Resources for parents, carers and family members

This activity provides ways you can support children and young people as a ‘safety helper’, which is an is an adult who forms part of a child or young person’s ‘safety team’ or ‘safety network’. Safety helpers are responsible for making sure children and young people feel safe and heard.

This resource helps adults identify their ‘safety team’ or ‘safety network’, which is a group of other adults and services you can go to for advice or support when it comes to questions about child safety. Adults can often feel a lot of pressure to have all the answers, but you do not have to be an expert. You are not alone, and there are people and services that can help. We also have safety team activities for preschool- and primary school-age children and teenagers, which include an activity for them to fill in with their safety helpers.

This resource supports parents and carers to have conversations with children and young people about sexual abuse. During conversations with safe and trusted adults, children and young people may ask questions to help them understand the topic and what they should do. It may not always be easy to know how to answer these questions, but by having these conversations, adults can help them understand what sexual abuse is and give them the language to talk about it. To help adults prepare for having these conversations, this resource gives examples of tricky, challenging and difficult questions children and young people may ask, and guidance on how you might answer them.

This resource includes 10 steps designed to help adults understand their role in helping children and young people know their rights and how to support them to raise concerns. The resource can be read together with the Speak up resources designed for children and young people.

My superhero voice is an age-appropriate storybook which supports parents, carers and other adults from all cultures and backgrounds to have preventative conversations about child sexual abuse with children and young people. This storybook empowers children to use their “superhero voice” to speak up when something doesn’t feel right, and emphasises the importance of telling a trusted adult about any concerns. It is recommended adults read this with children and young people aged 5 years and up and has been translated into 17 languages.

This booklet is full of fun and interactive activities developed to help adults identify everyday opportunities they can use to have open conversations with children and young people to keep them safe from child sexual abuse. The booklet is designed to help children learn about staying safe, understanding boundaries, and knowing who to talk to if they feel unsafe. It encourages conversations between children and trusted adults in a positive, age appropriate and engaging way. This booklet is recommended for children aged 5 years and up.

We partnered with children’s music group, Teeny Tiny Stevies, on a song called ‘One Talk at a Time’. The song teaches children and young people about their bodies’ warning signs, not keeping secrets and talking to trusted adults. Adults can use it as a memorable and fun way to start conversations with the children and young people in their lives about body safety and child sexual abuse.