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CANBERRA - The Australian Federal Police (AFP) will receive A$43.5 million ($49.81 million) for more officers to detect and investigate online child sex predators.
The funding will enable the deployment of an extra 90 staff by 2010 for the Online Child Sex Exploitation Team (OCSET) and its hi-tech crime units.
The announcement is part of the federal government's A$189 million Net Alert initiative which would provide free internet filtering programs to households, appoint internet safety officers and conduct a public awareness campaign.
The government will enter into a partnership with internet service providers to deliver a filtered internet service.
The program was originally announced in June last year, but the federal government said the program now included further initiatives.
Prime Minister John Howard said the AFP would be given a boost "to detect perverts and predators who seek to use the internet as a means of getting in touch with children for their own perverted purposes".
"We'll be funding a significant information campaign and education campaign for parents and also providing a hotline service that will be available during family friendly hours," Mr Howard told reporters.
He said the filtering program would provide protection for children using the internet, but said parents would still need to monitor their child's internet use.
"It will automatically block the black-listed material and, in addition, any other material that parents deem inappropriate for their children," Mr Howard said.
"This particular programme will assist parents who want to be vigilant to give affect to that vigilance."
Communications Minister Helen Coonan said parents would have access to a PC-based filter for installation on their home computer or an ISP-filtered internet service, where the internet feed is filtered before it reaches the family home.
Both filtering options would filter web content against the federal government's black-list, a list of banned internet sites, but PC-based filters have additional functions.
Senator Coonan said the PC-based filters could be used by parents to tailor their child's internet experience.
"Our whole filter program is designed to let parents choose how to tailor make their own child's experience," Senator Coonan said.
"If you've got a seven-year-old, you can set the filter at a different level than if you've got an 11-year-old."
Senator Coonan said the program not only restricted web-based access but also filtered contact including peer to peer, chat rooms, and emails.
"For instance, a small child can't give out their name, or location, so if they're being contacted by some unsavoury person online, obviously, they can be protected in that way," she said.
The package will go live on Monday, August 20.
- AAP
