Toby Dagg has spent more than two decades working at the point where public safety, child protection, and digital regulation meet — the kind of territory where decisions carry real consequences and the stakes are rarely abstract.

He began his career with the NSW Police Force, working as a Detective on major crime investigations. From there, he moved into child protection reform in New South Wales, helping to establish a bail-support and accommodation service under the Keep Them Safe reforms — practical work focused on keeping vulnerable young people out of remand by finding safe placements quickly. It was an early expression of an approach that has remained consistent ever since: find what actually works, and build something that lasts.

In 2013, Toby joined the Australian Communications and Media Authority, where he led frontline efforts to disrupt the online distribution of child sexual abuse material and extremist content. Working alongside Australian and international law enforcement agencies, NGOs, and global hotline networks, he helped shape some of Australia's earliest and most effective cross-border responses to online child exploitation.

When the eSafety Commissioner was established in 2015, Toby was there at the beginning and stayed for a decade. Over that time, he expanded the agency's regulatory reach well beyond its original mandate, addressing cyberbullying, image-based abuse, sexual extortion, terrorist content, and a widening range of emerging digital harms. He founded eSafety's Investigations Branch as its inaugural Executive Manager, later served as Chief Operating Officer, and ultimately led the Regulatory Operations Division as a General Manager at SES Band 2 level.

Across those roles, he built large, multidisciplinary teams; designed regulatory operating models; oversaw major investigations and enforcement actions; and led implementation of landmark reforms including the Online Safety Act 2021. He has exercised statutory decision-making authority, appeared before Parliamentary committees, advised Ministers, and represented Australia in high-stakes domestic and international forums.

Internationally, Toby has served as Vice President of the International Association of Internet Hotlines (INHOPE), providing strategic leadership across governance, finance, and global policy. He has advised the private sector, including through appointment to Westpac's Safer Children, Safer Communities expert roundtable, and has represented the Australian Government through bodies including WeProtect Global Alliance, INTERPOL, the European Commission, and the OECD.

Toby holds degrees in law, international security studies, and politics. He is known for combining deep operational credibility with clear strategic judgement, and for translating complex regulatory, investigative, and policy challenges into practical, defensible outcomes that serve the public interest.

Through Primary Purpose Advisory, Toby now works with organisations, including NGOs, corporations, and expert bodies, to help them understand, articulate, and genuinely live up to their own standards. That work spans organisational integrity, digital safeguarding, executive communication, and accountability. He also delivers national training to law enforcement on online harms, bringing the same direct, experience-grounded approach he has applied throughout his career to the officers working these issues on the ground today.