This project reports on a pilot evaluation of Tell Touch - a digital communication application. Tell Touch was developed as a feedback and complaints tool for use in aged care homes to protect older residents by measuring the extent of quality care provided and to...

Online service providers are required to report on how they are implementing the 'Basic Online Safety Expectations' set out by the Australian government. This report shows significant variation in the steps being taken by providers to protect users and the wider Australian public.

This project scoped whether application software for a mobile or similar device (an app) that supports Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people on bail or parole is regarded as appropriate, useful and beneficial within the ACT Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander communities involved with the...

The focus of this review is on those technologies that support behaviour change among individuals involved in the criminal justice system and, in particular, on those technologies that aim to contribute towards the goal of reducing reoffending.

The use of technology by regulators has the potential to improve how regulators operate and how easily and or effectively those they regulate comply. This article discusses a new survey that reveals the degree to which regulators are adopting these technologies.

This paper highlights the need for additional safety features to be embedded in mobile dating apps and dating websites to protect vulnerable users and to prevent the sexual exploitation of children.

Mobile dating apps and websites are an increasingly popular and socially acceptable way of meeting people. This research reveals that there is an inherent risk associated with these platforms of being subjected to sexual harassment, aggression or violence, both online and in person.

This guidance is for members of the general public, industry and other stakeholders who require information about the Basic Online Safety Expectations to increase the transparency and accountability of online service providers, thereby helping to incentivise and improve safety standards.

Whole industries now exist to 'hack' marketing funnels. Teams of experts experiment to get that extra person to subscribe or to add one more thing to the cart. This report looks at what current trends in web and app design mean for consumers, and finds...

Increasingly, the use of technologies such as the internet, smartphones and social media is amplifying the power of local community action and knowledge. This brief addresses the need for policy change to overcome key barriers in this space.

This report looks at the increasing use of WhatsApp and other messaging apps in government, and their associated risks and benefits. These apps are useful but need to be used carefully to ensure the downsides – including a lack of transparency, poor communication and poor...

The implementation of Electronic Visit Verification (EVV) systems highlights the risks of uncritical adoption of data-centric technologies in the provision of public services. This policy brief describes the harms that EVV and—technologies like it—create, and the stakes of continued inaction by federal and state governments.

This report argues that the surveillance of home care workers through a mobile app called Electronic Visit Verification (EVV) erodes the quality of personal care and offloads significant, unacknowledged burdens onto workers and service recipients.

This report provides in-depth consideration of competition and consumer issues associated with the distribution of mobile apps to users of smartphones and other mobile devices. It specifically focuses on the two key app marketplaces used in Australia, the Apple App Store and the Google Play...

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has released this issues paper to gather the public's views on potential competition and consumer issues in the provision of web browsers and general search services to Australian consumers and in particular, the impact of default arrangements.

In the last few years, a number of high-profile cases of sexual and violent offending have been committed after the offender and victim met through a mobile dating application. The research outlines in this report suggest that dating app users are at greater risk of...

In this paper, the authors focus on data trust and data privacy, and how attitudes may be changing during the COVID-19 period. They also look at the implications of these changes for the take-up and effectiveness of the COVIDSafe App.

This report covers findings from Stage 3 of a co-funded Swinburne University/460degrees research project into the social and psychological enablers and barriers to digital wallet usage which ran from August 2019 to April 2020. Findings suggest a tension between convenience and concern that affects perceptions...

The aim of this review was to identify policies, programs and services which have been effective in preventing and/or managing mild to moderate depression and anxiety in adults.

This study investigates the potential use of voluntary apps through four empirical studies utilising both qualitative and quantitative methods – a driver acceptance assessment study, an expert-based risk assessment study, an online-based case-scenario analysis, and an in-vehicle study.

Gaming micro-transactions for chance-based items, called 'loot boxes' for the purposes of this inquiry, are included in some video games to provide players with away to obtain virtual items for in-game use.