This year’s safety data in the Australian Youth Digital Index shows a familiar paradox.
On the surface, most young people feel confident in the digital world: 95% are active on social media, and 93% say they feel safe online. Indeed, the Safety Index has increased by 2 points, reflecting, in part, a greater understanding of a range of safety measures.
Yet this confidence exists alongside a more complex reality. Seventy-two per cent of young people have encountered at least one potentially unsafe situation online, and cyberbullying remains widespread: 63% say they’ve needed help navigating bullying from people they know, and 46% have needed help dealing with unwanted contact or conflict from strangers. According to a report by the eSafety Commissioner, one in five young Australians report being excluded, threatened or abused.
Understanding the digital experience of young Australians
“Adults often want to categorise digital life as either ‘good’ or ‘bad’,” says Lucy Thomas, CEO and co-founder of PROJECT ROCKIT. “But for young people, the good and the bad tends to exist side by side. They’re navigating all of it at the same time”
PROJECT ROCKIT empowers young people to stand up to bullying, hate, and injustice, both online and offline, and is supported by Telstra Foundation. The organisation delivers workshops, programs, and digital tools that foster empathy, leadership, and inclusive school cultures.
“There’s a big mismatch between what adults consider to be online safety and what teens themselves consider as being the most relevant and important learning that they need to navigate their online worlds,” Lucy says.
“Our focus is on drawing out and elevating the expertise of the young people, to cultivate the skills and confidence and connection to bring about positive change.”
Diverse experiences: risks and rewards for marginalised groups
For young people who face marginalisation offline (such as LGBTQIA+, neurodivergent and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander young people, as well as those living with disability), the internet carries unique risks, but also important benefits. As Lucy notes, these groups “encounter greater rates of harm online, but they also are more likely to seek community, support, and access information online that they might not find elsewhere.”
Young people see risk as part of the terrain, not a signal to retreat, she adds. They expect challenges, and still believe the digital world is worth engaging with.
Blurring boundaries: offline and online worlds
It is also important to recognise the integrated reality of offline and online worlds for young people, and that harm can travel through hallways and group chats, from classroom to screen and back again. This raises complicated questions about responsibility.
“If it’s happening at school, it’s very clear that the responsibility sits with the school, but when it’s happening online, we still don’t have a clear kind of delineation of who’s in charge,” Lucy says. “Is it the platform? Is it government? Is it the school where the students attend, or is the parents? Is it the young people themselves?”
The role of platforms and policy in online safety
Lucy stresses that platforms must improve their safety and privacy features, and move toward a genuine “safety by design” approach, however no amount of technical intervention replaces the need for healthy culture.Perhaps the strongest message from Lucy is the need for youth involvement in decision-making. “Adults are designing products for young people, and adults are designing policies to regulate their safety, but rarely is there adequate or meaningful youth involvement in these big decisions that impact their lives.”
About PROJECT ROCKIT
PROJECT ROCKIT empowers young people to stand up to bullying, hate, and injustice, both online and offline. They deliver workshops, programs, and digital tools that foster empathy, leadership, and inclusive school cultures.
