A global expert in online safety will headline a major digital wellbeing event called Focus Forward, hosted by Beaconhills College on 4 March.
Kirra Pendergast, founder of Ctrl+Shft, is an international speaker, expert witness, writer and media commentator, and a pioneer in Australia’s cybersecurity and online safety sectors.
She will join keynote speakers Andrew Fuller, clinical psychologist, and Davina Berger from Wait Mate. Wait Mate is a movement empowering parents to delay giving their child a smartphone until at least high school.
Beaconhills College Executive Principal Stephen McGinley said the inaugural free event would help parents navigate the important decisions around their child’s access to smartphones, social media and technology in the home.
Tackling topics ranging from cyberbullying, safeguarding data, spotting deepfakes and gaming, to how screentime impacts a child’s brain, Focus Forward will equip parents with the best strategies to help children develop healthy relationships with technology.
“We know that our students can find themselves in unsafe online environments that are not supervised by trusted adults – a situation they should not have to manage at such a young age,” Mr McGinley said.
He said students faced increasing challenges around mobile phone and social media use. As adults and educators, “we know better and must do better”.
“We have growing evidence of the impact this is having on our students’ learning, safety and wellbeing and we are committed to supporting our students, families and community.
“Focus Forward is all about us, as a community, recognising where we are now and where we want to go in the future, by becoming informed and proactive.”
Beaconhills will host Focus Forward at 6pm on Wednesday 4 March 2026 at the College’s Tony Sheumack Centre for Performing Arts, Berwick Campus. Wait Mate will present an early session at 5.30pm for parents of children aged Early Years to Year 6 (includes entry to keynote session). Free tickets via TryBooking https://www.trybooking.com/DIQYP
