Task Force Argos is investigating the website. Credit:Louie Douvis Queensland police issued a statement about 2pm to say they'd made an initial investigation of the site, along with interstate cops, the Australian Federal Police and the eSafety commissioner. "We believe the site is hosted overseas and does not appear to contain any child exploitation material," Detective Superintendent Cheryl Scanlon said. The announcement came as Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk weighed into the issue, labelling reports of the website "very disturbing". She said police and the education department were quick to act and urged parents to keep an eye on their children online.

The QPS said the material had been obtained from "social media sites and across the internet". "We cannot stress how important it is for everyone to protect themselves online. "Pictures you post on social media sites are unfortunately there for the taking to anyone who is your friend, or even a friend of a friend," Superintendent Scanlon, of the Child Safety and Sexual Crimes Group, said. "You may post the image now and be happy with it, but unfortunately down the track when you change your mind, they cannot be retrieved. "Anyone can access them and once they are gone, they are gone forever."

On Wednesday afternoon, the education department issued a second statement saying it had been informed the website did not feature any explicit images of Queensland students. The spokesman said the department was working with all affected schools and any others needing support. "Cybersafety is part of the mainstream conversation in schools, with schools regularly training students in the proper use of technology," he said. "Parents also have an important role to play in monitoring their children's behaviour on the internet outside of school hours." EARLIER

A targeted child exploitation taskforce is investigating a shocking website featuring hundreds of nude and near-nude photos of women and schoolchildren. The site groups women according to their local area or in many cases their school, with several schools in Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne mentioned by name. Queensland police confirmed the service's Task Force Argos was investigating the site, which Fairfax Media has chosen not to name. The message board, apparently hosted in Russia, features more than 100 different threads dedicated to women and girls from certain areas. In an extension of a disgusting trend that has emerged on some sites over the past few years, it sees posters requesting pictures of girls from certain schools, or in some cases specific girls.

As well as finding and uploading photos, in many cases the posters work to provide as many details as possible to identify the women featured, including phone numbers in some instances. Nude photos are referred to as "wins" and often appear to have been uploaded after being sent to others, sometimes through apps such as Snapchat. Some of the site's users posted that they believed the photos were all of women aged over 18 but others said some girls featured were as young as 14. A spokesman for the Queensland Department of Education and Training confirmed the department was aware of the website "containing explicit images of Queensland students and other women". "This website is highly offensive," he said, in a statement.

"We will work with other agencies - including police - as a matter of urgency to ensure the safety and wellbeing of all our students." Stay informed. Like the Brisbane Times Facebook page