1. The Ministry of Home Affairs (Singapore), the Singapore Police Force, the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and the Australian Mission to ASEAN jointly organised a two-day workshop on ‘Investigating Online Child Sexual Exploitation’ from 9 to 10 April 2025, bringing together over 50 participants from ASEAN countries and Timor Leste, and more than 80 officers from the Singapore Police Force.
2. The Deputy Secretary (Policy), Ministry of Home Affairs, Mr Ngiam Shih Chun, and the Australian High Commissioner to Singapore, Mr Allaster Cox attended the workshop and addressed the participants, signalling Singapore and Australia’s long-standing cooperation at the bilateral and ASEAN level.
3. The two-day workshop featured expert-led sessions, discussions and case studies from the private sector, non-governmental organisations and law enforcement agencies. The workshop underscored Australia’s and Singapore’s commitment to protect children from and strengthened regional cooperation in combatting online sexual exploitation and violence. It served as a platform for law enforcement agencies across ASEAN to exchange knowledge, discuss best practices, and enhance collaboration in detecting, responding to and prosecuting perpetrators involved in online child sexual exploitation and the proliferation of child sexual abuse materials (CSAM).
4. At the workshop, Mr Ngiam emphasised the importance of international cooperation in dealing with online child sexual exploitation. He said, “Child sexual exploitation and trafficking is a global problem, one that does not respect national borders. Perpetrators operate across jurisdictions, taking advantage of disparities in legal systems and enforcement capabilities, under the cover of anonymity provided by cyberspace to evade justice. International cooperation is key to combatting such transnational crimes. Singapore is committed to working closely with our international partners and organisations to uplift our capabilities as a region, so that we can collectively continue to protect our children from the depravity, exploitation and harms of CSAM.”
5. Australian High Commissioner to Singapore, Allaster Cox affirmed Australia’s strong stance against online child sexual exploitation. “Singapore is an important partner in regional law enforcement cooperation. I commend the Australian Federal Police and Singapore Police Force in working with ASEAN colleagues to combat child sexual exploitation online.”
6. Australian Ambassador to ASEAN, Tiffany McDonald, said, “As ASEAN’s first Dialogue Partner, Australia values ASEAN centrality, including in regional law enforcement. The Australian Mission to ASEAN is pleased to coordinate with the Singapore Ministry of Home Affairs and the Singapore Police Force through ASEAN mechanisms to build our collective capacity on this important issue.”
