Child safe organisations: children and young people with disability talk about what safety in an organisation means to them

This video discusses child sexual abuse and may bring up strong feelings for some people. Please take care when watching. If you or someone you know has been impacted by child sexual abuse, you are not alone. There are services and resources available to help. You can find a list of support services on ChildSafety.gov.au 

Children and young people with disability talk about what safety in an organisation means to them. 
We feel comfortable and confident when staff and volunteers think about accessibility. When they ask us about our access needs and listen to our ideas about how to make the space more accessible, this helps us feel valued.   

Knowing there's a quiet space we can go to spend some time alone or knowing there’s someone we can talk to, helps us feel supported. 

It’s not just about physical spaces. I feel safe when my culture and identity are respected. I feel like I belong when staff and volunteers celebrate various backgrounds and include mine. Being queer, disabled, and from a specific culture can be complex. Knowing my unique identity is respected and celebrated helps me feel seen and comfortable. 

I feel safe when staff and volunteers understand that disability is sometimes not visible, and is not the same for everyone. 

Communication matters. Some of us use sign language or other ways to communicate. We feel empowered when staff and volunteers adapt and focus on our strengths, and create welcoming and supportive environments. 

When staff and volunteers check in to see if I’m okay, respect me, my choices, my rights and my capacity, I feel safer, and accepted for who I am. 

What staff and volunteers do and say matters. Being respectful and valuing children and young people is important. If they see someone being mean or disrespecting us or breaching the organisation’s conduct in any way, they should intervene. 

It’s important that staff support my personal safety and rights. They need to ask my permission before they help me dress or help me with toileting, and they need to listen to me if I’m concerned or feel unsafe or uncomfortable. 

Online spaces can be hard to use. I’d like staff and volunteers to teach me how to be safe online and make an effort to understand what I’m interested in. It would help if staff checked in with me sometimes to make sure I’m not worried about anything happening online.  

Getting to know me beyond my access needs, or asking me what I am passionate about, helps me feel like people are making the effort to know me as an individual. This helps me feel safe and celebrated.

Children and young people with disability are the experts of our bodies and lives. Listen to what we have to say to make sure that our voices are heard and truly valued.   

And when we feel comfortable, included and valued, we are more likely to be safe in any organisation we interact with, and raise concerns when we have them.

Here are some questions you can think about to improve child safety and accessibility in your organisation.

1. What can you do to make children and young people with disability feel safe in your organisation?
2. How can you empower children and young people to speak up and raise concerns?
3. How can you make children and young people feel included and valued?  
4. How can you make children and young people with various identities and backgrounds feel included, safe and valued? 

Learn more about how organisations can implement the National Principles for Child Safe Organisations, and prevent sexual, physical and emotional abuse at ChildSafety.gov.au.