Get Involved - National Child Protection Week 2021

National Child Protection Week

5-11 September 2021

Theme: Every child, in every community, needs a fair go.

To treat all of Australia’s children fairly, we need to make sure every family and community has what kids need to thrive and be healthy.

Find out more about the theme.

Welcome to the campaign for 2021.

Week-long webinar series

This year’s National Child Protection Week webinar series has been carefully designed to support the theme that ‘Every child, in every community, needs a fair go’.

In doing this, we have included a range of discussions that highlight some of the ‘big picture’ issues around child protection. These discussions will hopefully bring new dimensions to our collective thinking about how we keep children safe and well.

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Thank you to the hundreds of organisations who have sent in their logos and words about how they’ll be supporting National Child Protection Week.

Note: Any submissions received after 5 September will be added after this year’s campaign.

To support National Child Protection Week further, we have a few more things you can do to get involved:

Display Posters

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Children’s Art Activity

View all artworks or create your own

Students from our Permanency Support Program (foster care) who attend CareSouth’s Homework hub mentoring program, brainstormed ideas for their perfect community and created this piece of art. It represents all the things the students in the group hold dear to them – the beach, endangered animals and “watching people fall from the sky when I’m swimming”.

In this collaboration with Lifestart, children from Grade 1 – 6 and support classes at Towradgi Public school identified the beauty of where they live and how much joy it brings to them and their family and friends. The beautiful ocean, parks and green spaces where people can catchup and spend time having fun help keep kids and families connected and healthy.

In this collaboration with Lifestart, children from Grade 1 – 6 and support classes at Towradgi Public school expressed how important their deep connection to their immediate and extended family members is. Family members who make the children feel safe and loved at home and family members who make the children feel safe in their community when playing sport, visiting the park or the shops and spending time with family friends.

In this collaboration with Lifestart, children from Grade 1 – 6 and support classes at Towradgi Public school expressed deep love for their pets (dogs, cats, guinea pigs and birds). They explained how their pets made them feel safe as they had a companion both in their home and in the community. Having loved pets by their side make them feel happier, safer and more content. They thought it would be great to have more places in their neighbourhood where they can take their pets.

The children from grades 1-6 and support classes at Towradgi Public school told Lifestart how important their school was to making them feel safe and connected to their neighbourhood and community. The school is active in the community and encompasses diversity and inclusion making all children feel safe and supported in this environment.

The Brook ECEC:A safe place for all children to feel a sense of belonging as we celebrate diversity, respect and love.

Molly’s dream neighbourhood. This is my dream neighbourhood, it is a place where everyone feels safe, included, happy and most of all never alone. There is a treehouse where the light shining under the door symbolises where everyone wants to be. The different colours and different types of leaves symbolise identity, the leaves of the tree show we are all different and unique but can work together to achieve our goals. The people in the pool are friends who have had to move away and have come back to have fun with everyone. The houses behind the fence show that everyone is welcome, and it doesn’t matter where you come from. Molly would like her ideal neighbourhood to have an area to encourage strong community.

Our children at Camp Australia Yarrawarrah Public School OSHC discussed what they thought would be an important addition to their neighbourhood. They felt that at this time of COVID-19 and at other times, that relaxation and mindfulness were very important and that a sensory garden in the neighbourhood would provide a place for children to go, if they are lonely, to find a friend. They felt that if children are feeling sad they could play with all the toys to help them feel better. It would be a happy place to relax and feel safe.

The young people from the remote community of Gunyangara, Northern Territory, had a discussion and came to the conclusion that culture is the most important thing that their neighbourhood/community needs. They explained that culture in turn flows out into other factors that help create a harmonious, safe and ideal place to live. People in the community of Gunyangara use the metaphor “strong just like the rock” to describe being courageous, steady and firm in yourself, culture and family, as well as looking out to a bright future. The art work emphasises a boy standing firm on this smooth grey rock with the background being inspired by the beautiful blue waters and skies of Gunyangara. The foreground is inspired by the warm white shoreline that intertwines and runs alongside their houses. They have included words from their language, Yolngu Matha, symbols and English so that everyone can understand. The young people are dreaming of different things and services which they feel keeps their neighbourhood “safe, healthy and happy” and culture being the glue that holds it all together.

The essential workers in our neighbourhood help us and keep us safe. They are important all the people in my community because they are always there when we need them. They are amazing!!!

Camp Australia Yarrawarrah Public School OSHC: My friend and I like to play with my mum at our soccer field so we can have fun and be fit. We bring healthy food and play happily together.

Springfield Anglican College OSHC: We conducted the activity with our children in Grade 1 to 6. We broke the activity into small sections and used it as our program focus for last week. We used the suggested questions to create brainstorming mind maps, focusing on one question each morning in our group time before class. We then asked children in the afternoon sessions to draw pictures of the ideas suggested in the morning session as well as any new ideas. We used this time to discuss safe practices, safe places and safe people in our communities and linked the discussions with the recent hailstorms that impacted students within our school community. We wish to extend on this project for our next community engagement activity, using the children’s ideas on ways to support charity organisations in our area.

This picture shows local area items such as the railway, river and parkland, library, bicycle tracks, and neighbour's beehives.

Grandis Primary School - Year 1___2:The students shared their opinions and agreed that the things that were most important to them, and what they needed the most, were how people made them feel, and how they made other people feel, rather than the things they had. Some of these included adults who make us feel safe and secure, everyone looking after each other, being kind and caring, being respectful, keeping each other safe, encouraging each other, being fair, loving each other, being friendly, being helpful, being careful and being gentle. The art piece represents each child blossoming and growing when they feel loved and valued and cared for by their families, friends, and the community.

Burleigh Kindy Kids: The teachers (and the children themselves) were very proud that this was put together with minimal adult input. We think it's very beautiful and want to share it! The children were asked to identify the parts of Burleigh Heads community that were most special/significant to them - which included our kindy, the local school, the beach, Jellurgal mountain, the parks, trees and playgrounds and Talle Creek. These are all things that we need and are important to the community, to ensure the health, well-being and safety of everybody. One of our children insisted that there be a somewhere for homeless people to live too, and that everybody deserves somewhere to live and feel safe. They were also concerned about the wildlife (in particular koalas) having their homes destroyed when trees get cut down. You'll also see a bit of a controversial inclusion in the picture - a tram line (which has been a regular point of discussion for our whole kindy community) but the children wanted a tram just for children to ride on around their park!

The children at Wind in the Willows, Ashfield have participated in a project about community helpers and how they help and keep us safe. They have contributed to a discussion about the emergency networks we have within the Bassendean community. They have also shared their best memories of what they like to do with their families, and what we already have in our community. The children participated in a discussion, “Thank you, Heroes!” where they had an opportunity to communicate which community helpers they are thankful to and why. Here are their responses.

Activity Sheets for Children

Check the Events Calendar (and add your activities)

Events Calendar

Ideas/resources for different groups)

Looking for general event ideas?

Ideas for early learning centres and schools

Ideas for staff & professional development

Ideas for local governments and libraries

Ideas for churches & faith-based organisations

Ideas for Neighbourhood Houses and Centres

Ideas for small businesses

Ideas for Sports & Recreation Groups

Resources to support events and activities

NAPCAN has plenty of free resources to support your activities including: brochures for parents and carers, tips for how to play your part, videos and posters.

Posters & Tip Sheets

Brochures for Parents & Carers

Tips for Playing Your Part

You can get involved with National Child Protection Week by helping us spread the word

Publish an article in your newsletter

Short newsletter articles for use by sector organisations and people working with children. Suitable images include poster below or social media tiles (see above).

Media information and press releases.

Media Kit

If you have an activity or project that helps to support children, National Child Protection Week is a great opportunity to promote your work. Use our draft media content to get you started. Or contact NAPCAN for quotes, comments or interviews.

Learn more about the words behind this year’s theme

Learn more

Find out how the Core Story for Early Childhood Development and Learning research can help you frame your communication so we engage families and communities.

Child abuse and neglect is a very challenging topic. If you need more information about how to get support for yourself or others, you can find a list of services on NAPCAN’s Support Page.