The National Filter Scheme is the centerpiece of the Australian Government's Protecting Families Online package. Protecting Families Online will also include measures to provide Australian libraries with free filters so computer corners at libraries across Australia will become child-friendly zones.
As part of the implementation of this package the National Library of Australia will be required to provide filtering on all of its public access Internet terminals, with the option of disabling the filter when the terminals are being used by adults.
Internet safety agency NetAlert will be co-located with the regulator -- the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) -- and receive an additional $5 million to expand its educational activities and more actively promote its website and 1800 number as a one-stop information shop for parents with Internet safety concerns.
A comprehensive national community education campaign will also be conducted to ensure that all Australian families are aware of the benefits of regulating their children's Internet experience by using a safe and effective computer filter.
In an effort to ensure that we are using the most effective means at our disposal to crack down on offensive and inappropriate material on the Internet, ACMA will undertake a further trial of ISP based filtering in Tasmania. This will be the fourth time the Government has examined the effectiveness of ISP-level filtering.
ACMA will also be required to provide an annual report on international trends in ISP-level filtering and will work closely with NetAlert to investigate technological improvements in filtering technology.
"This is the single biggest commitment to protecting families online in the history of the Internet in Australia," Senator Coonan said.
"It is proof positive that the Australian Government considers the safety of children and families when they are online to be paramount. This comprehensive package of measures continues our long-standing commitment to legislating, regulating and educating children and families about the dangers lurking on the Net.
"It puts a safer Internet experience within the grasp of every Australian family and it is a solution to the problem posed by Internet pornography that is simple, safe, effective and free.
"Every parent will be able to receive a free filter for their home computer, there will be child-safe terminals in libraries across Australia and our Internet safety agency will be better resourced to undertake an education blitz across Australia to ensure all Australians know about the benefits of filtering out unwanted or illegal material on the Internet.
"This is not a one-size-fits-all approach to protecting Australia families and we are not dictating to every Australian Internet user what they should and shouldn't see.
"Protecting Australian Families Online is about educating parents about the dangers lurking on the Internet and equipping them with the tools they need to make sure when their children venture into cyberspace, they do so safely.
"You wouldn't send your child out to ride their bike without a helmet, or let them travel in a car without a seatbelt, so why would we let them surf the Internet without the protection of an effective filter?
"The Government's Protecting Australian Families Online package will put a safer Internet experience within the grasp of every Australian family."
The Protecting Families Online package complements the range of measures already in place to protect Australian families including $35 million for the Australian Federal Police to ensure they have the powers and resources to target, infiltrate and shut-down organised online paedophile networks.
Protecting Australian Families Online:
National Filter Scheme
The National Filter Scheme will receive $93.3 million over three years to provide Australian families with the technology and support to protect their children in a rapidly changing online environment. The Internet industry will continue to offer filters or a filtered service after the initial three year period, at no cost to families.
Under this scheme, families will be offered a filtered service or a free filter for their home computer either for download from a dedicated website or delivered to them on CD-ROM. All ISPs will also be required to offer filters to new and existing customers at no additional cost.
The filters will allow parents to set access limits based on their own family values to protect children from offensive content on the Internet and emerging new mobile content services.
The scheme will be administered by the Department of Communications, Information Technology and the Arts with the support of NetAlert, and will accredit a panel of filters for distribution that have been tested and approved by the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) for efficacy and minimum filter standards.
To make it easy for parents to install and operate these systems, filter providers will be required to offer phone support. NetAlert provides a free service for parents to seek more generic advice for Internet safety issues that can be accessed by ringing 1800 880 176.
Child-safe computers in Australian public libraries
The protections offered by free home-based PC filters will be extended to cover those families who do not have access to the Internet in their homes and rely on public libraries to provide this service.
The National Filter Scheme will provide free filters to all public libraries nationally. As part of the implementation of this package the National Library of Australia will be required to provide filtering on all of its public access Internet terminals, with the option of disabling the filter when the terminals are being used by adults.
In conjunction with the responsible State, Territory and Local Governments, libraries will be encouraged to mirror the action required of the National Library of Australia and make as many of their computers as possible child-safe.
NetAlert funding
The Government's Internet advisory body, NetAlert, will receive $5 million in additional funding over three years to restructure and improve its effectiveness.
This package will include moving NetAlert from Hobart to co-locate the organization with ACMA's Melbourne office, expanding its educational activities and more actively promoting its website and 1800 number as the first stop for parents with Internet safety concerns.
Review of filtering technology
The Government will keep ISP-level Internet content filtering technology under regular review and will conduct another trial of ISP-level filtering technology in Tasmania.
ACMA will be required to provide an annual report on international trends in ISP-level filtering and will work closely with NetAlert to investigate technological improvements in filtering technology.
Through ACMA, the Government will provide a watching brief on new technologies to ensure Australian families are offered the best available filtering.
Community information campaign
A community information campaign will provide information promoting the free filter initiative and detailed information advising parents how they can access free filters and Internet safety information.
