The online experiences of children in Australia
eSafety’s 'Keeping Kids Safe Online' survey explores the benefits, opportunities and risks that the online world offers children in Australia.
The digital world is deeply embedded in the lives of children in Australia, offering connection, creativity, and learning. Online activities also carry a degree of risk of having negative online experiences.
Our ‘Keeping Kids Safe Online’ reports and snapshot series explore the online participation and experiences of children aged 10 to 17, including the perceived benefits of being online, potentially risky online activities and exposure to negative online experiences.
Reports exploring children’s experiences of online harms and their impacts in greater depth, as well as digital parenting practices, will be published over the coming months. Future reports will also explore the online experiences of children from diverse communities.
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Reports
Online engagement, use and harms among children aged 10 to 15
‘Digital use and risk' presents topline findings on the use of online platforms and experiences of harms among children aged 10 to 15 in Australia. The short report draws on a subset of data from the 'Keeping Kids Safe Online' survey.
Top level findings: Snapshot series
The Keeping Kids Safe Online snapshots present topline findings on children’s experiences of a range of online harms and include age and gender differences.
Summary of key findings
- Almost 3 in 4 (74%) children had ever seen or heard content associated with harm online.
- More than 1 in 2 (53%) had experienced cyberbullying.
- 3 in 5 (60%) had seen or heard online hate, while over 1 in 4 (27%) had personally experienced it.
- 1 in 4 (25%) had experienced non-consensual tracking, monitoring or harassment.
- The prevalence of online harms varied by gender and age, with teens and trans and gender-diverse children generally more at risk of encountering online harms.
Download the methodology
About the research
This research draws on data from eSafety’s ‘Keeping Kids Safe Online’ survey, conducted in December 2024 to February 2025. The survey examined the online experiences and participation of children in Australia.
The survey was conducted with a nationally representative sample of children aged 10 to 17 years living in Australia and their parent or caregiver. A total of 3,454 children and their parent or caregiver participated in the survey. Two weeks after completion of the core survey, children were recontacted and asked additional questions, with 2,302 children included in the recontact survey.
Helpful resources
eSafety’s Parents section has information for parents and carers, including information and advice about helping children stay safe online.
eSafety’s Kids and Young People sections provide useful information to help children and teens stay safe online.