Media Release - YMA supports Safer Internet Day

5th February 2004

Jane Roberts, President of the Australian Council for Children and the Media, trading as Young Media Australia (YMA), today gave her support to the European Commission’s Safer Internet Day on Friday 5 February, a day which celebrates children’s right to a safer internet. While acknowledging the many gains that have been made in protecting children from well-known dangers on the internet such as child pornography, chat rooms and invasion of privacy, she flagged that a new challenge now exists for the industry and regulators.

Ms Roberts stated: “YMA applauds the groundbreaking technology which has enabled the development of third generation mobile phones, allowing internet access, video streaming and other features. However, the newest challenge is to protect children from potential harm as a result of these new technologies. We call on the industry, including Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to consider the issues raised in respect of children’s safety and take some responsibility for their protection.”

Barbara Biggins, YMA’s Hon. CEO supported Ms Roberts’ comments, adding “Many parents are still struggling with how to guide their children to safe use of the internet using computer technology. Now they have to face a whole new raft of challenges. Their awareness of the new technologies is likely to lag behind their children’s, plus they will find it infinitely more difficult to monitor their child’s use of a mobile phone than their use of internet access in a public part of the house.”

YMA, a not-for-profit organisation, is a unique national body whose members share a strong commitment to the promotion of the healthy development of Australian children, with a particular interest in the role the media plays in that development. It is committed to promoting better choices and providing stronger voices in children’s media.

YMA’s outstanding achievement in the past two years has been the establishment and operation of the national freecall Young Media Australia Helpline (1800 700 357) and website (), both of which provide information and advice to parents, caregivers and the general community about the impact of the media on children. Total contacts for the combined services since July 2002 now number more than 135,000 and are growing steadily.