National Child Protection Week invites all Australians to play their part to promote the safety and wellbeing of children and young people.

This year, National Child Protection Week (NCPW) occurs across Australia from 1-7 September. This is the 32nd year celebration with the 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.

HOW IS OUR DIOCESE SAFEGUARDING CHILDREN?

The Catholic Diocese of Maitland-Newcastle has an abiding commitment to promote the safety, welfare and wellbeing of children. The Office of Safeguarding is the structural expression of the Diocese’s commitment to demonstrate the highest standards of recognising and upholding the dignity and rights of all children.

The Office of Safeguarding provides training to diocesan personnel to ensure they adopt safe work practices when working with children, and to increase their awareness of the indicators of abuse to equip them to provide the correct response. The Office of Safeguarding also provides an intake service to assist diocesan personnel in ensuring they meet both their mandatory reporting obligations to statutory authorities as well as their duty of care obligations. Risk assessments and comprehensive compliance audits are also undertaken to ensure the diocese is compliant with various safeguarding regulatory and contractual obligations and to reduce and manage identified risks.

Office of Safeguarding - Do you know what apps your children are using?

NAPCAN - Continuum Of Wellbeing