Susan McLean Travels from Melbourne, VIC

Susan established Cyber Safety Solutions in March 2007 and this has grown to be the most highly respected and in demand cybersafety consultancy in Australia. She is also in demand internationally as a leading expert in online safety. Susan is one of only two Australians to have successfully completed the ‘University Certificate in Child Safety on the Internet’ from the University of Central Lancashire, United Kingdom. In August 2012 she re-attended the renowned Dallas Crimes Against Children's Conference where she updated her extensive knowledge and then spent time at Facebook Headquarters meeting with key people and discussing child online safety issues, reporting practices and general issues surrounding the use/abuse of social media by Australians.

Susan was the first person in Australia to complete the National Centre for Missing and Exploited Children’s (USA) Teaching Digital Citizenship Training (Nov 2015) and recently completed the CEOP (UK) training course on Keeping Children Safe Online. She also has qualifications from Fox Valley Technical College USA.

Susan is unique in her vast knowledge and expertise in this area and is the only person in Australia with her specific background, experience and qualifications.  She is a sought-after presenter and advisor and has delivered keynote presentations, written papers and regularly provides professional development for those working in education and other key youth stakeholders. She also works with students in the classroom and provides engaging parent education sessions. Susan provides consultancy services to a range of organizations including government and non-government bodies, adolescent psychologists, magistrates, sporting bodies, corporate entities, law firms, mental health bodies and Medical Practitioners.

She was a member of the Federal Government's Online Safety Working Group (OCWG) until it was disbanded in 2019 and was the only independent member of this group. She has authored the Cyber Safety Policy for AFL Country and the Australian Karting Association as well as the Cybersafety Policy for Netball Victoria and the Western Australia Sports Federation where her template policy is being used as a model for best practice in every sporting code in Western Australia.

Susan has also provided training for School based Police Officers in New South Wales. She regularly appears on television in Australia and internationally as one of the most sought after and influential commentators and acknowledged experts on cyberbullying in the world. She has spoken on Australian and international radio as well as being sought after for print and film articles for Bloomberg, Spanish National News, AlJezeera, 7Days Dubai, BBC 5Live and NTN24 South America.

Her presentations are vibrant and engaging and draw on her many years experience working in cyberspace. They are suitable as standalone conference keynote presentations, keynotes followed by a workshop presentation, workshops on their own or as an engaging after dinner speaker whose style is very conversational and full of both serious and amusing antidotes gained from her vast experiences. Susan brings a wealth of knowledge and a practical down to earth element to her presentations.

She also has a unique understanding of the education system having worked with schools for over 20 years. She understands a school’s legal responsibility, both Criminal and Civil & has extensive knowledge of Duty of Care in the education sector. Susan is acutely aware of the wide range of issues confronting schools in the 21^st Century, especially in the digital space. She has been accepted by the courts as an expert witness. Susan has authored the Victorian Department of Education and Early Childhood Development's parent resources in relation to all things cyber and provided comprehensive fact sheets and online learning modules to parents and she is the most highly qualified Federal Government eSafety certified Trusted Education Provider.

Susan has an in-depth understanding of an organisation's legal obligations such as 'duty of care' and how that applies to online issues/behaviors and is an expert in cybersafety/social media policy review and development. She is the presenter of choice for many corporate organisation such as Myer, AMEX, Supreme Court Victoria, The City of Melbourne, The Royal Children’s Hospital Melbourne, The Sydney Children’s Hospital Randwick, Peter McCallum Cancer Centre, ME Bank and Coles She is a published author with her first book, a definitive guide for parents, carers and educators, Sexts, Texts & Selfies - how to keep your children safe in the digital space (Penguin). It has sold over 10,000 copies. The fully revised second edition of this book was released on 28^th May 2018. It has now been published in Taiwan.

Susan is a true expert in this field with established university qualifications in this field together with unsurpassed experience in dealing with these issues. From September to December 2018, she was appointed by the New South Wales Department of Education to assist Dr Michael Carr-Gregg with a review of the personal use of mobile phones during the school day.

Susan is a passionate advocate for child safety online and has established an enviable working relationship with most of the key players in the online world who value her extensive knowledge, balanced commentary and commitment. She has recently been appointed as a member of the National Centre Against Bullying (NCAB) and is regularly invited to present on the international stage. The major companies such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and You Tube defer to her with relation to issues affecting Australian Children. She has been asked to review prior to launch in Australia, Google’s YouTube for kids. Law Enforcement, corporations, schools, parents and children themselves find Susan knowledgeable, approachable and most importantly, she often has the ability to assist when others have failed.