Being a safety helper

A ‘safety helper’, ‘safe person’ or ‘trusted adult’ is an adult who forms part of a child or young person’s ‘safety team’ or ‘safety network’. Safety helpers are responsible for making sure children and young people feel safe and heard. Keeping children and young people safe is the responsibility of all adults in our community.

Your responsibility as a safety helper

Being selected as a safety helper is an important role. Children and young people are taught to talk to their safety helpers if they ever feel worried, scared or unsafe.

It is important they know how to contact you if they need to. If you are not the child’s parent/carer, you might want to talk to their parent/carer to decide how the child can reach out if they need help.

Here are some of the ways you can support children and young people as a safety helper:

• Learn more: Understanding what child sexual abuse is, how it occurs, and how to create safe environments for children and young people is an important step in preventing it. This includes learning about the signs and indicators of child sexual abuse and how to report child sexual abuse. You can learn more about child sexual abuse by visiting ChildSafety.gov.au and the Daniel Morcombe Foundation website.
• Listen: Make time to hear what is happening for the child or young person. Children and young people don’t always have the words to describe how they are feeling, or what is going on. Give them time to gather their thoughts and let them speak in their own words.
• Believe: Reassure them that you have heard them and that you believe them. This is particularly important if the child or young person tells you something that indicates abuse. You can find more information on the National Office for Child Safety’s How to respond to a child sexual abuse disclosure page.
• Support them to be safe: Do what you can to ensure that they are safe. You can find out more on the National Office for Child Safety’s How to keep children and young people safe page.

Where to get help and support

If you believe a child or young person is in immediate danger, call Triple Zero (000).

If you suspect that a child has experienced abuse or is at risk of harm, you should contact the relevant state or territory child protection agency. More information can be found on the National Office for Child Safety’s Make a report page.

Kids Helpline provides free 24/7 nation-wide support for children and young people aged 5 to 25 years, offering peer to peer support, self-help resources and phone and online counselling. They can be contacted on 1800 55 1800 or through the Kids Helpline website.

Talking about child sexual abuse can be difficult. Having conversations about child sexual abuse means we have to engage with a topic that can feel hard to think about. It can be especially hard for adults who have their own histories of childhood trauma, including child sexual abuse, as having conversations may bring up difficult memories and emotions.

There are services and resources available to help. You can find a list of support services on the National Office for Child Safety’s Get support page and find tips about preparing for conversations about child sexual abuse on the National Office for Child Safety’s Looking after your wellbeing page.