Features:

New Look Insight
Welcome to the new-look Personal Safety Australia e-newsletter, Insight. We hope you find this upgraded format more engaging and user-friendly. Commencing this edition (Autumn 2008), Insight will be distributed to subscribers quarterly as seasonal editions:

Any feedback you provide will be gratefully received and used to further improve our services. Additionally, please contact us if you have a personal safety question or a topic of interest you would like featured in Insight.

Website Upgrade
Personal Safety Australia is very pleased to announce our new website is up and running and now reflects our full range of services. It includes our new-look quarterly newsletter, Insight, our latest news and a member login facility providing access to further information regarding our services. We encourage you to check it out at: www.personalsafetyaust.com.

We would like to acknowledge the excellent work of Wright Side of the Brain and in particular Owner and Director, Michaela Wright in working tirelessly to produce a website that we are exceptionally proud of. Michaela became part of our team during the development process, working with us to ensure our website needs were not only met but exceeded. Personal Safety Australia has no hesitation in highly recommending Wright Side of the Brain to any individual or organisation requiring web development and/or other IT work. Michaela can be contacted via email:michaela@wrightsideofthebrain.com or
tel: 0412 094 675.

New PSA Services: Custom-made for Maximum Safety
Personal Safety Australia has recently tailor-made Personal Safety Awareness Sessions (approximately two hours duration) and one day Personal Safety Workshops to meet the specific needs of a range of target groups including: young people, women, men, people with disabilities, seniors and everyone, catering for a mix of target groups.

By addressing the specific safety risks and concerns faced by various target groups, Personal Safety Australia seeks to maximise the safety of participants with practical preventative and responsive safety strategies that are of optimum relevance to participants.

These awareness sessions and workshops aim to:

• Inform participants of the actual risks to their safety

• Provide a range of practical strategies to reduce these risks and maximise their safety in all situations

• Enable participants to identify and effectively respond to potential threats to their safety

• Reduce the risk of victimisation

• Increase self-confidence and commitment to safety

• Develop problem-solving and assertiveness skills

• Encourage the development of a Personal Safety Plan

• Enhance participants’ wellbeing and quality of life

• Encourage participants to reach their potential

For more information visit our website at www.personalsafetyaust.com or contact us.

Protecting your Identity: Reducing the Risks of Identity Theft and Internet Fraud
An individual’s identity is a personal part of who they are. Having one’s identity stolen can have a devastating effect, both emotionally and financially. Victims can often spend years and thousands of dollars trying to restore their good names.

With the rise and spread of globalisation, identity fraud has become one of the fastest growing crimes in the world. The cost of identity fraud in Australia has been estimated at $1.1billion for 2001-2. However this figure does not take into account the non-financial costs to organisations or victims, nor the amount of undetected identity fraud.

The Australian Institute of Criminology¹ recently commissioned a survey with over 1500 Australian respondents taking part. Nine percent of those surveyed said that they have been a victim of identify fraud and theft while 17 percent of people knew a victim. The report also noted an increasing community concern regarding internet fraud and theft incidents.

So how does identify theft happen and how can we reduce the risk?

Identify theft happens in a multitude of ways. It can range from somebody using your credit card details illegally to make purchases over the internet or telephone, through to having your entire identify assumed by another person to open bank accounts, take out loans, make tax returns and conduct other business illegally in your name.

Identify theft can happen easily. Most often you will not even know you are a victim until well after the fact. It can happen quickly. You might have your credit card details skimmed when you use an ATM or make a purchase, lose a wallet or other personal effects, or have them stolen. You could inadvertently provide your details by phone or email to what you think are legitimate businesses or have personal information stolen from an unsecured site on the internet. Personal information may be obtained if your home is burgled, if your rubbish is searched, if mail is stolen from your letterbox or diverted to another address. Perhaps most unexpected of all, you could have your identity stolen and used by someone you know and trust – a friend, relative or work colleague.

By introducing some practical precautions into everyday life, you can take an active role in reducing the risk that your identify may be used without your consent or knowledge.

1. Protect your money

• Never respond to an email asking for your PIN or password.

• Never send money to someone you don’t know or trust.

• Only invest with licensed financial services providers.

• Use a separate bank account with a low credit limit for internet transactions.

• Place passwords on all your important accounts.

• Immediately cancel credit cards, freeze accounts and report to police if they are lost or stolen.

2. Protect your phone

• Be suspicious of unexpected calls and text messages.

• Hang up. Or text ‘STOP’ to unwanted messages.

• Be discerning with who you give your telephone number out to.

3. Protect your computer

• Keep your protection software up to date.

• Use a personal firewall to secure your PC when online (particularly for wireless connections).

• Don’t respond in any way to unsolicited emails. If in doubt, delete.

• Use passwords and update them regularly.

• Use a personal firewall to secure your PC when online.

• Only conduct transactions with secure websites.

• Wipe your hard drive before you dispose of, sell or trade in your old PC or laptop.

4. Protect your identity

• Secure your personal information (shred before discarding personal information such as old utility bills and bank statements).

• Never give out your personal information to someone you don’t know or trust.

• Secure your mail by putting a lock on your letter box.

• Check accounts and other records carefully.

• Avoid using public computers to access your private information.

This article has been prepared with information obtained from the Australian Government Attorney General’s Office ID Theft Kit and the Australian Institute of Criminology (2008) ‘Raising public awareness of consumer fraud in Australia’, Trends and Issues in crime and criminal justice paper, No. 349, Canberra

Further information is available from the Australian Government Attorney General’s Office website at http://www.ag.gov.au/www/agd/agd.nsf/Page/ Crimeprevention_Identitysecurity#q3

Stranger Alert: What Children Need to Know About Strangers
Assaults on children perpetrated by strangers are far less common than from known offenders, but they do occur and parents, teachers and other professionals working with children should be aware of what they should be teaching children about strangers. This article seeks to provide an awareness of the key issues regarding this topic.

The first thing children need to know about strangers is who they are, as children often have difficulty understanding this concept. The Queensland Crime and Misconduct Commission¹ argue that children ‘often believe strangers will look recognisably ‘evil’ or ‘bad’ with easily distinguishable features such as ‘wearing black’, ‘talking funny’ or having eye patches’. Women, people who appear friendly and unknown adults who introduce themselves, are rarely identified as a stranger. Children need to know that strangers can be men or women, they can be very friendly and they may look and sound like ‘normal’ people.

Children should also be given guidelines of appropriate responses if approached by a stranger. For example, they should avoid approaching a car with a stranger inside, accepting a gift or lollies from a stranger or going anywhere with a stranger. If a stranger approaches a child, they should be encouraged to move away immediately and tell a parent or another trusted adult.

In case of an emergency, it is a good idea to be prepared with a ‘code word’ that your child/children can recognise. This code word may be used by a person collecting the child, to indicate your knowledge and approval, particularly if they are not known to your child.

Avoiding all strangers outright, on the basis that strangers are people we do not know, also precludes assistance which may be provided by a stranger when a child experiences a personal emergency. It is important, therefore, to advise children that ‘good strangers’ exist and can be called upon for help when needed. Suggested good strangers include police officers, shop assistants and parents with children. It is helpful to discuss with children types of strangers that could be approached in a personal emergency and others that might be best avoided.

As noted by Child Protection Activist Professor Freda Briggs², ‘Children need a great deal of practice in problem-solving around a wide range of potentially dangerous situations. They are single-minded and would turn to the first person who offered to return them to their families.’ Subsequently, in addition to providing children with the key messages outlined, it is also imperative that they be given opportunities to practice problem-solving skills to ensure they are equipped with the necessary skills to effectively and safely respond to a threat to their safety.

While the focus of this article is on safety with strangers, it would be remiss not to state the dire need for children to also be educated on the more prevalent threat to their safety from known people. The Winter 2008 edition of Insight will provide some key information regarding this topic.

For further information please contact us.