In 2011, Surf Online Safe was not even a thought! My education was simply a part-time response to help kids at my son’s school become aware of the risks I was seeing at Tech Crime. Within only a few months, I was getting enquiries from other schools willing to pay me for that advice.
Another income as a WA Police Officer, required declaring secondary employment. So, this week in 2012, Surf Online Safe was registered as a business and officially born! By the middle of 2013, my bookings had increased significantly and finding time to fit them in as a full-time Police Officer was getting difficult! I was running presentations on my days off and during holidays, or in the evenings to parents.
In October of 2013, I decided to take leave from WAPOL to see if SOS would take off! By February of 2014, I had to make a difficult decision; leave the security of an amazing job I had loved for 20 years or follow a passion to educate kids on the risks of the online world.
Looking back on that decision today, it was one of the greatest of my life. I remember saying to my wife, “If I can get into 50 schools, I reckon we will be okay”. Little did I know how quickly things would take off and where SOS was headed. I submitted my resignation the following March, and have been completely stunned at the journey I have taken over the past decade.
Today, I am immensely honoured to be speaking at over 700 schools and organisations across the country, including some of Australia’s most prestigious colleges. I am proud to have been presenting annually to many of my communities for those entire 10 years.
Last week I was welcomed by a Deputy Principal at All Saints College, a school I have been presenting at for 11 years (1 of my 2 very first schools). As I was introduced to the Year 7 cohort, an older bio of mine was read out to the group. After reading, “Paul hopes to build Surf Online Safe to be one of the leading Cyber Safety organisations in the country!”, the deputy looked at me and stated, “I believe he has well and truly now achieved that goal.”
That single statement made me reflect on exactly how far I have come over the past decade. To hear it acknowledged by a client and peer, got me quite emotional.
Since 2012, I have worked extremely hard in building my reputation as a quality educator, to help shift the culture of internet use by children across our nation. In addition to giving education based on my experiences at Tech Crime, I have also worked tirelessly to ensure a more proactive response from government to online safety.
From 2012 to 2014, I designed several national training programs and education packages aimed at educating children on cyber safety. Many of these still being used today by government and private sector training organisations.
From 2014 to 2016, I worked with key stakeholders within WA Education to offer advice and guidance to identify the best approach to cyber safety education in this state. Many of the principals I suggested, remain part of the curriculum today and helped drive the states response toward compulsory cyber safety education in schools.
One of my proudest goals was achieved in 2019, when Intimate Image Abuse legislation was introduced into WA. After battling out of touch legislators for 5 years, finally the victims of such abuse had a voice. I have been contacted by many victims of Intimate Image Abuse since 2019, who thanked me personally for giving them that voice.
Currently, I continue to push the Office of the Attorney General for the introduction of specific cyberbullying laws in WA. Our current legislation is a miss-match of irrelevant laws not designed to address the intricacies of the online harms caused by this modern-day virus. My voice once again being heard with the introduction of a working party in 2021 aimed at addressing this very serious matter.
This year, my commitment and hard work culminated in me being named the 2022 WA Australian of the Year. Words can not describe the pride I have in receiving that honour, and how overwhelmed and humbled I was to stand beside so many amazing Australians who have contributed so much to our great nation.
However, such achievements and accolades fade into the background behind what drives me the most, and what gives me the greatest of pride. It is the respect and trust I get from ‘my kids’!
Since 2014, I have had the honour of speaking to over 350thousand children in Australia. Many of these kids I have had the privilege of speaking to for 8 years. To see Y12’s in tears after a farewell presentation, are experiences which will remain with me for life.
Since leaving the WA Police, I have had over one thousand Australian children contact me directly for assistance in dealing with the online harms they were facing. Many of these kids were dealing with serious matters to which they believed there was no escape. Their pleas of help ignored by online environments who did not see them as human beings, but merely as “users”!
Those few children who had the courage to tell parents and teachers, soon realised those supporters would also be failed by uncaring online environments, as well as a lack of legislation or support options.
Over the past 14 years, three children I was working hard to assist, made the terrible decision to take their own lives rather then continue to face the harms they were being relentlessly exposed to. It is such issues which continue to drive me to be a voice for kids in the online world. Not to judge them or ridicule them, but to guide them, and give them the tools and knowledge to protect themselves online.
The engagement I get from my juvenile audiences is truly inspiring. The feedback I get each day from them is extremely humbling, and the trust they have in me is the sole reason for my success.
Surf Online Safe would be nothing if not for my kids and the schools who continue to trust me with this valuable education to their communities.
As I celebrate a decade of SOS, I thank you all for contributing to my amazing journey. It means the world to me.