AIC 2027 Conference: Reducing online harms
In-person
16th Mar 2027 to 17th Mar 2027
Tuesday 16 March 2027 – Wednesday 17 March 2027 | (UTC+11)
QT Canberra, 1 London Circuit, Canberra, ACT, 2601
The Australian Institute of Criminology is hosting the AIC 2027 Conference on 16-17 March 2027. The theme of this year’s conference will be reducing online harms, and the aim of the event is to present the latest research and how this can be applied to policy and practice.
Keynote speakers
Professor Doborah Fry, University of Edinburgh / Childlight
Title: Bringing the scale into view: Child sexual exploitation and abuse in Australia and beyond
Childlight’s Into the Light Index systematically brings together multiple data sources year on year to build a global picture of child sexual exploitation and abuse (CSEA). This keynote presents the latest CSEA estimates from the 2026 Index, focusing on Australia and East Asia and the Pacific. It examines technology-facilitated and offline victimisation in the general population, the nature and availability of child sexual abuse material, insights from frontline services, and system strengthening evidence from primary research with law enforcement units. The presentation explores what these findings mean for Australian and regional policy and practice.
About the speaker
Professor Deborah Fry, MA, MPH, PhD, has more than 25 years of experience researching violence against children. She is Chair in International Child Protection Research at the University of Edinburgh and Global Director of Data at Childlight – Global Child Safety Institute where she leads global epidemiological surveillance efforts with a team of more than 40 researchers across three academic sites and 15 Global Data Fellows. She provides consultation to governments and key decision-makers globally on child sexual exploitation and abuse (CSEA) policies and data improvement.
At Childlight, Prof Fry leads two major global data initiatives on CSEA. She directs the Into the Light Global Index, the world’s first index on the prevalence, scale, and nature of CSEA, producing global, regional, and country-level estimates across more than 60 indicators using population-representative surveys, administrative data, CSAM-related datasets as well as primary research. She also leads Searchlight, a biennial thematic research initiative bringing together studies to provide deep, policy-relevant analysis on emerging global CSEA issues.
Prof Fry is also a co-investigator on the UK Behavioural Research Hub, a large investment from UKRI as well as being the Long-Term Agreement framework lead for UNICEF funded studies on child protection research, training and administrative data.
Professor Thomas J. Holt, Michigan State University
Title: Understanding the evolution of cybercrime and opportunities for prevention
Cybercrime is complicated as the perception of offenders ranges from technical wizards to opportunistic actors with low skill. As a result, our appreciation of how to deter and minimise offending often veers in multiple directions. Furthermore, there are still key questions associated with the drivers for involvement in offending that require further research. This presentation will consider how the problem of cybercrime has evolved over the last decade and the ways that AI may transform offending and victimisation further. We will also consider what we know about the correlates for different offences to date. Finally, we will probe the policy landscape and the challenges that need to be addressed in order to improve the response to cybercrime in both local and global contexts.
About the speaker
Professor Thomas J. Holt is the Director of Masters Programs in the School of Criminal Justice at Michigan State University and Director of the MSU Center for Cybercrime Investigation and Training. His research focuses on computer hacking, malware, and the role of the Internet in facilitating all manner of crime and deviance. His work has been published in various journals including Crime and Delinquency, Criminology & Public Policy, Journal of Criminal Justice, Journal of Criminology, and Terrorism & Political Violence.
Confirmed topics
Online radicalisation
Cybercrime as a service
Online recruitment of money mules
Online hate speech
Children’s experience of AI assistants and companions
AI and child sexual abuse material
Impact of social media age restrictions
Live streamed child sexual abuse
Modus operandi of child sexual abuse offenders
Profile of those who seek help for sexual interest in children
Improving responses to unknowing victim-survivors of capping and CSAM offences
Young people and harmful sexual behaviour
Pornography-informed understandings of consent and sexual violence perpetration
Social media and performance crime by young people
Characteristics of phishing victims
Confirmed speakers
Dr Samantha Bricknell, Australian Institute of Criminology
Dr Rick Brown, Australian Institute of Criminology
Dr Cassandra Cross, Queensland University of Technology
Dr Christopher Dowling, Australian Institute of Criminology
Professor Deborah Fry, University of Edinburgh / Childlight
Professor Thomas Holt, Michigan State University
Kelly Humphries, Monash University
Dr Jonathon Hutchinson, University of Sydney
Dr Sarah Napier, Australian Institute of Criminology
Merran McAlister, Australian Institute of Criminology
Professor Michael Salter, University of New South Wales / Childlight
Carol Ronken, Bravehearts
Dr Lisa Tompson, University of Waikato
Dr Matteo Vergani, Deakin University