Consultations with young people to inform the eSafety Commissioner’s Engagement Strategy for Young People.

In 2021, the eSafety Commissioner commissioned the Young and Resilient Research Centre at Western Sydney University to run a Living Lab process with children and young people to guide the development of eSafety’s Engagement Strategy for Young People.

The process used youth-centred, participatory co-research and co-design methods to explore young people’s insights about online safety and develop recommendations for eSafety’s online safety messaging and resources, and their ongoing engagement with children and young people. This included co-designing a process for establishing a Youth Advisory group, and a draft Aspirational Statement to underpin the Engagement Strategy for Young People.

Forty-nine diverse young people aged 13–18 in urban and rural/regional locations in New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia and Western Australia, each participated in three 2.5-hour online workshops. Twenty-eight participants identified as female, 18 as male, and three as non-binary or other. Thirty-two were in New South Wales, 11 in Victoria, and three each in South Australia and Western Australia. A total of 34 participants were from urban areas, two were from regional or rural areas, and 13 preferred not to say. Five youth facilitators were trained to deliver the online workshops with young people, on behalf of the research team.

Detailed recommendations can be found in the report.