Aboriginal Legal Service (NSW/ACT) Limited
  • Get help
    • Criminal charges
    • Bail
    • Child protection
    • Family law
    • Housing and renting
    • Family violence and safety
    • Fines
    • Deaths in custody
    • Problems at work
    • Custody Notification Service
    • Crisis support
  • Get help
    • Get help
    • Criminal charges
    • Bail
    • Child protection
    • Family law
    • Housing and renting
    • Family violence and safety
    • Fines
    • Deaths in custody
    • Problems at work
    • Custody Notification Service
    • Crisis support
  • Reforming the system
    • Policy submissions and publications
    • Closing the Gap
    • Justice reinvestment
    • The Bugmy Evidence Project
    • Family Is Culture
  • Reforming the system
    • Reforming the system
    • Policy submissions and publications
    • Closing the Gap
    • Justice reinvestment
    • The Bugmy Evidence Project
    • Family Is Culture
  • News
  • Get involved
    • Take action with us
    • Career opportunities
    • Volunteer
    • Become a monthly donor
  • Get involved
    • Get involved
    • Take action with us
    • Career opportunities
    • Volunteer
    • Become a monthly donor
  • About
    • About us
    • Our history
    • Our strategic plan
    • Annual reports
    • Governance
  • About
    • About
    • About us
    • Our history
    • Our strategic plan
    • Annual reports
    • Governance
  • Contact
    • Get in touch
    • Office locations
    • Feedback and complaints
  • Contact
    • Contact
    • Get in touch
    • Office locations
    • Feedback and complaints
  • DONATE
Print

Tips to browse safely online

Here you'll find some basic tips to protect your privacy and reduce the ability for people to see what you do online.

The 'Close this site' button

Some pages on this website include a 'Close this site' button. Use this button to quickly hide what you are looking at. You might find this helpful if someone comes into the room or looks over your shoulder and you don't want them to know what you've been looking at.

When you use the 'Close this site' button, it immediately closes this website and opens the Google search page in a new window.

You can also quickly close this site by using the ESC button on your computer keyboard. It immediately closes this website and opens the Google search page in a new window.

The 'Close this site' function doesn't delete your browser history. This means that if someone checks your browser history on your computer or mobile device, they will be able to see everything you looked at on our website.

Clear your browsing history regularly

Web browsers keep track of your online activity through your browser history, cookies and caching. This is so you can find websites you've visited before, but it also means other people can see this data.

To protect your privacy, it's a good idea to clear your browsing history regularly. You can choose to delete everything or only some things.

Find out how to clear your browsing history in:

  • Internet Explorer
  • Google Chrome
  • Firefox
  • Safari
  • Safari on iPhones or iPads.

For other browsers and devices, check the provider's website.

Use private browsing

Private browsing is an easy way to hide your browsing habits. If enabled, when you close your browser, all browsing history and stored cookies from future browsing sessions will automatically disappear.

However, the sites you visited during your current browsing session will record your browsing activity. Your internet service provider will also record this information. Any files you download using private browsing won't be deleted, so other people can access them if they use your device.

Find out how to enable private browsing in:

  • Internet Explorer
    • In the 'Tools' menu (the cog icon on top right of the browser window), select 'Safety', then 'InPrivate Browsing'.
  • Google Chrome
  • Firefox
  • Safari
  • Safari on iPhones or iPads.

For other browsers and devices, check the provider's website.

Accounts and passwords

Don't let your browser auto-save your passwords. While the auto-save function may be convenient, it gives anyone who uses your device access to your accounts.

When you are using an account with a password (e.g. your social media or email account), always log out before leaving the website.

Using other computers and devices

If you are worried about someone looking at your internet use, consider using a computer or device that they can't access.

This might be a computer at your local library, your work computer, or a family or friend's device. But again, don't auto-save any passwords and make sure you log out of your accounts when you've finished using the computer.

Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

This advice is from "Tips to browse safely online" by The State of Queensland.
The content is licensed under the CC BY 4.0 license.
© The State of Queensland 2024.
What is this?
To leave this site quickly, click the 'QUICK EXIT' button or press 'ESC' on your keyboard. You will be taken to google.com
Hide Show Quick Exit

Aboriginal Legal Service bitterly disappointed by moves to raise the age of criminal responsibility to 12; urges NSW Parliament to raise the age to at least 14

MEDIA RELEASE

Monday 15 November 2021

 

The Aboriginal Legal Service (NSW/ACT) Limited (ALS) is bitterly disappointed by a move by Australia’s attorneys-general to raise the age of criminal responsibility to 12 instead of 14.

A formal announcement from state attorneys-general is expected today or tomorrow after an agreement to ‘support developing a proposal’ was made on Friday. The ALS rejects this empty commitment and urges NSW parliamentarians to vote for a bill to raise the age of responsibility to at least 14.

“This is a fig-leaf announcement designed to take pressure off politicians and give the appearance of action, without the substance. They know most Australians support raising the age to 14, as do Aboriginal organisations and the experts across the medical, legal, human rights and community service sectors. By putting politics over evidence, the attorneys-general are dodging their accountabilities to children and their constituents,” said Nadine Miles, Acting CEO of the ALS.

A wide range of experts including Aboriginal-led justice coalition Change the Record, the Law Council and the Australian Medical Association strongly support raising the age to at least 14.

Polling released by Amnesty International earlier this year showed that two-thirds of Australians believe the age of criminal responsibility is already 14. Yet across Australia, children as young as 10 can be arrested and detained by police and courts.

According to the latest quarterly data from the Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research, 43% of children in NSW juvenile detention are Aboriginalⁱ.

“Aboriginal communities and organisations have been crystal clear that we expect the age of responsibility to be raised to 14 at the very least.

"The traumatic and life-altering effects of juvenile detention on Aboriginal children are vastly disproportionate. The NSW Government and Attorney-General have promised to close the gap in partnership with Aboriginal communities, and they owe it to these communities to listen and act,” Ms Miles said.

If the NSW Government only raises the age to 12 years old, 99 out of 105 children under 14 who were behind bars last year would remain locked awayⁱⁱ.

“At 12, many children are still in primary school. These young children are still developing cognitively, physically and emotionally. We will not accept this cynical attempt to continue locking up kids who are too young to be criminally responsible for their actions, and who deserve care and support,” Ms Miles said.

The ALS congratulated the ACT Government on its nation-leading efforts to raise the age to 14. Consultations are taking place and a bill is expected to be introduced to ACT Parliament in 2022.

Ms Miles urged NSW parliamentarians to support a bill introduced last week to raise the age of criminal responsibility to 14.

“If this bill is passed, Aboriginal children will have better access to proven supports that help them learn from their mistakes. The evidence clearly demonstrates that keeping children out of detention means they are less likely to incur trauma, they are less likely to disengage from school, and less likely to face homelessness and incarceration later in life,” she said.

 

ENDS

 

Media contact: Alyssa Robinson - 0427 346 017 - [email protected] 

 

ⁱ Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research, NSW Custody Statistics: Quarterly update September 2021, https://www.bocsar.nsw.gov.au/Pages/bocsar_publication/Pub_Summary/custody/NSW-Custody-Statistics-Quarterly-update-Sept2021.aspx

ⁱⁱ Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, Youth justice in Australia 2019-20,  https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/youth-justice/youth-justice-in-australia-2019-20/data


  • Share with your friends!

Get help

Donate to support our work


JOIN US

First name:

Last name:

Email:

Aboriginal Legal Service (NSW/ACT) Limited
  • Get help
  • Reforming the system
  • News
  • Get involved
  • About
  • Contact
Donate
Icon

Call 1800 765 767
for free legal help

We acknowledge the Traditional Owners and Custodians of the lands on which we live, work and travel. We pay our respects to Elders both past and present and acknowledge the contribution and sacrifices our Elders have made to better our community and future. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people should be aware that this site contains names and images of people who have passed away.

Login to Intranet
Website by Principle Co | Built on Nationbuilder | Illustrations by Mumbulla Creative

Privacy Policy  |  Contact Us
© 2025 Aboriginal Legal Service (NSW/ACT) Limited.

Join us

We'll send you exciting updates on our campaigns and how to join our movement for social justice!


First name:

Last name:

Email:

We acknowledge and pay our respects to the Traditional Custodians of the lands on which we live, work, and travel, and their Elders past and present.

Warning: This website may contain images and names of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people who have passed away.