Working with Children Week celebrates the people and partnerships keeping children safe

Working with Children Week (23–29 June) recognises the individuals and organisations who play a critical role in safeguarding children across education, sport, the arts and community services.

Led by the Office of the Children’s Guardian (OCG) in New South Wales, the week honours those who create safe spaces for children to thrive and calls on services to work in partnership with the OCG to strengthen child safety practice.

The 2025 theme highlights the shared responsibility we all have to create environments where children are protected, heard and empowered. Services are encouraged to:

• showcase their child-safe practices
• build knowledge of legislative and regulatory requirements
• embed the Child Safe Standards across every aspect of their operations.

Whether you’re leading a school, running a long day care service or delivering extracurricular activities, this week is an opportunity to reflect on how your service culture promotes safety and trust.

Supporting education and care leaders

Working with Children Week is particularly relevant to early childhood education and care (ECEC) providers, who work at the frontline of child wellbeing.

The OCG’s Child Safe Action Plan (2023–2027) outlines a long-term commitment to embedding safety principles across agencies and school sectors, including:

• strengthening early intervention and risk identification
• supporting professional learning and safeguarding capability
• promoting a culture of transparency, accountability and continuous improvement.

For the ECEC sector, this offers a framework to review risk management practices, elevate staff confidence, and promote a child-safe lens across pedagogy and leadership.

Innovation in action

Services looking to lead the way in child safety could consider:

• appointing a child safety champion within their team to monitor and drive internal improvements
• co-designing safety resources with children and families, ensuring accessibility and relevance
• incorporating regular reflective practice sessions on safeguarding scenarios
• leveraging technology to monitor and report safety compliance or training completion

These proactive steps can help embed the Child Safe Standards as part of everyday culture not just compliance.

How to get involved

Organisations across NSW can take part in Working with Children Week by:

• hosting or attending a local event
• sharing child-safe practices online, using the official campaign toolkit
• accessing OCG’s training and resources to assess and strengthen current frameworks.

For more information or to download campaign materials, visit here.