Nearly 60% of Australian parents don’t use in-app parental controls

While discussion around Australia’s youth social media ban simmers, there’s another digital issue plaguing parents across the country. Although many are aware of parental controls designed to keep children safe online, more than half of parents don’t use them.

That’s according to new research commissioned by Snapchat, a social media app with a predominantly young user base. In a survey of more than a thousand Australian parents, 82% reported being aware of parental controls across various apps and online platforms. However, 57% of parents don’t use them. While there’s slightly more uptake for device-specific parental controls, it appears that the tools available via apps and online aren’t used as much.

This is despite Snapchat’s research finding that when parents use such online safety tools, they overwhelmingly find them helpful. More than 90% of respondents said parental controls help keep their families safer online, and recommend that other families use the tools too.

“While awareness of parental controls is growing, too many Australian parents still aren’t utilising the options available to them as they grapple with parenting in a digital world that many didn’t experience when they themselves were growing up,” said Susan McLean, a cyber safety expert who previously worked for Victoria Police.

Looking closer at parental controls

When the federal government first floated an underage social media ban, experts argued that education was a better solution. Parental controls are a set of tools embedded in apps, online platforms, and gaming ecosystems that let families set screen limits, restrict access to harmful content, and monitor general use.

Australia’s eSafety Commissioner, who recently called for YouTube to be included in the social media ban alongside Snapchat, has a comprehensive list of the parental controls available across popular platforms. It includes Snapchat’s Family Centre, TikTok’s Family Pairing, and the device-specific tools found on Apple and Android phones.

McLean stressed that while features like parental controls are valuable, they’re best used as a holistic approach to online safety.

“[Parental controls] are not the only measure, but alongside speaking with your family regularly about how to stay safe online, setting up accounts and devices together and establishing clear rules about the use of technology, parental tools should be a vital part of any family’s online safety strategy.”

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