Switched on to safety: Optus digital thumbprint comes to Tasmania

Tasmanian students sharpen their cyber skills with our Digital Thumbprint Program. 

Eased restrictions don’t just mean we now get to enjoy our favourite cafes and restaurants again. It also means that we’ve finally been able to bring back our in-person Optus Digital Thumbprint Program to Devonport after being on hiatus for much of 2020.

Earlier this year, we visited Devonport, stopping in at St Brendan’s Shore School where we engaged with 600 students. This formed part of a one-week long roadshow across Hobart, Devonport and Launceston where we chatted with more than 1,500 students across four schools.

The free in-school workshop armed students with simple and effective tools for staying safe online and sparked conversations around digital best practice. Since its inception, our facilitators have been educating students across the country about issues from ‘how to protect your identity and information online’ to ‘building positive and respectful cyber relationships.’

Peter West, Optus Territory General Manager for Tasmania, said: “Given eased restrictions in the state, we felt it was incredibly important to bring the Optus Digital Thumbprint Program to students at Hutchin School, Rose Bay High School, St Brendan’s Shore College and Riverside High School, sparking conversations around digital practice as well as some of the other challenging topics related to the online world.

“With the last 12 months driving more online activity, conversations around necessary precautions such as creating strong passwords and enabling privacy settings on social media have become more important than ever – particularly for young people online. 

“As a leading provider of internet technology, it’s important for us to highlight to students that they don’t have to be an expert at navigating the internet to practice these safe habits.

“The Optus Digital Thumbprint Program ensures students are able to take home some valuable skills when it comes to cybersecurity, verifying credible information and what to keep in mind to create a positive digital footprint.

“With Tasmania moving into the new normal, it’s great to bring back the interactive approach of the program, educating students across the state on key cyber safety issues.”

Since the initiative’s launch in 2013, the government accredited Optus Digital Thumbprint Program has educated more than 330,000 primary and secondary school students across Australia on how to be safer and smarter online. We know 2020 wasn’t an easy year but we’re looking forward to continuing to step up in 2021 by using realistic and interactive scenarios to help young people shape their digital future for the better.

Optus Digital Thumbprint Program is completely free for schools and does not promote any Optus products or services.

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