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It has been an uplifting and difficult time
at NAPCAN since our last eNews update. These conflicting experiences
often seem to be a normal part of working towards the complex
and emotional goal of child abuse prevention.
On the uplifting side, NAPCAN has launched Child Friendly
Australia, the public face for our work. This marks the commencement
of a powerful long term social change strategy to inspire
every Australian to make a positive difference to the wellbeing
and safety of children and youth.
National Child Protection Week (NCPW) was also incredibly
uplifting. For the fourth year in a row the Week has increased
its impact – with public participation, numbers of community
events and media coverage all growing massively. The founding
NCPW Partners played a big part in this success.
At the same time that these positive outcomes were achieved,
child abuse has continued to grow in seriousness. New research
from NSW indicates one in three adults suspect they know a
child being abused, while an Inquiry into the sexual assault
of Aboriginal children is taking place in the Northern Territory
and the Western Australian Government announced a child protection
review.
While we continue to watch child protection systems struggle
to cope with the increasing number of children living in crisis,
the financial investment into preventing these horrific situations
is an appalling $1 for every $300 spent on protection.
NAPCAN thanks you for your continued support for our work
as the only national organisation in Australia totally focussed
on preventing abuse and neglect of children – before
it happens.
Sadly, I must report that NAPACAN we needs much more support
to keep up with the increasing demand and need for our work.
We would welcome your help in passing on this important message
to anyone you know who might also be willing to make a difference
in supporting our work. |
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Child Friendly Australia is the exciting new social
change initiative of the National Association for Prevention of
Child Abuse and Neglect (NAPCAN). NAPCAN will use the Child Friendly
Australia ‘brand’ to purposefully engage the wider public
in the creation and ongoing support of child friendly communities
across Australia.
In 2005 NAPCAN released a new strategic Five Year Plan with the
vision of creating a child friendly Australia, where every community
is ‘child friendly’. NAPCAN firmly believes that by
inspiring every Australian to take responsibility for children's
wellbeing, then child abuse and neglect in this country will be
prevented before it starts.
This includes providing programs and tools to assist with the formation,
development and sustaining of Child Friendly Community Action Networks,
to support parents themselves, and to encourage the general public
to 'take the child friendly challenge' and get involved. Find
out more
Child Friendly Australia is working to inspire everybody to make
a positive difference to children's lives, and help create an Australia
where every community that involves children in any way is child
friendly. We have created a special Positive Parenting Kit as a
special child friendly resource, which can be ordered online via
NAPCAN’s Zencart ordering system. Find
out more
Through Child Friendly Australia NAPCAN has recently launched its
new public awareness campaign: Children
See Children Do The advertisement is aired on National Television
after 9pm, and will be soon shown at cinemas. The advertisement
can be viewed online via the Child
Friendly Australia website.
NAPCAN’s Children Champions
have been integrated into Child Friendly Australia. These ‘awards’
are presented to individuals, to sections of the business community,
and to local communities, for outstanding contributions to the wellbeing
of children and young people. This year NAPCAN awarded Family
Life as the Community Children’s Champion for 2006.
As a result, Family Life and Child Friendly Community initiatives
received significant media exposure during NCPW thanks to Richard
Aedy’s Life Matters on ABC Radio. Family Life uses a ‘whole
of community’ approach in it’s work with vulnerable
families in the Bayside area of Melbourne. Find
out more
NAPCAN Foundation is bringing
to Australia Isaac and Ora Prilleltensky
to conduct a seminar series on the role of community in promoting
wellbeing with a particular focus on promoting the wellbeing and
resilience of children.
There is a need to integrate
individual, organizational and community approaches to the promotion
of wellbeing for children and young people. For too long, counsellors,
organizational consultants and community practitioners have been
working in isolation, depriving themselves of insights and opportunities
to be more effective and holistic in their work. On offer is a conceptual
framework that can transcend parochial understandings of well-being
and dogmatic solutions to complex problems.
Isaac and Ora Prilleltensky
Isaac and Ora Prilleltensky have,
between them, twenty five years in the helping professions, working
with children, young people and adults in a variety of settings
including schools, clinics, and universities. They have consulted
and worked with individuals, families, organisations, communities
and governments in Canada, United States, Israel and Australia.
Both have been published extensively in the fields of prevention
of child abuse and neglect and in the promotion of wellbeing and
resilience.
Currently both Isaac and Ora are academics at Peabody College of
Vanderbilt University: Isaac directs the PhD program in Community
Research and Action; and Ora teaches in the Masters of Counselling
Program.
Isaac and Ora have collaborated on their latest publication, Promoting
wellbeing: Linking psychological, organizational and community change
which will be launched to coincide with their visit to Australia.
NAPCAN has been following the work and contribution of Isaac and
Ora to the wellbeing of children internationally and are particularly
interested in the role of community and the links between community
wellbeing and the prevention of child abuse and neglect. We are
pleased to give Australian practitioners the opportunity to share
Isaac and Ora’s wisdom and knowledge and to launch their new
publication in Australia.
Seminar Series
The seminar series, Promoting wellbeing: A change strategy for communities
will run from 20 November to 1 December 2005 providing the opportunity
for Isaac and Ora to share their wisdom and experience with practitioners
and organisations.
Part One of each seminars will explore how children and young people's
wellbeing is connected to the wellbeing of all adults, families,
organisations and communities, bringing theory and research into
the reality of community life experience.
Part Two will be an interactive panel discussion between recognised
experts and Isaac and Ora. Seminar participants will also have the
opportunity during Question Time to raise issues and explore specific
areas of interest.
The Seminars are for anyone interested in the wellbeing of children
and young people:
• professionals in the child welfare, child protection, and
broader child focused sectors
• agencies involved at any level within communities especially
those working for children’s wellbeing
• Students studying in associated areas
• local government
• schools (especially schools as community centres)
• young people themselves
Seminar Schedule
| Melbourne |
17 November |
| Canberra |
21 November |
| Sydney |
23 November |
| Brisbane |
24 November |
| Darwin |
27 – 28 November |
| Perth |
29 – 30 November |
To find out about the
Isaac and Ora Prilleltensky seminars in your State or Territory:
Click here
Last month the
NSW Government announced that they expect child protection notifications
in NSW alone will exceed last year’s national total of
250,000 reports, expressing a prediction that as many as one
in five children could be subject to a child protection report.
Whether or not the actual level of child abuse and neglect in
Australia is worsening remains uncertain though as Australia
does not have rigorous prevalence and incidence data. However,
with dramatically increasing national levels of child abuse
reports and substantiations our knowledge of just how many Australian
children suffer abuse is growing.
Too many state/territory child protection departments are struggling
to keep up with this situation, and in NAPCAN’s view the
reason for this is not only because of the rising number of
children at risk.
The child abuse crisis is also due to too little work is being
done to prevent child abuse from happening in the first place.
Unless this occurs we can expect to witness increasing number
of children to be devastated by abuse.
A nation-wide approach is required. Our personal actions –
with the children in our lives, families and communities –
form part of a national approach. So too do family friendly
work practices.
There are key leaders that must play a bigger part for an effective
nation-wide approach to prevent child abuse. Data on business
and philanthropic investment in this area is difficult to find,
however government spending is available. NAPCAN’s research
published in the National Child Protection Clearinghouse Journal
highlighted the Australian Government
spends a mere $4.2 Million on child abuse prevention while state/territory
government spending on child protection is a massive $1.2 Billion.
See
the full report
When governments, business, philanthropists, and foundations
come together and show the way that they, and every Australian,
can play their part in preventing child abuse we will tackle
this most horrible of social crimes. Indeed we must, for the
sake of our children and our personal future as well. |
• Ask KiDS
In the first half of 2006, in line with the Young Visions Strategy
NAPCAN launched two public campaigns in order to gather the stories:
Capture a Child Friendly Moment and Ask KiDS. Some key elements
of the Ask KiDS campaign became part of NCPW ‘06. These were:
1.
The Invitation [hard copy and electronic eVersion] was designed
around the campaign, inviting adults to ‘Ask KiDS’
for their thoughts about child friendly communities.
2. NAPCAN'S supporting partners Avant
Card joined the campaign for NCPW and presented a fresh
look to the challenge. A card was designed with a child's face
and an empty 'bubble' providing space for a child's response.
Avant Cards were placed in urban venues across Australia. Using
a free reply post people continue to send back to us cards with
the bubble filled in with what KiDS have said. As with the Capture
a Child friendly Moment Campaign, Ask KiDS continues as a child
friendly challenge. Find
out more
3. The Ask KiDS advertisement was also sent out to local newspapers
for publication by the media desk, and it was also reproduced
as a downloadable document linked from the NCPW main page.
4. Many schools took up the challenge as a NCPW activity.
5. Community Action Networks and Community Neighbourhood Centres
ran art competitions inviting kids to paint/draw their image
of a child friendly community.
Significant outcomes so far:
• Children have been given the opportunity to express
their opinion [and know that their opinion is valued]
• NAPCAN is painting a picture of what ‘child friendly’
means to kids.
• Adults participated in a child
friendly activity |
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• Partnerships
Following the success of the Steering Committee in NCPW 2005, NAPCAN
developed a partnership model to formalise the involvement of 'promotional
and communication partners'. NCPW Partners worked to inform and
inspire their networks and staff to participate in NCPW '06. In
the lead up to NCPW '06 31 national partnerships were forged with
NAPCAN, and 12 local State and Territory partnerships.
All NCPW electronic communications were sent out by NCPW partners
throughout their emailing lists, articles were published in partner
newsletters etc. and a special NCPW banner was posted on partner
websites. Even though final evaluation figures are not all in, it
is estimated that there were an additional 250,000 recipients to
the electronic ‘mail-outs’, and website promotion exceeded
1.5 million people.
In addition to this, several partner organisations ordered large
quantities of Promotion Packs. For example the Australian Division
of General Practitioners arranged for 6,000 displays during NCPW
in general practices throughout Australia. Each display constitutes
an awareness raising activity.
A unique partnership page was published promoting NCPW Partner organisations,
with links back to individual websites. Go
to the 2006 Partnerships Page.
Since the end of September, more organisations have become partners
for 2007, including the Jesuit Social Services, and CEIEC, the Centre
for Equity and Innovation in Early Childhood. Several local city
councils and large corporations are also in discussion with NAPCAN
for NCPW 2007. If your organisation is interested in becoming a
Partner or you would like to find out more: Email
us.
• Public awareness
Public awareness is an essential prerequisite for social action.
NAPCAN has built on a targeted media and communications strategy
for NCPW 2005.
The local media strategy and materials involved the development
of attached letters and advertisements [eg Ask KiDS] and were distributed
via OMD, a physical mail out, and numerous email mail outs. The
response from local radio stations seem to be generated initially
from this strategy.
Media kits were developed and distributed for both internal and
external use. these included updated fact sheets, media alert and
release templates, contact sheets etc.
The national media strategy and materials involved generating and
managing extensive media, for the lead up and, during NCPW ‘06.
It featured the national media alert and release, including specific
focused stories on Family Life initiatives (Triple J and Life Matters
on the ABC) as well as other child friendly initiatives. There was
online representation via the 7 Network’s Sunrise Family,
and many national radio interviews of NAPCAN Executive Officer Adam
Blakester, the majority focussing on what makes a community ‘child
friendly’. At the state and territory level, local television
and radio stations promoted the Week.
• Website
Together with the eUpdates, and NCPW Partner websites, the Week
was heavily promoted via NAPCAN’s own website, especially
over the months June through September. As well as the above mentioned
campaigns, Capture a Child Friendly Moment, and Ask KiDS, all resources
were ordered via the website, and individual NCPW state and territory
pages promoted their local events and activities.
This year the Organiser’s Activity Kit was produced as an
online resource and as a downloadable document. So to, all registered
activities for the Week were accessible to interested parties via
a postcode search from the NCPW pages. This also enabled media outlets
to find and promote activities in their local region.
During NCPW the new website for Child Friendly Australia was launched.
The website contains most of the child friendly material that was
formerly on the NAPCAN site. The NAPCAN website is currently under
redevelopment to even more effectively resource professionals and
practitioners in the child welfare sector.
Compared with September 2005, combined figures for NAPCAN and Child
Friendly Australia in September represent a 66% increase of unique
visitors, and 30% increase in the number of pages viewed.
This year’s National Launch was held at
the headquarters of Kids Helpline in Brisbane, and the Week was
officially launched by the Hon Mal Brough MP, Minister for Families,
Community Services and Indigenous Affairs.
During the open Question and Answer Forum facilitated by NAPCAN
Ambassador, Julie McCrossin, with local kids and their parents,
the audience learned that it is sometimes the little things that
make the difference to how kids feel in their environment. One child
reminded restaurateurs about the importance of having stuff for
kids to do when they’re out with their parents – colouring
in, toys, and even a friendly hello can make all the difference.
In Canberra Parliamentarians Against Child Abuse [PACA] held a luncheon
at Parliament House, with Dorothy Scott as Guest Speaker. The event
was a huge success increasing awareness of NAPCAN’s work &
sparking keen interest from MPs.
A key outcome of the PACA lunch was a discussion about Child Protection
in the Senate. Read
the extract from Hansard
The annual Baker and McKenzie Corporate Lunch was held on Thursday
7th with more than 50 guests from the business sector, together
children and young people, and their parents. Guest Speaker was
Dr Bronwyn Gould who powerfully brought home the message of the
need for child friendly, supportive environments to prevent the
occurrence of child abuse and neglect.
Two significant highlights of the lunch were the guests’ response
to NAPCAN’s new multimedia campaign: Children See Children
Do [which was aired publicly for the first time at each of these
national events], and a presentation by Yr 12 student Karina Ryrie’s
of her major HSC project on the long term effects of child abuse.
The participation of young people during an open forum discussion,
facilitated by Julie McCrossin, promoted the value of young people’s
opinions and ideas, and was a clear example of what can be achieved
when adults ‘ask KiDS’ and listen to them.
In the ACT the Launch of Safe Sleeping Charts promoted uniform safe
sleeping messages to all ACT Health and Child Protection workers.
As a result, the ACT Government has promised to fund the resource
for the next 12 months, for every family where there is a newborn
baby: somewhere in the vicinity of 5000 families are expected to
be recipients.
There was wider involvement with other local community groups i.e.
ACT Health, Aboriginal Health Service, and Child Protection Workers
in joint NCPW events.
The DVD ‘My Neighbour’, was promoted throughout the
Week at events and activities, and has become a significant NAPCAN
resource for students and professionals in the sector. The DVD highlights
the reasons behind NAPCAN’s mission in preventing child abuse
and neglect.
Increased diversification of activities this year, eg within the
arts community, and an ecumenical church service, further promoted
awareness raising within the wider community and enabled the examination
of child abuse issues from different perspectives.
The launch of the NSW Kids CAN Awards during NCPW raised the public
profile of NAPCAN and the KidsCAN initiative, and more importantly
helped to inspire, encourage and develop the business sector’s
support of ‘grass root’ child friendly initiatives.
The event was also a great example of kids ‘playing a part’.
Find out
more about KidsCAN
The Hon Reba Meagher NSW Minister for Family and Community Services,
who spoke at the Kids CAN launch, used NAPCAN in a Parliamentary
speech raising awareness of NAPCAN’s work & cause.
The Kids CAN awards also achieved significant media coverage thanks
to Neula Haffner from Channel 7 reporting live from the venue, and
interviewing several of the children who participated in the event.
The National Council of Women’s function at the Salvation
Army Head-quarters in Sydney promoted NAPCAN’s work in assisting
child friendly initiatives at the local community level, and at
the same time raised awareness of the Grand Friends program in western
Sydney. Grand Friends builds the resilience of children who have
no extended families, especially migrant children, by providing
them with ‘grandparent’ figures. A new relationship
between COTA [NSW Council of the Aging] and NAPCAN is being formed
as a result of the event.
The main NCPW event in WA was at the end of the week & out of
the city. It was child focused [allowing for the participation of
children and young people] and was held at a child friendly venue
[the aquarium] with a broad range of children [both in terms of
age & ethnic backgrounds].
A forthcoming partnership with Hawaiian Shopping Centres looks very
promising, with potential branding of Child Friendly Shopping Malls.
Still to read NT report
In the Northern Territory the City of Palmerston wants to be designated
as a Child Friendly City.
NCPW & a half started with big breakfast function with 120 people
however could only fit 92 people in venue!
Had 2 Young Ambassadors.
NAPCAN is continually building networks at these and other events.
In the lead up to the Queensland State election the public and media
were largely focussed on such issues as water, health, roads, and
wildlife conservation, the National Child Protection Week Breakfast
put child protection back on the State’s agenda. The Breakfast
attracted 200 committed practitioners, researchers, policy makers
and community members, all with the vested interest of making our
community more child-friendly, safe and focussed.
The Toowoomba Working Party had a significant first National Child
Protection Week and as a result their mission to make Toowoomba
a child-friendly city continues to gain support and momentum amongst
the population. This hard working volunteer group hosted an amazing
four events in Toowoomba during NCPW including a poster competition,
seminar on child protection issues for parents, a baby welcoming
ceremony and a dinner fundraiser.
Child friendly events and activities were held from the Tweed Coast
in the South to Palm Island and the Top End. For example in Cherbourg
a special parade of children and adults was held to remind children
that they have many people in their community they could talk to
if they feel scared of if someone was worrying them.
Participating in the Child Protection Week March in the Cherbourg
Community were Alfred Watcho, Lynne Morgan,
Kaylynn Saltner and Meesha Fisher with their teacher Martina Jacobs.
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In South Australia,
our vision that every Australian be involved in a child friendly
activity during NCPW, prompted the state launch to be shifted
from a formal gathering at Parliament House to a Family Fun
Day Elder Park, in the centre Adelaide. Five hundred people
attended with an age range form a few months to 80 and Mr Tony
Piccolo Member for Light was the guest speaker.
NCPW and NAPCAN’s work received great media exposure thanks
to Ryan Fitzgerald from NOVA FM radio, who broadcast live from
NAPCAN’s Adelaide office during the Week. Channels 7 &
9 attended the Family Fun Day and interviewed both Mr Piccolo
and our State President, Richard Bruggerman.
Overall NCPW ’06 received strong support in the number
of willing volunteers, in media promotion, pro-¬bono support
and celebrity involvement. |
Participating
in the Child Protection Week March
in the Cherbourg Community were Alfred Watcho, Lynne Morgan,
Kaylynn Saltner and Meesha Fisher with their teacher Martina
Jacobs. |
SA’s Art Calendar Competition took another
spin on the Ask KiDS Campaign, with children and young people invited
to draw a child friendly community.
In Tasmania NCPW partnerships made a significant contribution both
to the Week itself, and in terms of long term support of NAPCAN.
As well as promoting the Week throughout it’s network, Westpac
supported NAPCAN financially with fundraising activities: a raffle
and a car wash. An effective partnership model is gaining support
from every school in Tasmania as well as with the Tasmanian Council
of Social Services.
The Dept of Health and Human Services, together with a range of
community based organisations, came together for a joint event at
a local shopping centre on Hobart’s eastern shore, which took
up the Ask KiDS challenge. Children and young people were asked
what they need to grow up well, and to put their ideas into art.
The event represented significant awareness-raising of the need
for child friendly communities, and had the additional benefit of
giving sector workers a chance to come together and reconnect.
The Tasmanian launch was held in Launceston and was a very child
friendly event. Evident among the attendees was an emotional, heart
response to NAPCAN’s goals and purpose, indicating the event
was inspiring as well as awareness raising.
A media coverage stand out was the Charles Woolley interview on
ABC Radio National.
In Victoria NCPW ‘06 was more child-focused than ever. 300
people attended the annual Creative Outrageous Day, and 2/3rds of
them were children. The Gasworks event had 600 wishes from children/schools
turning the focus onto children & their needs, inspiring &
moving adults into listening to children & raising awareness
of children’s vulnerability.
There was an increase in requests from volunteers, and an increase
in the demand for NAPCAN resources. There was an increase in community
involvement, and significant support form local and state government.
As with Kids CAN, NAPCAN Victoria chose NCPW to present its annual
Child Friendly Initiatives Awards [there were 13 recipients this
year]. As the NT Microgrants Program, and the rest of NAPCAN’s
work these awards are whole of year programs and are not restricted
to NCPW. Find out
more
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An online survey
carried out by Total Environment Centre’s Safer Solution
program to ascertain the community’s knowledge about hazardous
chemicals in and the around the home yielded some surprising
results. All of NAPCAN’s contacts throughout NSW were
invited to participate in the survey. |
In June this year The World Health Organisation
released the most comprehensive study yet on how preventable environmental
hazards contribute to a wide range of diseases. The study estimated
that more than 33 percent of diseases in children under the age
of five are caused by environmental exposure. These findings have
important policy implications because the environmental risk factors
can in large be modified by established cost-effective interventions.
Safer Solution’s survey found respondents used between 11-30
different chemical containing products in the home with the majority
being cleaning products (washing powders detergent and surface cleaning
sprays) and personal care products (shampoo, sunscreen and deodorant).
The majority of respondents were female (80 percent). While they
demonstrated a very high level of knowledge about hazardous chemicals,
40 percent showed little concern about the potential health effects.
This is an alarming statistic given the mounting body of evidence
regarding health concerns from the use of man-made chemicals used
in everyday household products and the impact on the development
of babies and young children.
Illness such as asthma, allergies, chemical sensitivity, hyperactivity
in children and chronic fatigue syndrome are now being linked to
chemicals we are exposed to in our homes. Studies have found that
certain carcinogenic and toxic exposures sustained early in life
appear more likely to lead to disease like leukaemia, breast cancer
and possibly some chronic neurological diseases such as Parkinson’s
disease, than do the same exposures encountered later in life.
Safer Solutions aims to dispel the myth that natural cleaning is
more expensive and less effective. For example simple, natural and
non-toxic products such as bicarbonate of soda and vinegar are as
effective as chemical cleaners yet they are much cheaper and will
not cause any health problems for the family or the environment.
The continued use of chemical products rather than natural safe
alternatives can in part be attributed to the myth that natural
products are more expensive. More than 80 percent stated they would
be likely to use an environmentally safer cleaning product if it
was the same price as conventional cleaners.
Under the Safer Solutions program, the Total Environment Centre
is developing a new website that will address the use of chemicals
in and around the home, the garden and in DIY. The site will provide
information and simple to follow ideas on how to reduce the chemical
load in the home so the health of families is protected. Find
out more
NAPCAN and Child Friendly
Australia want to sincerely thank our fantastic and greatly appreciated
supporters. Our ability to reach all Australians with the important
message of creating child friendly communities and preventing child
abuse in all its forms is hugely enhanced by their generosity and
expertise.
Organisations and Businesses:
DDB
have undertaken extensive pro bono work for NAPCAN over the
past five years, including creating the award winning advertising
campaign, Talking Baby (1998), Don't Just Stand There (2004)
and now the inspirational and challenging TVC Children See,
Children Do. DDB has assisted NAPCAN in the realisation of Child
Friendly Australia from its developmental stages.
EziBuy
are great supporters of NAPCAN. During National Child Protection
Week, Australia's favourite catalogue company launched a specially
commissioned range of women's designer nightwear. The 'Handle
with Care' range was designed by one of Australia's favourite
and most successful international fashion designers Trelise
Cooper. Part of the proceeds from the sale and promotion of
the range is donated to the NAPCAN Foundation.
Geddes
Philanthropic Trust
NZ-based photographer Anne Geddes and her husband Kel are very
generous sponsors of NAPCAN's work, with regular financial
assistance.
Baker
& McKenzie
provide invaluable pro-bono legal services and non-legal assistance
to NAPCAN, and for many years have been a key supporter of National
Child Protection Week each year, hosting a corporate lunch.
Westpac
supports NAPCAN with a range of staff fundraising activities.
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Donate to NAPCAN and help prevent child
abuse before it starts.
To make a donation please print out this
form and post to:
The NAPCAN Foundation
PO Box K241
Haymarket NSW 1240
Donations over $2 are tax deductible. Cheques
should be made out to ‘NAPCAN Foundation.’ Only
Visa/Mastercard/Bankcard accepted
Please find enclosed my donation of $_________________
Credit Card __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __
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Name on Card _______________________________
Expiry Date ___ / ___ / ____
Signature _________________________________
Ms/Mrs/Miss/ Mr / Dr Name _____________________________________
Address ________________________________________
Postcode ______
Telephone ______________________________________
Email _________________________________ |
NAPCAN
Foundation | Suite 604, Level 6, 46-56 Kippax Street, SURRY
HILLS NSW 2010
PO Box K241, HAYMARKET NSW 1240
Ph: 02 9211 0224 | Fax: 02 9211 5676
contact@napcan.org.au
ABN 21 904 097 344 |
