Online safety education has never been more critical, and never more complex. In a world where students engage with social media, AI tools, and gaming platforms daily, school leaders face a clear challenge: how to prepare young people for digital life in a way that actually sticks.
The answer is clear from our recent research: embedding online safety education into the fabric of school life is what leads to real behavioural change.
We unpack what it takes to do that effectively, drawing on the latest findings from the Evidence & Impact Report 2025: New Insights into Effective Online Safety Education report by the Cyber Safety Project and Pivot Professional Learning.
Key Summary
- Structured, teacher-led online safety education leads to measurable shifts in student behaviour.
- Teachers are the key driver – professional development and support directly influence outcomes.
- Digital literacy and AI awareness must now be part of every school’s safety strategy.
- School leaders play a vital role in building capacity and setting a consistent whole-school approach.
Why Embedding Online Safety Matters Now More Than Ever
Australian students are growing up immersed in digital environments. Online interactions are no longer separate from daily life, they are daily life. But while students are digitally active, they’re not always digitally literate or safe.
This makes online safety education a school-wide responsibility. Leaders who take it seriously, invest in teacher preparation, and embed it in the school culture are seeing transformational outcomes in student confidence, conduct, and care online.
What the Research Tells Us
The Evidence & Impact Report 2025: New Insights into Effective Online Safety Education report, based on a national pilot of Cyber Safety Project’s embedded teacher-led curriculum, Cyber Safe Classroom™, with 881 students across seven Australian schools, provides compelling evidence of what works.
- 93% of students became more considerate and respectful online.
- 95% of students were more cautious about who they play with online.
- 70% of students updated at least one password to make it longer and stronger.
- 94% of students applied online safety skills in real-world situations.
- Students showed a 30% improvement in secure password creation.
- There was a marked increase in help-seeking behaviour among students.
One school leader reflected:
“There were quite a few kids actually… making sure their settings were changed. They’re really putting it into action.”
These results are not the product of a single incursion or a video. They come from structured, sequenced lessons delivered by prepared and supported educators.
Read more: Online Safety Education Research That Drives Real Impact
Why Teachers Are the Game-Changer in Online Safety Education
The research is clear: teachers are the single most important factor in whether students learn and apply online safety skills.
Students form rapid judgments about their teachers’ digital credibility. Those who are confident, current, and caring build the trust that allows students to open up about their online experiences.
Effective Teachers:
- Grounded lessons in students’ real online experiences.
- Were observant, picking up on signs of digital distress or disengagement.
- Showed genuine care, which created safe spaces for discussion and learning.
- Gained practical professional learning through Cyber Safe Classroom™ leading to increased confidence, improved skills, and better results.
Without preparation and time, even the best curriculum falls flat. With it, online safety becomes transformative.
“Not just ‘another thing’ — but something that actually matters”
— Pilot School Teacher
The Core Ingredients of Effective Online Safety Education
The schools that saw the strongest results shared these common ingredients:
- Leadership alignment: School leaders made online safety a strategic priority, aligning it with AIP goals and wellbeing strategies.
- Structured curriculum: Weekly, 45-minute lessons focused on values like integrity, empathy, and responsibility.
- Dedicated time: Lesson time was protected, and staff were given time for collaborative planning.
- Reflection and evidence: Schools used Pivot’s data tools to track impact and continuously adapt.
- Supportive culture: Ongoing staff meetings, resource hubs, and shared goals helped online safety become part of the everyday conversation.
The Role of Digital and AI Literacy
Online safety now encompasses far more than stranger danger or screen time. Students need to understand:
- How to spot misinformation and deepfakes
- What AI tools like ChatGPT can (and shouldn’t) be used for
- How to protect personal data across platforms
- Why privacy settings, passwords, and digital boundaries matter
That’s why digital literacy and AI literacy must be embedded alongside online safety. It’s not about teaching kids to fear the internet, it’s about empowering them to navigate it wisely.
How to Build Capacity in Your School
For school leaders, the challenge is not just to deliver online safety lessons, it’s to build a culture around them.
That means:
- Upskilling staff through evidence-based professional development
- Using student data to tailor responses and interventions
- Creating space for teachers to collaborate and reflect
- Embedding online safety into staff meetings, wellbeing programs, and leadership plans
With the right tools and a clear vision, every teacher can become a confident leader of digital safety in their classroom.
Taking a Whole-School Approach
The most successful schools made online safety a shared responsibility — not the job of one digital learning coordinator or wellbeing leader.
They treated it like literacy or numeracy: consistent, scaffolded, and reinforced across all year levels.
A whole-school approach means:
- Common language and values
- Ongoing communication with families
- Visible leadership support
- Alignment with other priorities like wellbeing, digital citizenship, and respectful relationships
It also means acknowledging that this is a journey, not a one-time rollout.
Where to Start: Practical First Steps for School Leaders
If you’re looking to strengthen your school’s approach to online safety, here are five immediate actions:
- Audit your current curriculum and practices — is online safety woven into your programs or treated as an add-on?
- Talk to staff — do they feel confident teaching about digital safety and AI?
- Choose a structured, evidence-based program with PL and data tools.
- Use wellbeing surveys to uncover digital risks and support needs.
- Make it a standing agenda item at leadership and team meetings.
Conclusion
The research is in: when schools take a whole-school, evidence-based approach and when teachers are empowered – students make better choices, take real action, and build lifelong digital skills. Online safety is not a tick-box activity, it’s a long-term commitment that must evolve with the digital world.
Leadership is where that journey begins.
FAQs
How often should online safety be taught?
Ideally, as a sequenced part of the curriculum throughout the year, with regular reinforcement and reflection points.
What should online safety lessons cover?
Digital identity, privacy, password security, respectful online behaviour, help-seeking, misinformation, and AI literacy.
Can any teacher deliver this content?
Yes – with the right preparation and support. Teacher confidence and credibility are key to student engagement.
How can leaders involve families?
Communicate regularly, run parent sessions, and share resources that allow families to extend the learning at home.
This guide is written by Cyber Safety Project, a national education organisation specialising in empowering schools with evidence-based online safety programs, digital and AI literacy education, teacher professional development and parent education.
Learn more about our evidence-based F-8 curriculum Cyber Safe Classroom™
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