National Child Protection Week is here – how will you be involved?

National Child Protection Week is here, raising awareness of child abuse prevention.

In 2023, National Child Protection week is being held between 3–9 September, with the aim of engaging, educating, and empowering Australians to understand the complexity of child abuse and neglect, and work together to prevent it.

The campaign does this through the sharing of events and resources to encourage communities to engage in conversations around children’s safety and wellbeing.

In 2023, the theme is ‘Where we start matters,’ highlighting that all Australians can play a part in combating child abuse and neglect by creating stronger, happier neighbourhoods.

This can be achieved by talking with neighbours, checking in with friends, being a good role model, supporting and being kind to parents rather than judging or being competitive, offering to assist where possible and speaking up if you see something that is unsafe.

For Catholic schools and early learning settings in the Newcastle, Maitland and the Hunter regions of New South Wales, National Child Protection week is a dynamic time, where services get involved in the ‘Decorate your Gate’ initiative, finding a gate, fence or alternative space to decorate in-line with the theme, ‘Where we start matters’.

Through ‘Decorate your Gate’ the community showcases its commitment to protecting and safeguarding children, making a powerful statement that child protection is a top priority for Catholic schools and the wider community.

Schools in the Diocese can win $4,000 for their school community (1x primary prize, 1x secondary prize) while early learning services under the St Nicholas brand can win $500 for their service community.

All schools, outside school hours care (OSHC) services and early education centres can now access dedicated activities and resources designed to give young people the skills and strategies to identify, respond to, and seek assistance with a range of unsafe situations.

Information and resources are now available on the Office of Safeguarding website.

For more information on National Child Protection Week, please see here.