By Erika Fortunato, Reneta Slikboer, Marie Henshaw, Denny Meyer and James RP Oglof

Abstract | Despite increasing research on online child sexual exploitation, limited research compares female and male perpetrators. This study examined 116 females and 116 age-matched males known to police for online child sexual exploitation on group characteristics and risk of reoffending. Some differences emerged, with females co-offending and experiencing violent victimisation more often thanmales. However, several similarities were also apparent, including that females and males had similar risk of recidivism. These findings have implications for policy and highlight several important avenues for future research.

By Alexandra Voce, Isabella Voce, Anthony Morgan

In the past 10 years, there has been a rapid proliferation of publicly available tools and applications (apps) using artificial intelligence (AI). While these tools have the potential to significantly benefit daily life, studies find there are growing concerns about the potential for AI technologies to be misused for criminal, nefarious or antisocial purposes. Little to no research has examined whether Australians believe they or their families will be personally impacted by crimes involving AI technology in the imminent future, and which specific AI technologies are perceived as posing the greatest risk of harm to individuals and their families.

This report examined data from the Australian Cybercrime Survey to measure the perceived frequency of AI-enabled crimes and which specific technologies pose the greatest perceived risk of victimisation. The findings highlight priority areas for industry safeguards and public education.