The AFP-led Australian Centre to Combat Child Exploitation (ACCCE) is guiding parents and carers on how to keep their children SAFE as they head into the classroom for 2026.
According to AFP Commander Human Exploitation Helen Schneider, the start of the new school year is a timely opportunity to shape and review strategies for protecting your children online.
It's all encapsulated in a simple acronym:
Start and regularly continue conversations with your children about how to stay safe online.
Add parental controls to any online environment that potentially gives strangers access to your children.
Fix the privacy settings on social media and other online environments to restrict who sees your family's content.
Encourage your children to think critically and question behaviour that doesn't feel right.
"The online environment is part and parcel of modern family life, and it's something children are exposed to from a young age," Commander Schneider said.
"It can be a place of tremendous learning and development, of social interaction, fun and family connection, but it does come with risks such as exposure to those involved in online child sexual exploitation.
"For this reason, it's important to be mindful of what your family is doing, and putting, online."
Most immediately, that includes being thoughtful about sharing back-to-school photos as students head through the school gates next week.
"The first day of school represents a joyful and significant milestone, so it's only natural parents and guardians want to share the moment with their family and friends, especially those who may live interstate or overseas," Commander Schneider said.
"But the unfortunate reality is that without a little forethought, pictures they post all too innocently can be - and have been - saved, edited and shared by people with malicious intentions.
"AFP and ACCCE investigators have seen offenders use seemingly innocent details - such as a school logo, street sign or even a front door - to build a profile of a child with the intent of grooming them online or even manipulating parents and carers to gain access or leverage.
"They have also used imagery and other innocently shared material to create sexually explicit deepfake material, such as videos, images, drawings or stories.
"So, while we don't want to create a climate of unease or fear around back to school shots, it is about education and awareness."
Commander Schneider noted first-day-of-school photos were often shot on smartphones.
She encouraged families to use their phone's built-in photo editing feature to blur or hide identifiable details before uploading them, rather than relying on social media apps.
"When you edit within a social media app, the original image can be stored, which means the identifiable details you want to hide have been uploaded," Commander Schneider said. "By performing the edit at the start, you take away the risk of that detail being compromised."
Overarching tips for parents for first-day and future action across photos and posts, are:
- Don't reveal your children's personal details, such as their names, ages and school years.
- Don't reveal details about your children's school through elements such as uniforms, logos or street names.
- Avoid 'checking-in' on social media as that can reveal your location.
- Only share photos with people you know and trust. And make sure you educate them about how, and if, you would be comfortable for them to on-share your material.
- If another person is taking photos of your child, talk to them about how the photos will be used and where they will be shared.
