ASIO Director-General Mike Burgess AM will deliver the keynote address at the South Australian component of the Australian-first two-day, two-state Social Media Summit in October.

The South Australian component of the Summit will be hosted and moderated in Adelaide on Friday 11 October by renowned author and journalist Annabel Crabb, following the NSW Government’s sessions in Sydney on Thursday 10 October.

The South Australian Summit will open with a video presentation by influential social psychologist and international bestselling author Jonathan Haidt, whose book The Anxious Generation provides an insightful investigation into the collapse of youth mental health.

The Summit will also hear a message from former Chief Justice of the High Court the Honourable Robert French AC, discussing his recent report, commissioned by the Malinauskas Labor Government, outlining a legislative vehicle to ban children under the age of 14 from accessing social media.

As the head of Australia’s security service, Mike Burgess will outline Australia’s security environment and share unique insights from ASIO’s work in countering espionage, foreign interference, politically motivated violence and terrorism.

He will outline how threats are enabled and accelerated by social media and share deep concerns about the number of minors in ASIO’s counter-terrorism caseload.

Ms Crabb will lead two expert solution panel discussions addressing the areas of Regulatory and Legislative Protection, and Public Health, Prevention and Education.

The first panel will feature:

• President of Children and Media Australia and constitutional law expert Professor Elizabeth Handsley
• Experienced educator and incoming Chief Executive of SA Secondary Schools Association Kirsty Amos
• Founder and CEO of The Carly Ryan Foundation Sonya Ryan
• Co-founder of ‘Wait Mate’ and concerned parent Jessica Mendoza-Roth

The second panel, focused on public health, prevention and education will feature:

• Clinic Director of Advanced Psychology Services and Senior Research Fellow in Psychology at Flinders University Simon Wilksch, who is dedicated to reducing the burden of eating disorders and other mental health problems
• Adjunct Fellow at the School of Psychological Sciences Macquarie University Dr Danielle Einstein, who is a registered clinical psychologist internationally known for her research on anxiety and adolescent social media use
• St Ignatius’ College Principal Lauren Brooks, who is passionate about working alongside its students to shape the future, together

The day will also feature a Q and A discussion with representatives from The Advertiser Teen Parliament.

In the leadup to the summit South Australians are being encouraged to share their views on social media via a survey at https://yoursay.sa.gov.au/impacts-of-social-media

Insights from this survey will be used to inform discussions at the South Australian chapter of the Social Media Summit which will be held at the Adelaide Convention Centre on Friday October 11.

Both days of the Social Media Summit will be livestreamed. For more information and further program updates, please visit: www.socialmediasummit.sa.gov.au

Quotes

Attributable to Premier Malinauskas

I’m looking forward to hearing from the range of experts and specialists that will be examining the negative aspects of social media use on young people, at both days of our upcoming summit.

We are very proud to have led the way on banning social media for children, an approach which is now being adopted across the nation.

But this can’t just be up to governments.

We need to make sure our parents, teachers and children are armed with the best possible advice and understanding to address these emerging challenges.