Study finds 64% of Australian children received online grooming messages

A study of roughly 300 Australian children has surfaced a troubling picture of online life for young people: nearly two-thirds of those surveyed reported receiving at least one grooming-related message from a stranger in the past year. One-third went further, saying they had been directly asked for sexual information, images, or in-person meetings.

The research, led by Dr Katie Logos at Adelaide University and published in Child Abuse & Neglect, involved collaboration with eSafety, the Australian Institute of Criminology, and Michigan State University. The survey was designed to capture a snapshot of children's online experiences rather than serve as a nationally representative sample, but the scale of what it found has surprised even the researchers. The prevalence of grooming-related contact was higher than rates documented in previous studies, which have typically ranged from around 5 to 30 percent.

The reason for this gap lies partly in how the researchers framed their questions. Rather than focusing narrowly on overtly sexual solicitation or unwanted advances from adults, they examined a broader spectrum of behaviors that can form part of the grooming process. They also asked children about interactions with any online stranger, not just those they believed to be adults—a distinction that matters because predators routinely pose as children to build trust. This wider lens revealed that the most common grooming experiences involved trust-building tactics: strangers discussing shared interests, asking personal questions about a child's life and relationships, and probing into their online activities. These early interactions often seem benign. A message like "What school do you go to?" or "Do your parents check your phone?" can appear like ordinary conversation. So can "We have so much in common" or "You're really easy to talk to." Yet each serves a purpose in the grooming sequence—gathering information, assessing the risk of detection, isolating the child, or gradually sexualizing the relationship.

What emerged from the study was a pattern of children who often did not recognize what was happening. Many reported feeling indifferent about these interactions. Some believed they were talking to another young person rather than an adult. Most simply did nothing in response, or blocked the person from contacting them again. The subtlety of grooming—the way it can blend into ordinary online conversation—makes it difficult for children to spot the warning signs. By the time an offender makes an explicit sexual request, the child may already feel a sense of trust or comfort with the person.

One finding proved particularly striking: children who used standard online safety measures—privacy settings, parental supervision, age-appropriate platforms—were just as likely to report receiving grooming-related communication as those who did not. Professor Russell Brewer, director of the Australian Cybercrime Observatory, cautioned against interpreting this as evidence that safety measures don't work. It's possible, he suggested, that some children adopted stronger protections after experiencing these interactions. But the data does suggest that conventional safeguards may not fully prevent exposure to grooming communication.

Dr Logos emphasized that online grooming takes many forms and often begins through social media, online games, or messaging apps. The tactics can be remarkably subtle. Requests to move conversations to a different platform, or to send a photo "so I know who I'm speaking to," are common early steps. Deceptive claims about age, interests, or location help establish false rapport. The progression is deliberate: offenders layer in more obvious forms of sexual solicitation only after they have built what feels like a genuine relationship.

The findings point toward a gap in current education and prevention efforts. Warning children about obvious dangers or direct requests for sexual content may not be enough. Understanding how children experience and interpret these early, seemingly harmless interactions—and teaching them to recognize the subtle warning signs—will be essential to developing better strategies for keeping young people safe online.