If this is happening in your home right now: in an emergency call Triple Zero (000). You can report it to the Australian Centre to Counter Child Exploitation at accce.gov.au/report. Kids Helpline is 1800 55 1800 and Lifeline is 13 11 14, any time.
On 5 October 2026 the ABC's 7.30 reported that children in Australia are being targeted by online groups that use threats to push them into harming themselves. The Australian Federal Police and Western Australia Police both spoke on the record.
It is a hard thing to read about. But the police message to parents is practical, and it comes with a short list of signs. This post sets out what was reported, what the police say to look for, and what to do.
7.30 followed the case of one teenager in Western Australia. Her name was changed and we won't add anything that could identify her.
It began in a game. She told the ABC that someone she met while playing Roblox told her she "was really good at the game". She was then asked to move to Discord. Ordinary-sounding questions followed — her age, her school — and then requests for photos. Then the threats started.
By that point, the ABC reported, the person had gathered enough information to identify her and her parents. She was told to hurt herself. She did not tell her mum and dad. "I was too scared to tell my parents," she said. They found out when the group contacted her father directly.
Her case is not the only one. The ABC reported it is among 19 referrals made to the WA Police cybercrime squad in the past 18 months. That is one state's squad, not a national count.
The Australian Federal Police has been warning about this since at least last October. On 29 October 2025 it announced a specialist taskforce, Taskforce Pompilid, and described what it calls sadistic online exploitation: a crime where "victims are coerced online into performing explicit and violent acts on themselves, siblings, others or their pets". At that time the AFP said 59 alleged offenders had been identified in Australia, and that it had stepped in to stop the ongoing victimisation of a number of Australian children.
AFP cybercrime commander Graeme Marshall told 7.30 the groups run on status — members push victims further to impress each other. He also said some victims are then coerced into becoming offenders themselves.
7.30 asked both platforms about it. Roblox said these crimes were "an industry-wide challenge" and that it has teams working to remove the users involved. Discord said it was "deeply committed to user safety".
Three things stand out for a parent.
It started somewhere ordinary. Not a hidden corner of the internet — a game, a compliment, and a suggestion to carry on the chat in another app. Standing ACCCE advice says the same thing in general terms: in-game chat and direct messages are popular ways for offenders to approach children, and they often try to move a child to another platform.
The threats are designed to keep a child silent. WA Police cybercrime chief Peter Foley told the ABC the groups use tactics such as publishing a family's personal details online to intimidate a child into complying and not reporting. That is why the child in this case said nothing. A child who has gone quiet is not a child who is fine.
Police say it could be any child. Detective Superintendent Foley said any child could be at risk and urged parents to be vigilant about their children's behaviour. He described children who "will not engage with their parents, their teachers or friends".
The AFP's list, from its taskforce announcement and its page for parents and carers:
WA Police added two of their own to the ABC: a child hiding their devices, or hiding what is on them.
None of these proves anything by itself. Teenagers sleep badly and close their doors for a hundred ordinary reasons. It is a change, and several of these together, that is worth a gentle conversation.
The early stages of this look a lot like any other grooming — friendliness, flattery, a move to somewhere private. Our guide to online grooming warning signs walks through those stages, and there is more for families at auntybea.app.
Aunty Bea helps Australian families with what comes next, quietly. You'll never scroll your child's messages in Aunty Bea. You get a plain-English summary of what looked risky, and how to talk about it.
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