The Australian Government has allotted $128.9 of its annual federal budget to give Aussie children a safer and friendlier online environment. Around $49 million of this budget will go to law enforcement while the rest will be used for ISP filtering plan.

ITWire reported that the Australian Government would also make available a filtered internet service, or what it calls "clean feed", to all homes, schools and public internet points which might be freely accessed by children.

To fully ensure that children are well protected online, The Australian Federal Police (AFP) Child Protection Operations Team will be expanded to boosts its capacity to detect and investigate crimes committed against children online. The $49 million funding will pay for an additional 91 AFP members to help out in this drive. The money will also be used to help the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions in handling prosecutions and related activities brought about by increased investigation of online criminals preying on innocent children online.

Although the renewed support to the AFP may not pose any issue, the ISP filtering plan on the other hand is facing controversy. This is due to the fact that critics fears that ISP level filtering may extend to other "inappropriate" materials other than those not suited for children.

The Government’s plan is to develop a range of measures that will empower children to become responsible online community members. This plan ought to give parents, teachers, trainee teachers, librarians and children various online cyber-safety resources and assistance.

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