09/10/2026
More than one in three Australian children who are s*xually victimised online either tell no-one or turn to an AI chatbot for help, according to data from Adelaide University.
The data has prompted Australian Federal Police Commissioner Krissy Barrett to warn law enforcement cannot be the only safety net for vulnerable young people.
In an interview marking her first year in the top job, Commissioner Barrett stopped short of directly endorsing an extension of the federal government's under-16 social media ban to AI chatbots, but stressed that "anything that helps to keep our kids safer is obviously something we support".
The study, an initiative between Adelaide University and the AFP-led Australian Centre to Counter Child Exploitation, has delivered sobering data on how generative tools are altering youth safety.
Amid a sharp increase in children as young as 12 being manipulated through AI-altered n**e images and sadistic online exploitation, the study found 35 per cent of children s*xually victimised online confided in an AI chatbot or did not tell anyone.
More than 15 per cent of young people report seeking personal or counselling advice from AI at least once a week.
Among victimised boys, two in five disclosed their experiences solely to an AI bot or kept quiet entirely.
Commissioner Barrett called the trend "heartbreaking" and warned that automated software could not provide the human support or protection vulnerable youth required.
"Young people are turning to AI more and more for advice and for support and for guidance, and that should be concerning to all of us, not just parents," she said. Commissioner Barrett was realistic about the role of law enforcement.
"We're right at the end of the suite of tools here, and we're a pretty blunt object. Let's be honest, by the time we become involved, the options are reduced," she said.
When pressed on whether the federal government should extend its landmark social media ban for under-16s to conversational AI tools to protect young people, Commissioner Barrett cautioned that legislative bans were not a panacea.
"I won't speak specifically to what government should or shouldn't do," she said.
"I would just say generally that anything that helps to keep our kids safer is obviously something that we support."
Bans were "not the whole solution", she added, noting that while regulatory limits were effective for "starting conversations in households around dinner tables", they could not replace community vigilance.
How parents and communities can step up
Commissioner Barrett said parents, carers, family, educators and community leaders were best placed to notice when a child began to withdraw or alter their behaviour.
"It starts in the home, it starts with parents knowing what their kids are doing online, creating those safe opportunities for conversations," she said.
"You remember when you're at that age, it is awkward talking to your parents about anything, but we need to create that trust in those safe spaces because, as we know, AI technology, it's not a human."
While the use of AI in the exploitation of young people was a major concern for the AFP, Commissioner Barrett was just as emphatic that AI had a place in policing.
To help identify potential exploitation earlier, the AFP is working with Monash University's AiLECS Lab on a welfare tool that triages reports of harm to the Australian Centre to Counter Child Exploitation and refers them to a human for assessment.
"It's quite forward leaning. This is something that we need to be doing more and more: partnering with academia and with tech companies around how do we bring all of our knowledge, expertise and access together to come up with these solutions."
www.projectrescuechildren.org
