Below can be attributed to Act for Kids:
Act for Kids is thinking of everyone affected by the shocking allegations emerging from Victoria, where testing is being recommended for 1200 children after a Melbourne childcare worker was charged with sexual assaults.
This is a deeply distressing time for the hundreds of families who have been contacted by police and health authorities.
These children and their families will need significant support to process, understand and heal from any trauma that they have allegedly experienced while in the care of this person.
Child sexual abuse is an horrific form of abuse, which can have detrimental lifelong impacts on the victim and their family, who often aren't aware that their child was at-risk of harm or had experienced abuse at all.
This alleged case of child sexual abuse is the most recent example of a series of similar cases that indicate the need for urgent reform of Working with Children's Check (WWCC) requirements across Australia which are still inconsistent in each jurisdiction and often put the rights of workers ahead of the rights of children.
Act for Kids strongly believes all jurisdictions must enforce the National Child Safe Principles, which were specifically recommended to prevent institutional child sexual abuse.
To learn the signs of abuse, visit to our website: https://www.actforkids.com.au/the-issue/how-to-identify-abuse-neglect/
If you or someone you know needs support, help is always available:
Lifeline: 13 11 14
Kids Helpline: 1800 551 800
Please report any concerns you may have about a child – no matter how trivial or small it may seem to the relevant child protection authority.
In an emergency call 000
