How common is the experience of image-based abuse among children in Australia?
In late 2024 and early 2025, prior to the implementation of the social media age restrictions1, eSafety surveyed 2,302 Australian children aged 10 to 17 years2 to determine the prevalence and nature of online experiences and harms, including image-based abuse.3 This includes when someone takes or creates, shares or threatens to share an intimate image (photo or video) of a person without their consent.4
Please note: Image-based abuse of a person under the age of 18 is a form of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Find out more.
Here are some of the key findings.
Children from certain groups are more likely to have experienced image-based abuse
19%
of gender and sexually diverse teens had experienced image-based abuse.6
(11% had experienced image-based abuse in the past 12 months.)
16%
of Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander children had experienced image-based abuse.
(8% had experienced image-based abuse in the past 12 months.)
11%
of children with disability had experienced image-based abuse.
(5% had experienced image-based abuse in the past 12 months.)7
A similar proportion of girls and boys have experienced image-based abuse
Around 10%
of girls (9%) and boys (8%) had experienced image-based abuse.
(3% of girls and 4% of boys had experienced image based abuse in the past 12 months.)
Teens are more likely to have experienced image-based abused at some point
Graph shows prevalence of image-based abuse by child age.8
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Children’s experiences of image-based abuse
6%
had someone threaten to share a nude image of them online.9
(2% in the past 12 months.)
4%
had someone take or create a nude image of them without their permission.10
(2% in the past 12 months.)
4%
had someone share a nude image of them online without their permission.11
(1% in the past 12 months.)
3%
had someone threaten to share a nude image of them if they didn’t do something the person wanted.12
(1% in the past 12 months.)
3%
had someone create a fake nude image of them without their permission.13
(1% in the past 12 months.)
Image-based abuse can be perpetrated both by people known in real life and those only known online
54%
of children said their most recent experience of image-based abuse14 was perpetrated by someone known in real life15, most commonly by a friend (16%) or by their partner, ex, or someone they were dating or flirting with (16%).16
36% were most recently targeted by someone that they didn’t already know in real life, most commonly an online friend (19%) or someone they just happened to come across online (16%).
59%
said their most recent experience of image-based abuse was perpetrated by a teenager (aged 13–17).17
27% said the perpetrator was an adult (aged 18 or older), while 11% were targeted by a child (aged 12 or younger).
Image-based abuse typically occurs on social media
Children’s most recent experience of image-based abuse most commonly occurred on social media platforms18, including Snapchat (43%), Facebook (25%), Instagram (22%), and TikTok (10%).19
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Generative AI is being used in some instances of image-based abuse
22%
of children said their most recent experience of image-based abuse involved a ‘fake’ nude image of themselves that had been created using generative AI.20
Image-based abuse triggers a range of negative emotions among children
90%
of children reported feeling at least one negative emotion after their most recent experience of image-based abuse. Most commonly they felt embarrassed or shamed (50%), worried, unsafe or scared (46%) or annoyed, frustrated or angry (42%).21
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Most children report having difficulties after experiencing image-based abuse
87%
reported at least one difficulty after their most recent experience of image-based abuse, most commonly that they started feeling more worried or sad (38%), found it harder to concentrate at school, study or work (37%) or started feeling bad about themselves (34%).22
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Helpful resources
In Australia, any image or video that depicts a child under 18 in a nude or sexualised way is considered child sexual abuse material and is unlawful. This applies regardless of whether the image is real or fake.
Talking about online child sexual abuse with children early and continuing the conversation about the risks as they mature is an important way to build their online safety skills. It also makes it easier for children to ask for help if something goes wrong online.
Any type of suspected child sexual abuse or exploitation, including grooming, should be reported to the Australian Centre to Counter Child Exploitation (ACCCE).
eSafety’s Parents section has information for parents and carers, including advice on protecting children from sexual abuse online.
eSafety’s Young People section also has advice about image-based abuse.
Educators can explore resources to help develop a whole-school approach to the issue.
Notes
1 Under the legislation, which came into effect on 10 December 2025, age-restricted social media platforms must take reasonable steps to prevent Australian children under 16 from creating or holding accounts.
2 Part of a nationally representative survey of 3,454 children aged 10 to 17 years living in Australia between December 2024 and February 2025.
3 The creation, sharing or threatened sharing of nude images of children constitutes, in most instances, child sexual abuse material.
4 For more information about the methodology of the research, see the methodology report.
5 Prevalence of image-based abuse was assessed in a recontact survey. Children were given the option of skipping certain sensitive questions in the survey, including those on image-based abuse. Among the 2,302 children aged 10 to 17 who completed the recontact survey, 354 declined to see the questions on image-based abuse. The prevalence of image-based abuse reported here is therefore based on a subset of the overall sample (n=1,948).
6 Sample sizes were too small to separately report the prevalence of image-based abuse among trans and gender-diverse children aged 10 to 17 (n=48). ‘Sexually diverse’ includes participants who identified their sexual orientation as 'gay or lesbian’, ‘bisexual’, ‘queer’, ‘asexual’, ‘pansexual’ or that they are ‘still working it out’. Sexuality was asked only of children aged 13–17.
7 12-month incidence for children with disability didn’t differ significantly to 12-month incidence for children without disability.
8 Arrows denote statistically significant differences between sub-groups. The proportion of children aged 13 to 15 and 16 to 17 who had ever experienced image-based abuse didn’t differ significantly.
9 Q: Has anyone ever threatened to share a nude image of you online (or with other people)?
10 Q: Has anyone ever taken or created a nude image of you without your permission (meaning you didn’t say they could take or create it)?
11 Q: Has anyone ever shared a nude image of you online (or with other people), without your permission (meaning when you didn’t say they could share it)?
12 Q: Has anyone ever threatened to share a nude image of you if you didn’t do something they wanted, like send them money, gift cards or more nude images (meaning they tried to ‘blackmail’ you)?
13 Q: This question asks about the creation of fake nude images, where Generative AI (Gen AI) or an app is used to create a nude image that looks just like someone but it isn’t really them (sometimes called a ‘deepfake’). Have you ever had someone else create a fake nude image of you without your permission?
14 A subset of children who had ever had someone share or threaten to share a nude image of themselves online (n=123) were asked further questions about their most recent experience of image-based abuse.
15 Q: Keep thinking only about the last time someone [RECENT EXPERIENCE]. Who did this? You can choose more than one answer.
16 Q: Think now about the last time someone you already knew in real life [RECENT EXPERIENCE]. Who did this? You can choose more than one answer.
17 Q: Keep thinking only about the last time someone [RECENT EXPERIENCE]. How old do you think the person was? You can choose more than one answer.
18 Q: Think only about the last time someone [RECENT EXPERIENCE]. Which platform or platforms did they threaten you on? You can choose more than one answer; Think only about the last time someone shared a nude image of you online or with other people when you didn’t say they could share it. Where were the images shared? You can choose more than one answer.
19 Platforms reported by <5% of children combined as ‘Another online platform’.
20 Q: Keep thinking only about the last time someone [RECENT EXPERIENCE]. Did this involve a ‘fake’ nude image of you that they had created using Gen AI or an app?
21 Q: Keep thinking about the last time someone [RECENT EXPERIENCE]. How did you feel? You can choose more than one answer.
22 Q: Keep thinking about the last time someone [RECENT EXPERIENCE]. Did you have any difficulties because of this experience? You can choose more than one answer.
Last updated: 26/10/2026