Kirra Pendergast

Kirra Pendergast doesn’t chase trends - she sets the standard.

With 34 years on the frontline where tech, risk, and human behaviour collide, Kirra is one of the most trusted voices in digital safety, psychosocial risk, and governance globally.

Before most people had even heard the term “online safety,” she was already advising government CIOs on the risks of digital exposure. From 1991, she helped design the systems that now shape digital identity and trust in Australia. In 2008, she formally warned Australian state leaders about Facebook Risk. She’s not reacting to change, she’s been ahead of it for three decades.

In 2013, everything shifted. After surviving a relentless campaign of cyber abuse, Kirra turned personal trauma into public impact, founding Safe on Social, now the world’s largest independent digital safety education and strategy firm. No tech funding. No platform allegiance. Just unapologetically human-first expertise.

Since then, she’s advised over 1,200 organisations across five continents, from health networks and law enforcement to elite sports and entire school systems. Her influence includes:

Building digital safety frameworks used by 350+ institutions, reaching millions

Leading social media audits impacting over 250,000 government employees

Launching Australia’s first Youth Advisory Council for Online Safety in 2019

Contributing to national policy, educational reform, and parliamentary inquiries

The international media trusts her. Bloomberg, CNN, ABC, Times Radio and more call when the headlines break. Leaders call her before they do.

Now based in Florence and working globally, Kirra continues to partner with public and private sector leaders to embed digital safety at the systems level before harm occurs. Her training doesn’t tick boxes. It transforms strategy, culture, and governance from the inside out.

She doesn’t just understand digital risk. She’s lived it, predicted it, and built the frameworks that help prevent it.