- Joshua Flack - Chief Research Officer, Wallis Social
Young people are navigating a complex digital landscape that requires a blend of awareness, prudence and skill. Our research for the Australian Youth Digital Index reveals that young Australians generally have a strong understanding of online safety and are confident in their ability to navigate online spaces, but that there are clear differences across demographic groups.
Qualitative insight into safety skills
Young people who participated in the qualitative element of the research were able to articulate the skills they used to protect themselves when online. Common online safety skills they mentioned included not clicking on suspicious links, ignoring scam messages, and installing malware protection on their devices. They also mentioned blocking or reporting unsafe content to prevent it from reappearing on their feed.
“… on TikTok, which is meant to be a kid safe app, there’s slideshows where it’ll show random nude pictures and…it’s weird, but, it’s something I would scroll past or block the user.” Young person, Female, 14-17 years old
Young people also expressed confidence in their ability to recognise suspicious websites. Many relied on browser prompts to identify dangerous sites, while others went by instinct and felt they were able to sense a “dodgy vibe.”
“… if I go into a website …I know what I’m looking for, you know… and when the little spam things come up at the top.” Young person, Female, 14-17 years old
Location sharing was another safety aspect discussed. While some young people noted the benefits of sharing their location with trusted friends or family for safety reasons, others preferred to keep it off for the same reasons. This tended to be determined by the nature of the app: Young people spoke positively about apps like “Find My” or “Life360” that helped friends stay safe, but were wary of apps like Snapchat with location features that could expose them to unwanted attention.
Turning your location off for Snapchat …I don’t think I’ve ever had mine on, but it’s gotten to the point where if someone has their location on, you can click ‘move to their location’ and you can see the exact address they’re at and it will tell you how long it will take to get there, the steps, kind of everything.
- Young person, Female, 18-25 years old
Gender differences in safety awareness
Our data shows distinct differences in how girls and boys view and approach online safety. Girls are more likely to consider safeguarding their personal information and in the qualitative discussions they were also more likely to mention location-sharing features and tracking tools on their devices.
More than half of the girls surveyed (52%) emphasised privacy and data integrity as essential aspects of online safety, compared to 37% of boys. Girls are more likely to be aware than boys that they should protect their own personal information online and were also more likely to define online safety in terms of caution about strangers or predators online.
Age-related differences in online safety
We observed differences in understanding of online safety across different ages. Among those aged 8-13, only 24% reported a full understanding of online safety, while teens aged 14-17 demonstrated greater confidence around what it means to be safe online (57% said they completely understood).
Issues of concern also differed by age – 8-13 year olds were most concerned about strangers with bad intentions (2%), and “being cyberbullied or harassed” (45%), and less concerned about fake news and misinformation (30%). On the other hand, 18-25 year olds expressed greatest concern about fake news and misinformation (52%) and were noticeably less concerned about being cyber-bullied or harassed (21%).
Unsurprisingly, primary-aged children find it much harder to use safety features (such as muting, blocking or reporting users) and privacy settings, or to recognise suspicious links and secure websites, than young people in high school and above. The youngest age group was also more at risk of encountering disturbing content or lacking the skills to fact-check online content.
For many young people, the journey to becoming digitally safe is self-led. Over 70% of young people aged 14-25 said they learned about online safety skills independently, at least in part. This reflects the availability of information online and young people’s comfort with using the internet as a learning tool, but the research also revealed young people were not getting as much digital safety education from family/social connections (58%) and teachers/community (50%). Independent learning was significantly more common in older groups, however, while learning from adults more common for primary-aged children.
The Australian Youth Digital Index underscores the critical role that young people themselves play in shaping their own online safety, particularly as they learn by doing and adopt new digital skills.
However, the guidance of trusted adults remains invaluable, especially for primary-aged children who may lack the maturity to spot or understand certain risks. Parents, educators, and community groups together form a support system that nurtures confidence and competence in young people, helping them become informed, empowered digital citizens.
To look at all the data from Telstra Foundation’s Australian Youth Digital Index explore the Dashboard on this site.
