According to a recent research report from Microsoft, around 65 per cent of Australian parents don’t take any precautions to protect their children while online.

According to the findings from its ‘For Safety’s Sake’ report, two thirds of Australian parents are concerned about the safety of their children online, but 60 per cent continue to allow their children to surf the net unsupervised or unrestricted at home.

In addition, one fifth of all parents have caught their children looking at unsavoury material; one third have found their children chatting to strangers; 36 per cent have caught children downloading software without permission; and 12 per cent have discovered their kids handing over personal details.

Stuart Strathdee, chief security advisor at Microsoft Australia, said that the parents need to utilise the parental control features that are available on their home computer.

“Surfing the internet can and should be fun and educational, without compromising the child’s safety. There are a lot of things that you can do in the home to help foster online safety – several tips are included on the Windows AU blog,” he said.

“Another way is by using a form of parental control software. Microsoft has included a rich and powerful set of parental control features within Windows 7, to help parents monitor, manage, and administer their children’s computer use – and help keep them safe.”

Ben McIntosh, national business manager, computers and communication at Harvey Norman, was also very adamant about keeping children safe while online.

“If your child uses the internet at home you already know how important it is to help protect them from inappropriate content and contact. It’s important that policies set by a parent are enforced without being able to be easily altered by Children,” he said.

“The parental controls included in Windows 7 can help you create a safer online environment for your children – without invading their privacy of breaking trust. From the one location, you can configure the parental controls of your computer and applications, setting appropriate limits on your children’s game playing, web browsing, and overall computer use.”