7th Wesnet Technology
Safety Summit

15-17 SEPTEMBER 2026 MEEANJIN (Brisbane)

Program


DAY 01 - Tuesday 15 September

Opening Session

Morning Session


Welcome to Country | Aunty Kathryn Fisher


Summit Welcome from Wesnet National Chair | Amie Carrington, Wesnet


Summit Overview from Wesnet CEO | Karen Bentley, Wesnet


Industry Keynote - Designing Safer Dating Platforms at the Intersection of LGBTQ+ Safety and Gender-Based Violence | Yoel Roth, Match Group (USA)


What Does Tech Safety Mean? | Catherine Plunkett, Wesnet

Plenary Sessions

Late Morning Session


Technology Abuse Foundations Annabelle Harrison, Wesnet


Monitoring and Surveillance: Tools of Coercive Control Sarah Biordi, Wesnet

Concurrent Sessions

Afternoon Session


Online Spaces are Powerful Forces that Reflect, as well as Shape, Norms, Attitudes and Behaviours | Christine Gregory, Our Watch & Shehelah Dassenaike, YLab


Preventing and Disrupting Technology-Facilitated Abuse Against Women Using Targeted Digital Advertising and Search Engine Optimisation TechniquesAssoc. Prof. Diarmaid Harkin, Deakin University


Technology-Facilitated Abuse in Australia: Insights from the 3rd National Survey of Tech Abuse and Domestic ViolenceKaren Bentley, Wesnet & Prof. Donna Chung, Curtin University

Concurrent Sessions

Late Afternoon Session


Elder Abuse and Tech Safety Audace Garnett, NNEDV (USA)


AI in the Domestic and Family Violence Sector: Vulnerabilities, Risks and OpportunitiesAndrew Collins and Rose MacDonald, The Digital Safeguard Centre


The Digital Environment: A Key Primary Prevention Site | Tess Fuller, Teach Us Consent

Plenary Sessions

Beyond an Incident: The Persistent Experience of Technology-Facilitated AbusePayal Tiwari, Lived Experience


Plenary 2 | Speaker Announcement Coming Soon

DAY 02 - Wednesday 16 September

Plenary Session

Morning Session


Opening of Day 2 | Catherine Plunkett, Wesnet


Tech Safety and Women’s Safety - An International Perspective
Catherine Plunkett, Wesnet (Australia) / Audace Garnett, NNEDV (USA) / Elisabeth Ashby, Ngā Whare Whakaruruhau o Aotearoa – The National Collective of Independent Women’s Refuges (NCIWR) (NZ)
Facilitator: Karen Bentley, Wesnet (Facilitator)

Concurrent Sessions

Late Morning Session


U Right Sis? Staying Safe Online: Tackling Technology-Facilitated Abuse in Central Australian Aboriginal Communities Through Community-Led PreventionKayla Glynn-Braun, Her Story?


Highlighting Cross-Industry Collaboration to Bridge TFA KnowledgeAnnabelle Harrison, Wesnet


Falling Through the Cracks: Closing Gaps in Australian Technology Regulation to Disrupt Domestic Violence CyberstalkingCarina Stone, Policy Researcher

Concurrent Sessions

Afternoon Session


Keeping Women Safe on UberNicole Ashcroft & Alison Stefan Iared, Uber


Concurrent 2 | Speaker Announcement Coming Soon


Men or Manosphere? Recentering Culpability in Analyses of Online Misogyny | Dr Stephanie Wescott, Monash University

Workshops


Late Afternoon Session


Me, Myself and AI | Audace Garnett, NNEDV (USA)


Respectful Connections: Trans Women’s Experiences of Tech-based Abuse and Pathways to Inclusion Starlady, Zoe Belle Gender Collective & Dr Sophie Hindes, La Trobe University


Being Young, Being Digital: Responding to Partner Violence Against Young Women Elizabeth Ashby & Cleo Arathoon, Ngā Whare Whakaruruhau o Aotearoa – The National Collective of Independent Women’s Refuges (NCIWR) (NZ)

Plenary Sessions

The Role of Regulators in Disrupting TFA | Karen Bentley, Wesnet (Facilitator) Panelists: Julie Inman Grant, Australian eSafety Commissioner, Carina Stone, Policy Researcher + others


From Dial-up to Deepfakes: Gender, Technology and the Dark Side of the Internet Julie Inman Grant PSM, Australian eSafety Commissioner


Summit Wrap-Up | Karen Bentley, CEO, Wesnet

Half-Day Technology Safety Workshop -  Thursday 17 September

Half-Day Technology Safety Workshop


An optional half-day Technology Safety Workshop designed to give domestic and family violence practitioners hands-on practice is also available on 17 September, the morning following the close of the Technology Safety Summit.

The cost of registration for the half-day Technology Safety Workshop is $99.

This is an interactive session designed to build on knowledge gained during the two-day Technology Safety Summit and to enable participants to apply new skills and insights in a practical and structured environment. Participants are asked to bring a device, such as a smartphone, to use during the workshop.

The Half-Day Technology Safety Workshop is available exclusively to domestic and family violence practitioners registered for the Technology Safety Summit.

Included in the workshop:

an in-depth presentation on the experiences of technology-facilitated abuse, primarily focusing on the misuse of cloud accounts, smart home technology, and AI, with corresponding activities to break down capabilities and build skills in the context of responding to gender-based violence.
practical exercises in navigating Apple's Safety Check and Google’s Security Checkup tools, as well as inspecting hidden routing, metadata, and authentication-bypassing on emails.
group discussion facilitated by Wesnet’s Tech Safety Specialists to explore best-practice safety-planning processes when assisting survivors of technology-facilitated abuse.


Please note: All keynote sessions, concurrents and workshops will be conducted in English with no live translation provided.


Contact

[email protected] / (Australia FREE CALL) 1800 937 638

Graphics in this website are made by Cuate from storyset.com