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Legislative Council - Fifty-Second Parliament, First Session (52-1)
2010-11-24 Daily Xml
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INTERNET SAFETY

The Hon. D.G.E. HOOD (15:42): Today I want to raise the important contribution made to internet safety for our children by a company called Internet Education and Safety Services. This company is actively involved in the education of children on the dangers of cyber bullying and avoiding internet predators, something strongly supported by not only Family First but, I would imagine, every member of this chamber.

Mr Brett Lee, managing director of the company, emailed me the following account of a recent trip he undertook to schools around the Yorke Peninsula. He states:

I was addressing the teachers at Ardrossan when one of the staff recounted that only the previous weekend her and her daughter were watching an internet safety program on the ABC which highlighted dangers surrounding teens online. After the program the staff member told her daughter that they were going to get into her (the daughter's) internet accounts such as MSN Messenger and MySpace and remove some photos and change the friends lists. Her daughter then said to her, 'I've already done it, mum, a guy came and spoke to us last week and I went straight home and got rid of some of the pictures, made my site private and removed people I didn't know.' It is stories like this that retain my passion and help me know I am on the right track with my programs. Thank you again for your interest in this issue.

The prevalence of cyber bullying and the use of the internet by paedophiles to prey on children has been identified as a major issue facing educators not only in South Australia but worldwide. iNESS Australia's mission is to equip and educate young Australians with the skills and knowledge to enable them to use the internet safely, whilst making them aware of their rights and responsibilities in the cyber world.

This unique business is the first of its type in Australia specialising in internet safety and cyber bullying presentations. Mr Brett Lee—no relation to the fast bowler, as I understand it—worked as a Queensland police officer for some 22 years, 16 of those as a detective in the field of child exploitation. In his last five years of service he was a specialist in the field of undercover internet child exploitation investigations.

Brett has been personally involved in the online investigation, arrest and prosecution of numerous offenders, whose medium for preying on children was the internet. This inspired a passion to impart his expert knowledge to as many children as possible to ensure that they remain as safe as possible online.

Brett has delivered training and instruction to members of many law enforcement agencies, including the New South Wales and Western Australian police services and Australian Customs and, of particular interest, was instrumental in providing training and assistance in the development of internet investigators within the South Australian police force.

Brett has trained and worked with the FBI in Maryland in the USA, the Department of Homeland Security Cyber Crimes Center in Virginia, USA and the San Jose Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force in California.

Brett received the Queensland Police Commissioner's Gold Award and the Crime and Misconduct Commissioner's award for his role in the development and implementation of software that is now utilised by various Australian law enforcement agencies to identify and track online child offenders. Brett left the Queensland Police Service in 2008 to establish iNESS, the first privately owned Australian business to specifically target the education of children in the dangers of the internet, cyber safety and cyber bullying.

I call on the minister to make available sufficient funding for South Australian schools to take advantage of this important protection tool. I am obviously happy to pass on any of the details of iNESS and any of the specifics and, indeed, the contact details for Mr Brett Lee, who understandably is eager to give students, teachers and parents of South Australia the skills to protect themselves online and to protect our most vulnerable online. The reality is that this is where most children are subject to such predators in our current day and age, and I am really very pleased to bring this matter to the council's attention.

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