Sarah Barnbrook

Sarah Barnbrook is a digital safety researcher, human rights adviser, and founder of Away from Keyboard (AFK) Inc., an Australian charity focused on preventing harm in digital environments. Her work sits at the intersection of cyber security, ethical AI, and technology-facilitated harm, with a focus on how emerging systems shape risk, safety, and participation in society.

Sarah brings a unique perspective that bridges lived experience, policy engagement, and systems-level analysis. She has contributed to national and international policy processes, including Senate inquiries and United Nations forums, reframing technology-facilitated gender-based violence and digital harm as systemic and preventable risks. Her research and advocacy focus on upstream prevention, examining how design decisions in AI and automated systems can either mitigate or amplify harm at scale. She is the visionary behind the Alt-TAB Ethics Framework, an open-source tool that helps organisations identify and address human-impact risks before deploying technology.

Sarah also serves as Company Secretary of the Australian Gender Equality Council and holds advisory roles across human rights, technology, and rural and regional women’s issues for the National Council of Women Victoria.Her work challenges traditional cyber security thinking by centring accountability for system-driven harm and advancing practical approaches to safer, human-centred innovation.