the update responded to trends identified by law enforcement, tapped into case studies and real-life reports to the ACCCE, AFP Child Protection Operations and Joint Anti Child Exploitation Teams investigations and drew on engagement with educators, students, academics and the wellbeing and welfare sectors.
"We were also guided by the latest research into everything from Australia's U16 social media delay and risk taking in young people to teen perspectives on sending nudes and looking at who children disclose online sexual solicitation to," Ms Thomson said.
The update will be rolled out through national training delivered to ThinkUKnow presenters and volunteers, who come from the ranks of state and territory police, the AFP and industry partners.
