Supporting digital literacy for under-16s

Digital literacy encompasses the knowledge and skills students need to create, manage, communicate and investigate data, information and ideas, and solve problems. It assists students to work collaboratively at school and in their lives beyond school. 

Digital literacy involves students critically identifying and appropriately selecting and using digital devices or systems, and learning to make the most of the technologies available to them. Students adapt to new ways of doing things as technologies evolve, and protect the safety of themselves and others in digital environments (Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority, 2025).

Social and emotional learning (SEL) is the process of developing self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship skills, and responsible decision-making. It is about the ability to care for others, make responsible decisions, establish positive and respectful relationships and handle everyday challenges (Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority, 2025; Be You, 2025).

Help-seeking is a process of communicating about an event, issue or challenge to obtain assistance, advice or support (Be You, 2025).

• Stay updated with the most recent advice about the social media age restrictions on the Hub. Follow the link to the Information for educators page.
• Conduct a school self-audit checklist to assess your school’s readiness and to use as a basis for planning (Toolkit for Schools Prepare 1).
• Set up an action team with middle leaders from curriculum/programming, pedagogy, student wellbeing, the school’s eSafety Champion, a senior leader and an appointed team leader.
• Secure your school principal/leadership team support, including formal role recognition and the provision of professional learning and development opportunities.
• Complete a checklist for developing effective online safety policies and procedures (Toolkit for Schools Prepare 2) and a new technologies assessment (Toolkit for Schools Prepare 3).
• Schedule regular meetings through the year, including student and parent advisory groups.
• Use Safer Internet Day (or another special occasion in your education calendar) as a kick off point.  eSafety runs a campaign each year and provides a starter kit of fun activities for schools.
• Add online safety as a standing item to the staff meeting agenda.
• Revise your school’s guidelines for social media use (Toolkit for Schools Prepare 4).

• Engage with the education stakeholder kit on the Hub.
• Share resources with students including the Get ready guide.
• Introduce your students to the young people webpages on the eSafety’s website.
• Conduct a student voice survey (Toolkit for Schools Engage 6).
• Conduct a parents and carers survey (Toolkit for Schools Engage 7).
• Share the social media age restrictions webinar link with parents/carers.
• Conduct a school staff survey (Toolkit for Schools Engage 8).
• Recruit representatives for a student voice group, and a parents and carers consultation group (Toolkit for Schools Engage 1, 2, 3, 4).
• Activate supporters in the local community, including Trusted eSafety Providers (see below) and counselling and support services for student help-seeking (also see below).
• Have each year level or class set up a tech use agreement Online Safety Classroom Agreement. Consider a stepped approach enabling students to ‘level up’.

• Register staff members for eSafety’s social media age restrictions webinars.
• Update parents by sharing eSafety’s videos, Talking about age restrictions with under-16s.
• Support understanding by sharing eSafety’s FAQs about the social media age restrictions with students, staff and families.
• Prioritise and invest in continuing professional learning for all school staff (including specialist, non-teaching and visiting staff), and more advanced training for school leaders, middle leaders, and the action team. Consider a phased approach.
• Build staff knowledge and confidence by dedicating time (for example, on student-free days or in staff meetings) for a self-paced workshop on the Best Practice Framework for Online Safety Education using the professional learning videos. Watch the five videos (total time 30 mins) and engage in discussion with year level coordinators about how to scope and sequence student learning for each year level.
• Enlist a Trusted eSafety Provider to support staff professional learning and student online safety education. Use eSafety’s guidance on selecting providers (Toolkit for Schools Educate 7 and Toolkit for Schools Educate 8).
• Use the Toolkit for Schools Educate staff presentations for training and development.
• Have staff sign up for eSafety’s Education News, and register for eSafety’s live professional learning webinars – new ones are added each school term.
• Schedule an online safety news article in parent/carer newsletters. Share eSafety’s parent and carer webinars and evidence-based resources for parents and carers.
• When developing a scope and sequence, refer to the Australian Curriculum and support materials, which are age and stage appropriate. Consider how the year-long implementation can be structured and embedded. For example, in Health and Physical Education (HPE), Media Arts and Digital Technologies, lessons on digital and media literacy, help-seeking, and risks and harms can be covered. Social and emotional learning can be addressed in class group times, home and year group meetings, student wellbeing sessions and everyday transitions.
• Plan for additional teaching and learning opportunities during Bullying No Way National Week of Action, National Child Protection Week and look out for eSafety resources to match.
• Develop a shared library of lesson plans, ideas and routines, including the resources below.
• Remember: eSafety is here to help when things go wrong online.

• Share What if something has happened on social media with students.
• Share eSafety’s Report Abuse Portal.
• Reinforce expected behaviours and proactively plan to intervene early when an online incident occurs in your school community.
• Continue to build positive teacher-student relationships and mutual respect with students.
• Check in with students about how things are going from their perspective throughout the school year.
• Act on students’ concerns about online safety - this will have a positive impact on their engagement.
• Use the Toolkit for Schools Respond element (nine downloadable guides) for advice on assessing and responding to different types of online incidents. These resources offer guidance on reporting requirements, preserving digital evidence, minimising further harm and supporting student wellbeing.
• In keeping with changes to social media use for under-16s, see Frequently asked questions about how schools should respond if a student is found to have access to an age-restricted platform, and what to do if something goes wrong while an under-16 is on an age-restricted platform.
• Normalise help-seeking and ensure responses are student-centred, trauma-informed, compassionate and non-judgemental.
• Collect student and teacher feedback before, during and after implementation of a whole-school approach. Use data collected from feedback to update and improve implementation for the next year.

• Swoosh & Glide (boundaries and consent, digital resilience, respectful online relationships, time online, critical thinking).
• Mighty Heroes: Educator notes (help-seeking, cyberbullying, digital resilience, online security, privacy and personal info, respectful online relationships, critical thinking).
• Mighty Heroes: Posters (help-seeking, cyberbullying, respectful online relationships, critical thinking).
• Mighty Heroes: How our class stays safe online (includes class tech agreement) (boundaries and consent, digital resilience, time online, critical thinking).
• Mighty Heroes Videos:
  • Wanda the Echidna – I am responsible (help-seeking, cyberbullying, digital resilience, online security, privacy and personal info, respectful online relationships, critical thinking)
  • River the Sugar Glider – I show respect (help-seeking, cyberbullying, digital resilience, online security, privacy and personal info, respectful online relationships, critical thinking)
  • Billy the Bilby – I investigate (help-seeking, cyberbullying, digital resilience, online security, privacy and personal info, respectful online relationships, critical thinking)
  • Dusty the Frilled Neck Lizard – I trust my feelings (help-seeking, cyberbullying, digital resilience, online security, privacy and personal info, respectful online relationships, critical thinking).
• Under lock and key (help-seeking, online security, privacy and personal info).
• Investigating the truth (help-seeking, privacy and personal info, critical thinking).
• Ask for help (help-seeking, digital resilience, online security.
• Role-play respect online (help-seeking, boundaries and consent, cyberbullying, respectful online relationships.
• Questions we have about the internet (help-seeking, online security, positive online behaviour, privacy and personal info, critical thinking).
• Protecting each other online (video) (positive online behaviour, respectful online relationships).
• Keep it sweet online (help-seeking, cyberbullying, privacy and personal info, unwanted contact, critical thinking).
• Cybersmart Challenge (cyberbullying, privacy and personal info, respectful online relationships, unwanted contact, critical thinking).

• Privacy and security (help-seeking, cyberbullying, digital reputation, online security, privacy and personal info, respectful online relationships).
• Online boundaries and consent (help-seeking, boundaries and consent, privacy and personal info, respectful online relationships, unwanted contact, refusal skills).
• Online friends and strangers (help-seeking, boundaries and consent, online friends, respectful online relationships, unwanted contact).
• Be secure (help-seeking, cyberbullying, online friends, online security, privacy and personal info, respectful online relationships, critical thinking).
• Making good choices online (help-seeking, cyberbullying, privacy and personal info, respectful online relationships, unwanted contact, bystanders, critical thinking).
• Cybersmart Challenge (cyberbullying, privacy and personal info, respectful online relationships, sharing images online, unwanted contact, bystanders, critical thinking).

• Privacy and security (help-seeking, cyberbullying, digital reputation, online security, privacy and personal info, respectful online relationships).
• Online boundaries and consent (help-seeking, boundaries and consent, privacy and personal info, respectful online relationships, unwanted contact, refusal skills).
• Online friends and strangers (help-seeking, boundaries and consent, online friends, respectful online relationships, unwanted contact).
• Be secure (help-seeking, cyberbullying, online friends, online security, privacy and personal info, respectful online relationships, critical thinking).
• Play it safe and fair online (help-seeking, cyberbullying, privacy and personal info, respectful online relationships, unwanted contact, bystanders, critical thinking).
• Game on (cyberbullying, digital reputation, digital resilience, online friends, privacy and personal info, respectful online relationships).
• Cybersmart Challenge (cyberbullying, privacy and personal info, respectful online relationships, sharing images online, unwanted contact, bystanders, critical thinking).

• Play it safe and fair online (help-seeking, cyberbullying, privacy and personal info, respectful online relationships, unwanted contact, bystanders, critical thinking).
• Be Deadly Online (help-seeking, cyberbullying, digital reputation, respectful online relationships, sharing images online).
• What's your brand? (help-seeking, cyberbullying, digital reputation, privacy and personal info).
• Rewrite your story (help-seeking, cyberbullying, digital reputation, digital resilience, online friends, online security, privacy and personal info, respectful online relationships, sharing images online, bystanders, critical thinking).
• Young & eSafe (help-seeking, cyberbullying, digital resilience, respectful online relationships, bystanders, critical thinking).
• Respect matters (help-seeking, cyberbullying, digital reputation, digital resilience, respectful online relationships, bystanders).
• The internet and the law (help-seeking, cyberbullying, digital reputation, privacy and personal info, critical thinking).

• The Yes Project (help-seeking, cyberbullying, digital resilience, respectful online relationships, sharing images online, bystanders, critical thinking).
• Be Deadly Online (help-seeking, cyberbullying, digital reputation, respectful online relationships, sharing images online).
• Rewrite your story (help-seeking, cyberbullying, digital reputation, digital resilience, online friends, online security, privacy and personal info, respectful online relationships, sharing images online, bystanders, critical thinking).
• Young & eSafe (help-seeking, cyberbullying, digital resilience, respectful online relationships, bystanders, critical thinking).
• Respect matters (help-seeking, cyberbullying, digital reputation, digital resilience, respectful online relationships, bystanders).
• Tagged (cyberbullying, digital reputation, privacy and personal info, sharing images online, bystanders).
• The internet and the law (help-seeking, cyberbullying, digital reputation, privacy and personal info, critical thinking).

• The Yes Project (help-seeking, cyberbullying, digital resilience, respectful online relationships, sharing images online, bystanders, critical thinking).
• Be Deadly Online (help-seeking, cyberbullying, digital reputation, respectful online relationships, sharing images online).
• Tagged (cyberbullying, digital reputation, privacy and personal info, sharing images online, bystanders).
• The internet and the law (help-seeking, cyberbullying, digital reputation, privacy and personal info, critical thinking).