The federal government has launched a dedicated First Nations Resource Hub for the new phase of the national Stop it at the Start campaign, aimed at changing attitudes and behaviours that condone gender-based violence.
The campaign was devised by experts and materials were created with First Nations musician Nooky and First Nations specialist agency Carbon Creative.
Expert Panel members, University of New South Wales academic and Wiradjuri woman Dr BJ Newton said on Thursday: "We are only beginning to scratch the surface in understanding the insidious and harmful nature of social media platforms and the extent of influence that they have over all users, and particularly the developing mind of adolescents and teenagers."
"These resources spotlight the way social media potentially exposes young people to toxic masculinity, and breeds a culture of male dominance, misogyny, and acceptable attitudes to violence against women," she said.
"Parents and those supporting young people will be armed with the knowledge to identify these risks, and how to Stop It At The Start."
One in four women in Australia have experienced intimate partner violence since the age of 15 and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women experience disproportionately higher rates of violence than non-Indigenous women.
The government described Stop it at the Start as an evidence-based campaign that takes a primary prevention approach to ensure adults play an role in stopping disrespect and violence supporting attitudes in young people.
The new phase is targeted at parents who may not know about the hidden forms of disrespect that young people are engaging with everyday online and is based on research that shows "a vast amount of misogynistic content online" is flooding the social media feeds of young people. Much of this content is largely hidden from adults who do not know what children are being exposed to.
The Stop It At The Start campaign urges adults to educate themselves about these new influences and to have meaningful conversations with young people.
The campaign will run across cinema, radio, television and online until May 3, 2025.
Part of the campaign is the Algorithm of Disrespect™; an interactive tool recreating the average young Australian's social media feed to show adults the disrespectful content and influences young people are exposed to every day online.
The First Nations Resource Hub includes animations, posters, social media tiles and videos from a Stop it at the Start First Nations Ambassadors sharing their stories, including Scott Prince, Kalkadoon man and NRL legend, Shelley Ware, broadcaster and Yankunytjatjara and Wirangu woman and Devon Cuimara, Whadjuk Yued Noongar man who shares his experience of domestic violence.
Federal Minister for Social Services, Amanda Rishworth, said: "We can't let these misogynistic voices go unchallenged."
"Young people live in two worlds and parents need to understand what is going on in the social media world," she said.
"Parents are carers can't always know everything that kids are seeing and doing online, but we can take steps to educate ourselves on what they being exposed to so that we can have meaningful conversations.
"The Algorithm of Disrespect is a window into the world of young people. I'd urge parents and people with young children in their lives to go and take a look and see the hidden trends of disrespect and how quickly the misogynistic voices escalate for themselves."
