The Office of the eSafety Commissioner (OeSC) https://www.esafety.gov.au/ has a comprehensive array of resources for parents and children as well. Most of the information on the Beacon app is sourced in partnership from OeSC so you may find some repeated advice. A few places to start on the eSafety commissioner website for Parental Controls are:
- Taming the technology – this page provides advice about the different methods of parental controls and also has a link to a page called Communications Alliance which provides accreditation to rigorously tested third-party filtering products.
- Hard to have conversations
- eSafety Guide - Learn about the latest games, apps and social media, including how to protect your information and report inappropriate content.
The Directorate strongly recommends families download the Beacon app. The Beacon app is an informative first step. You can navigate the topics easily or use the search function. You can set filters like your children’s ages.
Within this app you can search for ‘parental controls’ and many articles related to the search, including pages with step-by-step instructions on adding parental controls to Apple, Android, and Microsoft devices including phones, iPads, desktops, laptops, and gaming devices such as Xbox, Nintendo and PlayStation will appear. There are also instructions on using parental controls on home Wi-Fi networks, streaming services, and specific apps such as Fortnite, Minecraft, YouTube and many others. There is further advice about third-party parental control software.
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