Arabic version: مفوضة الشرطة الفدرالية الأسترالية تحث على الدعم البشري لضحايا الإساءة عبر الإنترنت

According to ABC News, more than one in three Australian children sexually victimised online either tell no-one or turn to an AI chatbot for help. The finding comes from data produced through an initiative involving Adelaide University and the AFP-led Australian Centre to Counter Child Exploitation.

Australian Federal Police Commissioner Krissy Barrett said law enforcement could not be the only safety net for vulnerable young people. The study found that 35 per cent of children sexually victimised online had confided in an AI chatbot or not told anyone, while more than 15 per cent of young people sought personal or counselling advice from AI at least weekly. For victimised boys, two in five disclosed only to an AI bot or stayed silent.

Barrett called the trend “heartbreaking” and said automated software could not provide the human support and protection children need. She said parents, carers, family members, educators and community leaders were best placed to spot withdrawal or behavioural changes, and urged adults to create safe opportunities for conversations about online activity.

The commissioner did not directly endorse extending the federal government’s under-16 social media ban to conversational AI tools. She said any measure that helped keep children safer was supported, but added that bans were not the whole solution. The AFP is also working with Monash University’s AiLECS Lab on a welfare tool designed to triage reports of harm to the Australian Centre to Counter Child Exploitation for human assessment.

The AFP released its first AI strategy last month, describing it as a human-led approach intended to match the scale and pace of offending, particularly in child exploitation and youth radicalisation. Barrett said partnerships with academia and technology companies would be increasingly important in developing responses to online harm.