OzCHI 2026 Workshop
Who is left out of online
safety, and is AI helping or
harming?
2nd Advancing Interdisciplinary Approaches to Inclusive Online Safety Research
Form closes 31 October 2026 (AoE)
We acknowledge the Kaurna people, the Traditional Owners of the land on which this workshop takes place, and pay our respects to Elders past and present.
- Women
- Gender-diverse people
- LGBTQ+ communities
- Culturally and linguistically diverse communities
- People with disability
- Children
- Young people
- Older adults
- And more
About the workshop
Online safety, examined at its edges
Online safety research and practice have advanced considerably, yet critical questions remain at the edges. Which communities are still not designed for when safety tools are built? And as AI becomes central to online safety, how do we reckon with its dual role as both a source of new harms and a proposed remedy?
Responding to the OzCHI 2026 theme “On the Edge”, this workshop brings together researchers, practitioners, policymakers, and community advocates across disciplines to examine online safety at its limits. Building on our OzCHI 2025 workshop, we will centre case studies and scenarios of exclusion, focusing on communities that safety tools were rarely built around: women and gender-diverse people, culturally and linguistically diverse communities, people with disability, children, older populations, and more.
Together we will
- Identify communities needing greater attention in online safety.
- Interrogate AI safety tools with the same scrutiny we apply to the harms they address.
- Develop interdisciplinary collaboration across academia, industry, policy, and community.
- Build sustained networks and a shared research agenda.
Who should join
Researchers, designers, policymakers, industry and community advocates working on online safety, from HCI, Social Computing, Design, Policy, Cybersecurity, Ethics, the Social Sciences and beyond. Emerging and established researchers, new and returning participants are all welcome.
What you'll do
Work in interdisciplinary groups to engage in discussion and develop action plans.
Program
A full day, from case study to action plan
Morning session
An overview of the day, then participants share their work, the online safety challenges they engage with, and what they hope to gain.
Groups of 4 to 5, mixing disciplines, methods, and stakeholder perspectives.
Each group picks a case study and maps who it affects, where current responses fall short, and the questions it raises.
Afternoon session
Groups turn their case into a plan, including the role of AI as a potential harm or remedy.
Groups share their action plans for feedback and discussion, finding connections across plans and disciplines, before we close with key outcomes and next steps.
Topics of interest
Four lenses on inclusive online safety
Topics include, but are not limited to, the areas below. Select an area to see its topics.
Designing for inclusion, safety, and wellbeing
- User-centred and participatory approaches to understanding and responding to online abuse
- Safety by design principles and their practical implementation across platforms
- Participatory and co-design methods for developing safety interventions with affected communities
- Designing for resilience and digital literacy in online safety
- Prevention-focused approaches to online safety
- Evaluation methods for assessing safety intervention effectiveness
- Psychological impacts of online harm and trauma-informed design
- Cultural and contextual considerations in online safety design, particularly for communities that need greater attention
Policy, governance, and industry
- Policy frameworks and regulatory approaches to online safety
- Inclusion of equity-focused safety standards and obligations for protecting communities that need greater attention
- Industry perspectives on implementing and scaling safety features
- Cross-platform safety considerations and interoperability
- Collaborative models involving academia, industry, policymakers, and communities
AI, technology, and ethics
- Emerging online safety challenges from generative AI and synthetic media
- Use of AI for enhancing online safety and harm detection
- The dual role of AI as both a source of harm and a proposed safeguard
- Transparency, explainability, and contestability in safety-related AI systems
- Privacy-preserving safety interventions
- Bias and the uneven effects of AI safety tools across different communities
- Ethical considerations in developing safety technologies, especially for marginalised or underserved users
- Evaluating the impact and unintended consequences of AI-driven safety tools
Social, behavioural, and cultural perspectives
- Social and behavioural dynamics of online abuse (perpetrator, bystander, and survivor perspectives)
- Cross-cultural differences in perceptions of safety, harm, and acceptable behaviour online
- Structural, cultural, and socioeconomic factors influencing online safety for underrepresented communities
- Psychological impacts of sustained exposure to online harm and strategies for resilience
- Online safety education, awareness, and digital literacy interventions from a behavioural perspective
- Collective action, social movements, and advocacy around online safety and digital rights
We particularly encourage submissions describing interdisciplinary work involving multiple stakeholders across academia, industry, policy, and community advocacy, and work that engages directly with the communities most affected by online harm.
Take part
How to take part
Fill in a short Google Form with a brief bio and what you'd like to discuss. No further preparation needed.
Submit an Expression of InterestRegistrationWorkshop attendees must register for both the workshop and at least one day of the main OzCHI 2026 conference. Registration details will be shared on the OzCHI 2026 website.
AccessibilityLet us know any access requirements in your EOI. Materials are available in accessible digital or printed formats, and activities support verbal, written, and visual contributions.
- Form closes31 October 2026 (AoE)
- Notification6 November 2026 (AoE)
- WorkshopSaturday 21 November 2026
Organisers
Meet the organising team
Collaborators from RMIT University, The University of Melbourne, Adelaide University, and The Open University UK, spanning HCI and co-design, technology-facilitated abuse, cybersecurity, AI, digital ethics and policy, and psychology.
-
MD
Madhuka De Silva
Lecturer, School of Computing Technologies, RMIT University
HCI, co-design, and digital inclusion
Read bio
Madhuka De Silva is a Lecturer in the School of Computing Technologies at RMIT University, working in HCI, co-design, and digital inclusion, with a focus on online safety and accessible technology for under-represented communities, especially people with disability. She has experience facilitating co-design workshops with community participants and sector experts, including recent work with the Australian Communications Consumer Action Network (ACCAN) on social media safety for women and gender-diverse users.
-
SW
Senuri Wijenayake
Senior Lecturer and ARC DECRA Fellow, School of Computing Technologies, RMIT University
Online safety for marginalised communities
Read bio
Senuri Wijenayake is a Senior Lecturer and ARC DECRA Fellow in the School of Computing Technologies at RMIT University, whose interdisciplinary research spans HCI, Social Psychology, and Design to advance online safety for marginalised communities through participatory methods. Her ACCAN-funded research, with WESNET, the eSafety Commissioner, and the Victorian Pride Centre, produced a national report on social media safety for women and gender-diverse users, and her DECRA fellowship extends this to people with disabilities and culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) users in Australia.
-
AJ
Asangi Jayathilaka
Lecturer in Cybersecurity and Software Systems, RMIT University
Participatory design with marginalised communities
Read bio
Asangi Jayathilaka is a Lecturer in Cybersecurity and Software Systems at RMIT University, Melbourne, with extensive experience in interdisciplinary research and participatory design that empowers marginalised communities to shape their digital technology experiences. Her work deeply engages diverse groups, including individuals with cognitive impairments, women, gender-diverse people, and culturally and linguistically diverse users.
-
KA
Kate L. M. Anderson
Associate Professor and Principal Research Fellow, School of Computing Technologies, RMIT University
Safety, autonomy, and inclusion in technology design
Read bio
Kate L. M. Anderson is an Associate Professor and Principal Research Fellow in the School of Computing Technologies at RMIT University, whose research explores how digital technologies can be designed to promote safety, autonomy, and inclusion for people often overlooked in technology design. This spans children’s perspectives on online safety and privacy, co-designing inclusive AI with rare disease communities, AI cultural safety with remote Australian communities, and neuroaffirmative approaches to online bystander interventions for gender-based violence, underpinned by a strong interest in trauma-informed and community-led innovation.
-
NA
Nalin Arachchilage
Associate Professor, School of Computing Technologies, RMIT University
Human-centred cyber security
Read bio
Nalin Arachchilage is an Associate Professor in the School of Computing Technologies at RMIT University, whose research focuses on Human Centred Cyber Security (usable security and privacy) at the intersection of computer security and HCI. His work bridges cybersecurity, HCI, ML/NLP (including Agentic-AI), and software engineering, and includes a game design framework to educate users against phishing attacks.
-
RK
Ryan M. Kelly
Associate Professor, School of Computing Technologies, RMIT University
Safe online experiences for older adults
Read bio
Ryan M. Kelly is an Associate Professor in the School of Computing Technologies at RMIT University, interested in designing safe online experiences for older adults across social interaction, digital health, and finance, most recently safe video calling between older adults and conversational volunteers. His disciplinary background is in Applied Psychology, HCI, and CSCW.
-
NH
Nicola Henry
Professor of Global Studies, School of Global, Urban and Social Studies, RMIT University
Technology-facilitated gender-based violence
Read bio
Nicola Henry is a Professor of Global Studies at RMIT University whose research addresses technology-facilitated gender-based violence, including image-based sexual abuse, sextortion, and AI-generated sexual harms, working closely with policymakers, technology companies, and frontline services. She is co-developer of Umibot, a survivor-centred chatbot supporting people affected by image-based abuse, and her work is grounded in feminist and design justice approaches.
-
HL
Henrietta Lyons
Senior Research Fellow, Centre for AI and Digital Ethics, The University of Melbourne
Responsible and contestable AI
Read bio
Henrietta Lyons is a Senior Research Fellow at The University of Melbourne’s Centre for AI and Digital Ethics, whose research examines how to design AI systems responsibly for those most affected by them, with a recent focus on contestability, so people can meaningfully challenge algorithmic decisions such as content moderation. She works on translating high-level principles and regulatory standards into practical guidance for designers, developers, and policymakers, drawing on a background spanning law, policy, psychology, and HCI.
-
TA
Thushari Atapattu
Research Fellow and Lead, Language Technologies for Social Good, Adelaide University
AI and natural language processing for social good
Read bio
Thushari Atapattu leads the Language Technologies for Social Good (LT4SG) Research Group and is a Research Fellow in the Computer Science Education Research (CSER) Group at Adelaide University, applying AI and NLP for social good across discourse processing, computational social science, cyberbullying, mental health, and AI in education. She has extensive experience developing curriculum-aligned resources for teacher professional learning within a national program supporting AI and cybersecurity education in schools.
-
KM
Kaie Maennel
Senior Lecturer, School of Computer Science and Information Technology, Adelaide University
Human aspects of cyber security
Read bio
Kaie Maennel is a Senior Lecturer in the School of Computer Science and Information Technology at Adelaide University, whose primary research interest is Human Aspects of Cyber Security, including cyber awareness and hygiene, cyber defence exercises, and learning analytics in cyber security training. She is further interested in usable security, information security culture, and cyber security risk assessment, management, and audits.
-
MZ
Min Zhang
Lecturer in HCI, Centre for Protecting Women Online, The Open University, UK
Responsible technology against gendered online harm
Read bio
Min Zhang is a Lecturer of HCI at the Open University and the Centre for Protecting Women Online, whose work addresses responsible technology for preventing gendered online harm, personal safety, and the collective power of community, and how to design online spaces that combat harm while promoting online positivity such as positive masculinity. She serves on the program committee for several ACM conferences and workshops and IFIP WG 13.11/12.14.