Education

Te Tari Taiwhenua Department of Internal Affairs (DIA) works to educate people on issues related to online safety and child sexual exploitation. The initiatives listed below are some examples of education work DIA has undertaken or supported.

Keep It Real Online campaign

Keep It Real Online (KIRO) was a two-year campaign that aimed to raise awareness of the online harms faced by rangatahi and tamariki and provide advice and support to address these issues. As part of the campaign, an online hub was developed which provides information, tools and resources for parents, educators, and youth on a range of online harms such as porn, bullying, relationships, grooming, and misinformation.

The first phase of the campaign launched a series of adverts targeted at parents and caregivers to highlight these key online issues. These adverts reached over 870,000 parents and caregivers in Aotearoa and data showed a steadily declining number of attempts to access pornography on school devices while the campaign was running.

Phase two of the campaign saw the release of The Eggplant, a mini-series with six episodes that use comedy to raise awareness for how these online issues affect young people. A survey commissioned by the Department found 67% of households with young people who watched The Eggplant mini-series had discussions about online safety afterwards. A one-off special episode of The Eggplant was released in September 2021 which focused on misinformation and the real-world consequences of making decisions that are not based on reliable information.

Phase three of the campaign introduced The Inter-Yeti, an interactive online e-book that equips 5-11-year-olds with the tools they need to identify, evaluate, and combat any potential issues or harms they may face online.

Terminology Project: Legal definitions and terminology considerations

When combating child sexual exploitation, the use of terminology may vary across agencies, industries, and jurisdictions. The Terminology Project sought to bring clarity to the use of terminology in Aotearoa New Zealand to streamline discussions, research accurately and avoid confusion and ongoing harm to victims and survivors of child sexual exploitation. It resulted in the creation of a framework with terminology guidelines that provide consistent, accurate language when referring to harm associated with child sexual exploitation. For a full overview of how to use terms in New Zealand, see: Terminology Project: Legal definitions and terminology considerations September 2022 (PDF, 288KB)