In a big step towards Australian children being better protected against cyberbullying when they go online, the Enhancing Online Safety for Children Bill 2014 has been introduced in the Commonwealth Parliament, Federal Member for Bonner, Ross Vasta, said today.

“Parents, schools, teachers and children in Bonner have given me extensive feedback about the harmful effects of cyberbullying, and the impact it can have on young people,” Mr Vasta said.

“This bill will play a significant role in addressing the growing problem of cyberbullying, and will enhance online safety for children in our community.”

The Bill was introduced into Parliament by Paul Fletcher MP, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Communications.

“This is about delivering on our election promise to enhance online safety for children,” said Mr Fletcher.

“With research showing that one in five Australian children are the victims of cyber-bullying, this Bill brings powerful new tools to help keep children safe online.”

 The Enhancing Online Safety for Children Bill 2014 includes a range of measures to combat cyberbullying and provide a safer online environment for children, including:

 · Establishing the office of the Children’s e-Safety Commissioner (theCommissioner) and setting out the Commissioner’s functions and powers;

 · Creating an effective complaints system for harmful cyberbullying material targeted at an Australian child, with the Commissioner given two sets of powers it can use in responding to a complaint:

  o    The power to issue a notice to a large social media service (social media service notice) requiring it to remove the material;

o    The power to issue a notice to the person who posted the material (end-user notice) requiring the person to remove the material, refrain from posting the material or apologise for posting the material.

The measures in the Bill are designed to encourage large social media services to work cooperatively with the Commissioner under what is called ‘tier 1’.

However, if a large social media service repeatedly fails to respond to a notice from the Commissioner, then it can be moved to ‘tier 2’, meaning that it has a legal duty to remove cyberbullying material if it receives a notice from the Commissioner, and faces substantial fines if it does not.

“We have consulted very extensively – with schools, parents, kids from ages 5 to 17, social media services and other stakeholders – both in opposition and in government,” Ross Vasta said.

“The message from the community is loud and clear – government must act to fight cyberbullying and help keep Aussie kids safer online.”

The Commissioner will take a national leadership role in children’s online safety initiatives across government to develop and implement policies to improve safety for children online. The Commissioner’s office will be established as an independent statutory office with in the Australian Communications and Media Authority.

The Commissioner will work closely with police and other government agencies, as well as the internet industry, child protection organisations, and parent and teacher associations.

The Commissioner will administer funding of $7.5 million for online safety programmes in schools and $0.1 million to support Australian-based research and information campaigns on online safety.

The $7 Medicare co-payment measure announced in the 2014-15 Budget will no longer proceed.

The Government will instead implement a package of measures that will strengthen Medicare and help make it sustainable, ensuring Australians will continue to have access to affordable, world-class health care.

The Government has listened to the views of the community. 

This new package ensures the Government can make Medicare sustainable, improve the quality of care for patients and continue its repair of the Budget.

The Medicare rebate paid to doctors for some consultations will be reduced by $5 and the troublesome issue of ‘six minute medicine’ will be addressed by encouraging doctors to spend more time with patients.

Optional co-payment and protection for patients

A new optional co-payment will be introduced for GP services with additional protections for patients.

The Government will not impose a co-payment on GP services provided to pensioners, Commonwealth concession card holders, all children under the age of 16, veterans funded through the Department of Veterans’ Affairs, attendances at residential aged care facilities and pathology and diagnostic imaging services. 

Incentives paid to doctors to encourage them to bulk bill concession card holders and children under the age of 16 will also remain.

Medicare rebates for common GP consultations will be reduced by $5 for non-concessional patients aged 16 and over from 1 July 2015.

Doctors may choose to recoup the $5 rebate reduction through an optional co-payment or continue to bulk bill non-concessional patients over the age of 16. 

Doctors will be under no obligation to charge the co-payment and this decision will be entirely at their discretion.

Improving patient outcomes by tackling ‘six minute medicine’

In a further move to streamline Medicare and improve quality outcomes, the Government will make changes to standard GP consultation items which currently provide the same Medicare rebate for a six minute consultation as for a 19 minute consultation.

This change will ensure that Medicare expenditure more accurately reflects the time a GP spends with a patient.

It encourages a shift away from ‘six minute medicine’ so that appropriate, comprehensive care is better rewarded over patient throughput. 

Additionally Medicare fees for all services provided by GPs, medical specialists, allied health practitioners, optometrists and others will remain at their current level until July 2018.

Making Medicare Sustainable and the Medical Research Future Fund

The Government is committed to taking these prudent measures to protect Medicare. 

Medicare will not survive in the long term without changes to make it sustainable.

In the last decade spending on Medicare has more than doubled from $8 billion in 2004 to $20 billion today, yet we raise only $10 billion from the Medicare levy. Spending is projected to climb to $34 billion in the next decade to 2024.

In the last year alone, 275 million services were provided free to patients. That’s three out of every four Medicare services being bulk billed.  

These changes will contribute more than $3 billion to the Medical Research Future Fund which will fund the research needed to find cures to the health problems of today. 

In six years the returns from the MRFF will provide a billion dollars to be invested in medical research annually – doubling our national funding commitments to researchers.