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As part of Child Protection Week 2024, Australian law enforcement agencies have united for a weeklong intensive training program, focusing on the latest tools and techniques to combat the distribution of child sexual abuse material (CSAM). This critical event underscores the nation’s unwavering commitment to safeguarding children and dismantling networks that exploit them.
The training was attended by representatives from all Australian law enforcement agencies and was supported by leading organisations in the field of child protection, including ICMEC Australia, AiLECS Lab at Monash University, the Queensland Police Service’s specialist unit Argos, and Child Rescue Coalition. Their expertise and dedication have been instrumental in equipping officers with the knowledge and skills needed to stay ahead of evolving threats.
Anna Bowden, CEO of the International Centre for Missing and Exploited Children (ICMEC) Australia, highlighted the importance of the training:
“This program gave participants hands-on experience with the latest technological advancements and investigative techniques. ICMEC Australia is proud to sponsor this essential training for Australian law enforcement. We recognise the challenges faced in child protection cases and believe it’s crucial for those on the front lines to be equipped with the latest skills and knowledge to effectively fulfill their critical roles.”
Michael Donlan, CEO of CRC said “Child Rescue Coalition plays a unique role in the global online harms prevention ecosystem and we are proud of the difference we are making; our technology has resulted in 10’s of thousands of offenders being arrested and even more children rescued from abuse. However, if we are to protect even more children, we need to work in partnership with key partners like ICMEC, academics and law enforcement partners to raise awareness and understanding. We are excited to be a part of this initiative!”
Detective Acting Superintendent Blanchfield from Queensland Police Service emphasised the significance of the training: “Child Protection Week is a reminder of the critical work that lies ahead in protecting our most vulnerable. This intensive training has strengthened our collective resolve and provided us with the cutting-edge tools needed to combat the distribution of child sexual abuse material more effectively.”
Associate Professor Campbell Wilson, Co-Director of AiLECS Lab from Monash University, added, “Collaboration between law enforcement, academic institutions and child protection organisations is vital in developing innovative solutions to this global problem. The support from ICMEC Australia and Child Rescue Coalition has been invaluable in making this training possible.”
ICMEC Australia and Child Rescue Coalition have long been at the forefront of efforts to protect children from exploitation. Their support in this initiative highlights their ongoing commitment to empowering law enforcement with the resources necessary to combat CSAM.
This intensive training is just one part of a broader strategy to enhance the capabilities of Australian law enforcement agencies in the fight against child exploitation. As Child Protection Week draws to a close, the participants leave the training with renewed determination and enhanced skills to continue their vital work in protecting children.
The training event will finalise on Friday 6 September. Representatives are available for interview.
Ends-
For further information, please contact:
Professor Jon Rouse: jon.rouse@monash.edu +61 416 120 663
About Child Protection Week Child Protection Week is an annual event in Australia dedicated to raising awareness of the importance of safeguarding children and preventing child abuse. It brings together communities, organizations, and professionals committed to protecting children and advocating for their rights.
About ICMEC Australia The International Centre for Missing & Exploited Children (ICMEC) Australia is a key advocate against online-facilitated child sexual exploitation (CSE), boldly confronting this issue alongside a coalition of partners. Their mission is to support and empower professionals in detecting, reporting, prosecuting, and preventing CSE. As an independent not-for-profit, ICMEC Australia collaborates with financial services, law enforcement, policymakers, academics, and NGOs to develop tools and strategies that protect children. Through data-driven initiatives, training, and research, ICMEC Australia is dedicated to creating a safer world for children.
About AiLECS Lab Born out of research collaboration on accelerating digital forensics and countering online child exploitation, AiLECS Lab is a formal collaboration between Monash University and the Australian Federal Police, and undertakes research and development to create the next generation of AI systems for law enforcement and community safety applications.
About Queensland Police Service Argos Unit The Argos Unit is a specialist branch of the Queensland Police Service, recognised internationally for its efforts in combating child exploitation and online child sexual abuse.
About Child Rescue Coalition Child Rescue Coalition is a nonprofit organisation that uses technology to protect children from sexual exploitation. Their work involves developing tools and resources to aid law enforcement in identifying and apprehending offenders.
Sharing your story as a victim-survivor of child sexual abuse can be an empowering experience. The more we bring this subject into the light and create community awareness, the less stigmatising it will become. However, engaging with the media can be a challenging and confusing experience potentially leading to further harm and trauma. Telling your story in a public forum is a courageous choice. If you have made this decision these guidelines, commissioned by the National office for Child Safety (NOCS), will help guide you and your loved ones through the process.
Full guide: Engaging with media about child sexual abuse: For victims and survivors.
Quick reference guide: Key principles for victims and survivors engaging with the media.
Child sexual abuse and exploitation is a challenging subject to report. The National Office for Child Safety (NOCS) has commissioned the University of Canberra News and Research Centre to create evidence-based media guides to support journalists and editors when reporting and writing about current or historical child abuse.
The guides are designed to encourage reporting that raises community awareness of child sexual abuse, reduce stigma, and empowers victim survivors when they share their personal stories wth the media.
Discussing child sexual abuse can be retraumatising for a victim-survivor sharing their story, but also when reading a story.
These guides provide advice on appropriate language and terminology, and what to avoid, as well as how to develop and frame stories that are victim survivor-centric and non-stigmatising. They also provide information on sensitivities to consider when engaging with victims and survivors.
Or, access the quick reference guides:
Anna Bowden is the CEO of The International Centre for Missing & Exploited Children, she has extensive past experience in impact investing, philanthropy and impact strategy.
With an emphasis on building new models for social impact across the globe, Anna’s affinity for the vital work of countering child sexual exploitation, combined with a natural connection to innovative solutions to the world’s wicked problems, makes her a passionate leader. Read on for our interview with Anna!
Describe your career trajectory and how you got to your current position.
My career has always been driven by a passion for making a positive social impact. Over the past 20 years, this has guided me to work with businesses and organisations on programs that integrate social impact with investment and business.
I started my career in the back of a private equity office. This was where I first realised that the money, knowledge, and expertise I was surrounded by could be channelled towards positive social impact (an unusual take at the time). Looking back, this was a transformative moment in my career and a compass that guided me over the decades.
In 2022, I joined ICMEC Australia as Head of the Child Protection Fund before becoming CEO later that year. At ICMEC Australia, we focus on improving the detection, reporting, and prevention of online child sexual abuse. Our work is targeted at helping industry professionals sharpen the tools they need to address child sexual abuse and make a tangible difference.
As a survivor of this kind of abuse myself, I feel a deep sense of purpose in applying my skills to combat one of the fastest-growing crimes in the world. My career has shown that we can make a real difference by combining business and financial expertise with a commitment to social good. Even after 20 years, my sense that we can do better to protect the most vulnerable has only grown.
Take us through a typical day of work for you.
My days are usually quite busy, so I like to start my morning by blowing off steam at the gym at the crack of dawn, which is quickly followed by the madness of getting myself and two young children ready for work and school.
My days are typically split between meetings with our many stakeholders and our team, attending industry events, and working on strategic projects and reporting.
All the travelling to meetings and events means I’m usually squeezing in emails, work, and calls as I travel to and from things as best I can. I try hard to set aside an hour or so to have an early dinner with my family at the end of the day, and then usually log back on to finish a few pressing things before winding down for the night.
What is the biggest challenge you’ve encountered in your career, and how did you overcome it?
I’ve worked in several startups over the years, and it’s always both thrilling and challenging. The intensity of that challenge is heightened when it’s a nonprofit startup. As is the case with many nonprofits, funding is an enormous hurdle, which requires me to make a lot of tough decisions that not only affect me but the entire team and organisation.
There was a time when our organisation was undergoing a significant restructure, and this really challenged me on a personal and professional level. Of course, I knew that avoiding it wasn’t an option and as hard as it would be, we needed to face it head-on as a team to continue our mission of making a difference.
I found the process very emotionally draining. From the very beginning, I promised myself and my team that I would operate with complete transparency. We have a very small, very dedicated team of tight-knit professionals, so there were questions about what this would mean about individual roles and what it meant for the organisation as a whole.
Being vulnerable, open, and honest with my team helped us navigate the restructure and come out stronger on the other side. It wasn’t easy, but it reinforced the importance of having a strong, aligned structure to support our mission. This situation taught me how even when times are tough, your purpose should be your path forward. Everything we do is for the benefit of detecting and preventing child sexual abuse, and sometimes that comes with difficult, confronting, or uncomfortable decisions.
If you could go back in time, what piece of advice would you give yourself as you first embarked on your career?
I would remind myself that the mission always comes before your own comfort. I learned this many years ago when I took on a role thinking I was the right fit, only to find within a few days of starting that I wasn’t the best person for the job. I stayed for many months trying to make it work; partially because I didn’t want to leave the company in the lurch, but also because I was somewhat fearful of how such a short-lived role would look on my resume. I didn’t want future employers to think that I give up when the going gets tough.
Eventually, I realised that by staying in the role, I was hindering the organisation and its ability to fulfil its mission. While I was still concerned about how it would look professionally, I decided that I needed to check my ego and step away so someone better equipped for the role could step in. It was hard, but it’s something that I now look back on with gratitude because it taught me that when you work in the social impact space, you can never put your pride above the mission you’re working towards. I’d tell myself, this will hurt in the short term, but it will feel much better doing the right thing in the long term.
How do you unwind after work?
I won’t lie – learning to unwind is a work in progress for me. I have two young daughters and my passion for what we do at ICMEC Australia makes it very hard for me to switch off. I’m working on it, but I often battle with sending one more email or reviewing one more document instead of closing the laptop.
With that being said, I make an effort to disconnect from work and screens by 8 pm. As someone who has struggled with insomnia all my life, this gives me some time to clear my head before bed.
I’ve also recently started taking ‘quiet breaks’. I don’t think I could quite call it meditating – more like switching off all the stimuli and inputs for a bit. I’m a big believer in starting small – so I spend just five or 10 minutes a day calming my mind during a bit of silence. Hopefully I’ll get better at it as I go – maybe even enough to define it as meditating!
I also really enjoy reading and listening to podcasts, on a wide range of topics. I love learning. I don’t watch much television, but I’ll usually get through at least a couple of books a week.
Imagine a world where some of the most vulnerable people are subjected to the unimaginable, yet their suffering remains largely hidden in the shadows. For more than one in three Australian girls and almost one in five boys who experience child sexual abuse, this world is their reality.
Pretty confronting statistics. I was one of those statistics, having experienced abuse as a child, and it’s one of the many reasons why I am so passionate about bringing this topic out of the shadows and into the light by talking openly about child sexual abuse and exploitation and what we must do to stop it.
Despite its horrifying prevalence, child sexual exploitation (CSE) is rarely talked about. However, there are some things we can all do in our day-to-day lives as well as steps that industries and businesses can take to help put an end to this horrific crime.
Online child sexual exploitation is one of the fastest-growing crimes, so much so that the amount of the most severe category of child sexual abuse material has doubled since 2020. With children spending more time than ever online, this is a major threat to the safety of young people everywhere. A study released this week estimates that globally, over 300 million children were subject to abusive behaviours online, in the last year alone.
Unfortunately, the rapidly evolving nature of technology also makes CSE increasingly difficult to prevent, detect, and prosecute. Investigative approaches and companies who want to address this growing problem need support to develop the right resources, skills, and capacity to fight this crime.
ICMEC Australia works with companies – particularly in the financial services sector – governments, and charities to help them develop the knowledge, tools, and abilities to identify, prevent, and report CSE. We do this by delivering a number of programs, such as data products and training, that help to both empower these organisations and connect them in a united fight against CSE.
The only way to put an end to CSE is for organisations across every industry to look at where and how this crime thrives and to put measures in place that directly address it. It’s a collective effort, but by coming together, we can help prevent and stop children being harmed.
To address CSE, we must first address the significant gaps in the response ecosystem. The confronting truth is that various commercial sectors inadvertently have their digital platforms used by perpetrators seeking to access child sexual abuse material (CSAM). They pay for it via online banking accounts, target and groom children via social media, and share CSAM through communication services, apps and chat platforms.
Thousands of entities hold pieces of the digital evidence puzzle, but because these pieces are not connected, it’s impossible to form a complete picture. This means we all have a role to play in putting a stop to this crime, and that starts with collaboration.
Through our work at ICMEC Australia, we facilitate greater collaboration between industries and organisations through capability building and information and data sharing. To stay across emerging technology innovations, we also have a dedicated catalytic incubator that supports several data and technology projects. By fostering greater transparency, traceability, prosecution, and prevention of CSE, we are contributing to a world where children are safe from the life-changing consequences of this crime.
Another important part of our work is collaborating with law enforcement agencies on the frontlines of detecting and investigating perpetrators of CSE. Despite their pivotal role, the changing landscape of modern technology means they often need more support and resources to uplift their techniques.
Of course, we cannot address CSE without speaking about it – and this is often the hardest part of the process. I get it – there are few topics more distressing and disturbing, so it makes sense that people don’t want to think about it, much less talk about it. However, this only leads to larger gaps in public understanding and advocacy, and it’s in these gaps that this crime thrives.
One of the most significant awareness gaps is in parent-to-child communication. Research shows that while 97 per cent of households with children under 15 have access to the internet, just 52 per cent of Australian parents and carers are having conversations with their children about online safety. This leaves far too many children susceptible to exploitative encounters or material online, highlighting the need for greater awareness and education.
By increasing public awareness, ICMEC Australia drives meaningful change and encourages more proactive measures to protect children. It’s only by having these confronting conversations – whether it’s in our workplaces, in our personal lives, or directly with our children – that we can stand against CSE and create a world without it.
While ICMEC Australia may not work on the frontlines of CSE, it is our privilege to support those who do. Through connection and collaboration, we empower organisations, government agencies, and law enforcement professionals to ensure they are better equipped to tackle this growing problem. Together we can confront the realities of child sexual exploitation and bring justice to the countless vulnerable people who have been forced into silence.
If you or someone you know is experiencing, or at risk of experiencing, domestic, family or sexual violence, call 1800RESPECT on 1800 737 732, text 0458 737 732 or visit 1800RESPECT.org.au for online chat and video call services.
If you are concerned about your behaviour or use of violence, you can contact the Men’s Referral Service on 1300 766 491 or visit http://www.ntv.org.au.
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ICMEC Australia’s May Monthly Brown Bag webinar series featured Georgia Naldrett, the Stop It Now! Australia Manager within The Men’s Project at Jesuit Social Services and Dee Nicholas, the Senior Practitioner at Stop It Now! Australia.
During the session, Georgia and Dee delved into the importance of secondary prevention efforts in combatting child sexual abuse. They also examined emerging trends from the perpetrator prevalence study with UNSW and their work with perpetrators via the Stop It Now! Australia helpline, including what we know about their online behaviour (e.g. use of cryptocurrency, pornography use etc.).
Recent press coverage and events in Australia have sparked widespread discussions about online safety, highlighting the way technology has increasingly integrated into our daily lives, particularly for children. Concerns about online harms have surged to the forefront of public consciousness, prompting a call for urgent action.
ICMEC Australia welcomes the recent decision by the Federal Government to enforce stronger measures preventing Australian children from accessing explicit online content. This initiative represents a key step in shielding children from harmful exposure to pornography and artificial intelligence-generated sexual content online.
It is evident that there is a lot more work to be done in this space and a pressing need for comprehensive online safety measures to protect individuals, especially children from online threats. With sextortion increasing along with the prevalence of AI-generated child sexual abuse material (CSAM), there is an urgency for us to act. We strongly support the unrelenting efforts of the eSafety Commissioner in online child protection and in setting a global standard for responding to this crime.
We must take a collaborative approach, with all stakeholders playing a role in fostering a safer online environment. By fostering partnerships between government, industry, educators, parents, and young people themselves, Australia can cultivate a culture of responsibility and accountability in the digital space.
The Online Safety Act typically undergoes a review every three years. However, in response to the rapid changes in the online landscape since 2021, the process has been brought forward. The Australian Government is now asking for input and insights into the review process. ICMEC Australia is committed to prioritising child protection, and we encourage you to join us in ensuring it remains a top priority. You can contribute by submitting your input to The Act here.
Together, we can work towards creating a safer and more secure online world for children.
Child sexual exploitation (CSE) is a complex and widespread crime that is showing no signs of abating. The Australian Childhood Maltreatment Study from April 2023 found more than one in four Australians have experienced one or more types of child sexual abuse.
You might be wondering: how does this relate to my small business? The reality is that every small business, including those whose business is conducted online, could play a role in fighting CSE.
Through technological advances, perpetrators are finding more ways to harm and exploit our children through AI, live-streaming, sextortion and a variety of other means resulting in devastating effects on the victims. For instance, the same Australian Childhood Maltreatment study showed that adults who have experienced child maltreatment are 2.8 times more likely to have a mental health disorder.
We implore businesses to start by learning about the issue and understanding where your systems, processes and procedures can play a role. It takes a whole of community response to break the cycle and we all have a part to play.
Awareness is the first line of defence. Our society can’t confront anything we don’t know or don’t understand. With more information comes greater prevention and protection, and knowledge on what steps to take if something would go wrong.
Spread awareness throughout your business and across your wider stakeholders and partners about the prevalence of this heinous issue, especially in areas that are more vulnerable to this crime like financial services, risk and compliance, procurement, and customer service teams.
It can help to think about this issue from the perspective that unfortunately, statistically, there could be many people in your workforce who have lived experience of child abuse. There may also be many parents or carers who would want to be educated about this issue and better equipped to spread the message further. According to the Australian Centre to Counter Child Exploitation, only 52 per cent of parents and carers talk to their children about online safety. Prevention is key to combatting this crime.
To further your understanding of this issue, you can tap into a multitude of online resources from experts such as the National Office for Child Safety, the eSafety Commissioner and the AFP’s Think U Know program.
Look at your business operations that may be affected by this crime, and understand reporting requirements for each area of your business. Some businesses have mandatory reporting requirements, for instance under the AML/CTF Act. For those entities, resources like AUSTRAC’s Financial Crime Guide Sexual Exploitation Of Children For Financial Gain are very useful.
Even if your business doesn’t have mandatory reporting requirements, or these are already well covered, it’s still essential that your organisation has policies and procedures in place should an incident occur. Without these, there is uncertainty about how to address risks connected with CSE.
Establish guidelines for online communication and social media usage, especially if the business has an online presence. Educate employees about the risks of online interactions to children’s safety, and how to report any concerning behaviour.
As hard as it is, we must confront this issue and have conversations with each other and children about how to prevent and stop this serious crime. We need to open the dialogue across society, small businesses included. With more information comes greater prevention and protection, and knowledge on the steps to take if something were to go wrong.
Once we have awareness, a collaborative and networked approach is essential, within and across financial institutions, and across sectors. If you’re still uncertain, ICMEC Australia can provide guidance, resources and connections to expertise.
ICMEC Australia acknowledges Traditional Owners throughout Australia and their continuing connection to lands, waters and communities. We pay our respects to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders, and Elders past and present.
