CEO of Netsafe, online safety, privacy and regulation expert

Overview

Brent Carey is the Chief Executive of Netsafe, New Zealand's online safety charity, and one of Aotearoa's leading voices on digital safety, privacy and online harm. With more than two decades in regulatory, privacy and integrity roles across New Zealand and Australia, he brings sharp legal expertise and global perspective to a fast-changing online world.

Who is Brent Carey? Brent grew up on a dairy farm south of Opunake and holds Law and Arts degrees from Victoria University of Wellington. He has worked for two Privacy Commissioners, an Australian Senator and senior integrity bodies including the Australian Telecommunications Ombudsman, Victorian Privacy Commissioner's Office and Independent Broad-Based Anti-Corruption Commission. He was New Zealand's second Domain Name Commissioner from 2017 to 2022, before becoming CEO of Netsafe in May 2022.

Career Highlights • CEO of Netsafe, NZ's online safety charity, since May 2022 • Former NZ Domain Name Commissioner, 2017–2022 • Governance Committee member, Aotearoa NZ Code of Practice for Online Safety Harms • Collaborator with the World Economic Forum on Global Principles on Digital Safety • Advisor to University of Otago's Datification of Children Project • Senior roles at Victorian Privacy Commissioner's Office, Telecommunications Ombudsman and IBAC

Key Speaking Themes • Online safety, harmful digital communications and Big Tech • Cyberbullying, scams, sextortion and digital harm • Privacy, data and the regulation of platforms • AI, the metaverse and safe online environments • Child online safety and the future of digital regulation

What Your Audience Will Gain Brent is calm, deeply credible and uniquely placed across regulation, technology and lived community impact. Audiences leave with a clearer view of online risk, what good regulation looks like and how organisations can play their part.

Ideal For • Technology, AI and digital safety conferences • Education, schools and youth events • Government, policy and regulatory forums • Boards, risk and compliance summits • Wellbeing, parenting and community events

Frequently Asked Questions...

What does Brent Carey speak about? Online safety, harmful digital communications, privacy, regulation of platforms, scams, sextortion and child online safety.

What is Netsafe? New Zealand's 25-year-old online safety charity, the lead agency under the Harmful Digital Communications Act and the country's hate hotline.

What is Brent Carey's background? Law and Arts degrees from Victoria University of Wellington, with senior roles in privacy, regulation and integrity bodies across NZ and Australia.

What was Brent Carey's previous major role? He was New Zealand's second Domain Name Commissioner from 2017 to 2022, overseeing the .nz domain name space.

What global work is Brent Carey involved in? He sits on the Governance Committee of NZ's Code of Practice for Online Safety Harms adopted by Meta, Google, TikTok, Twitch and X.
Is Brent Carey available for keynotes and panels? Yes. Brent is regularly booked for keynotes, panels and workshops on online safety, regulation, privacy and digital risk.