Every Conversation Matters

This week, our Early Learning Centres and Outside School Hours Care (OSHC) services joined communities across Australia in recognising National Child Protection Week.

Led by NAPCAN, this year's theme,"Every Conversation Matters: Shifting Conversation to Action", highlights the important role we all play in helping children feel safe, heard, valued and supported, and ensuring those conversations lead to meaningful action.

Across Woden Community Service and Northside Community Service, child safety is at the heart of everything we do. Throughout the week, children and educators participated in age-appropriate activities that encouraged communication, emotional awareness, respectful relationships, personal safety and help-seeking behaviours.

At Lyons Early Learning Centre, children explored safety and wellbeing in a range of creative ways. Babies practised recognising emotions and using positive social language such as "please" and "thank you". While kindergarten children learned about trusted adults, personal boundaries and using their voice to stay safe. In OSHC, children explored personal safety, effective communication and building supportive relationships through discussions and interactive activities.

At Harrison Early Childhood Centre, educators engaged children in meaningful experiences focused on safety, wellbeing, belonging and respectful relationships. Through storytelling, discussions, creative arts and role play, children explored ways to express their feelings, identify trusted adults and develop the confidence to seek help when needed.

These activities reflect a broader commitment across all of our children's services to creating environments where children feel safe, respected and empowered to participate in decisions that affect them.

National Child Protection Week also provided an opportunity to strengthen our organisation-wide child safety work. Over recent months, we have refreshed our Child Safe Commitment Statement and developed new child-friendly and family-friendly child safety posters. Importantly, we are seeking feedback from the people who matter most, including children, young people and families, to help ensure these resources are meaningful, accessible and reflect their voices. This approach aligns with our commitment to listening to children and involving them in conversations about their safety and wellbeing.

Protecting children is everyone's responsibility. Whether through everyday conversations, creating safe environments, listening to children's voices or taking action when concerns arise, every interaction contributes to building a stronger culture of child safety.

As National Child Protection Week reminds us, every conversation matters, but it is action that helps keep children safe.