Incident Support

Netsafe provides incident support for all online safety challenges. Our service is entirely confidential, free and schools remain in control of decision making at all times.

When online safety challenges emerge, school resources can be quickly overwhelmed by the sheer number of moving parts. Whether incidents occur inside or outside of school property and school hours, they spill over to impact students and staff.

Schools receive:

  • Help with the first steps, including how to gather evidence
  • Advice to get content removed from websites and social media
  • Information about the Harmful Digital Communications Act and other relevant legislation
  • Connection with specialist agencies and experts
  • Assistance to establish proactive approaches to online safety and digital citizenship

For more information about Netsafe’s services and how we can assist schools visit the Our Services page.

We also offer a free text support service for young people. If you have a student who wants to contact Netsafe directly, they can text ‘Netsafe’ to 4282.

– Need Help Now? –

Our contact centre is available between 8 am and 8 pm on weekdays and 9 am to 5 pm on weekends and public holidays. Contact Netsafe on 0508 NETSAFE (0508 638723) or online.

If you are in danger or a crime is being committed, call 111 or immediately visit your nearest police station.

Incident Response Plans

Schools can manage many less complex incidents with appropriate planning and processes in place. Knowing how to respond and what first steps to take is essential to reducing further harm and minimising distress. Netsafe’s Incident Response Guide can be used when planning for, dealing with, or reviewing online safety incidents.

INCIDENT RESPONSE GUIDE

Instagram FAQs

Instagram is a hugely popular platform that allows users to share content and images with their followers.

Here at Netsafe, we often receive reports from schools and young people dealing with issues and challenges on the platform. To help make things a little easier, we have answered a few common questions and compiled some quick, simple DIY tips and tricks.

INSTAGRAM FAQs

Bullying prevention and response guidance

For further information on bullying prevention and response strategies, take a look at our guides section, where you’ll find the Bullying Prevention and Response Guide. It focuses on bullying behaviour between students. The guide has four main sections: Understanding bullying, Safe and positive school environments, Bullying policies and processes and Responding to bullying behaviour.

VIEW GUIDES

Surrender and Retention of Property Guidelines

The Ministry of Education has guidelines for the surrender and retention of digital devices. The guidelines outline what actions are appropriate and what steps are not when gathering evidence or reviewing harmful content involved in an incident.

VIEW GUIDELINES