The prolific number of sexual assaults stemming from dating apps will be spotlighted this week, with advocates and government coming together to work on reform.

Communications Minister Michelle Rowland will convene the online dating safety roundtable on Wednesday after calls for reform grew louder last month when a NSW man was charged with the murder of a woman he met online.

Police allege he had a long history of domestic violence.

The case sparked calls for reforms to stop people with a known violent background registering on dating apps.

Three-quarters of Australian Institute of Criminology survey respondents had been victims of some form of online sexual violence in the past five years.

One-third experienced in-person abuse from someone they met on an app, with 27 per cent of those reporting incidents of sexual assault or coercion, such as drink spiking.

Social Services Minister Amanda Rishworth, eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant, state and territory ministers and representatives from dating apps including Match, Bumble and Grindr will all attend.

The roundtable will cover preventing exploitation of online dating services, supporting users who experience harm and efforts to improve online dating safety.

This includes reporting processes, support for abuse victims and policies to hold perpetrators accountable.

“We need to ensure platforms have the appropriate safeguards for those who use them, and effective mechanisms to report an incident if something does go wrong,” Ms Rowland said.

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1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732)

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