MSC support National Child Protection Week

National Child Protection Week is a campaign that is held annually across Australia to raise awareness of child abuse prevention.

It has been 30 years since the first National Child Protection Week campaign was launched in 1990 with the aim of bringing abuse and neglect out of the shadows and putting child wellbeing on the National agenda.

The theme in 2020 is “Putting Children First”.

What this means for each of us within the MSC is that irrespective of whether we are retired, lay members, employees, formation students, or Brothers or Priests, we all need to look at how we can prioritise children’s safety and wellbeing within our communities.

For those working in our MSC Schools it might be ensuring that the young people we work with feel empowered, feel that they have a voice and can have a say in decisions that affect them. For those of us providing ministry in parishes, it might be reflecting upon how we demonstrate the importance of “putting children first” such as through our parish communique with families and the wider community, our risk management strategies, or how we include children in our parish activities and engage with them. For those of us that are parents, uncles, aunts or grandparents, what do we currently do in our everyday lives to prioritise children’s safety and wellbeing, and what do we need to continue to focus our attention on into the future?

Please find a link to a Prayer that you might wish to use during this year’s Child Protection Week put out by Catholic Religious Australia. Click here

There are also a number of other resources on the CRA website such as Bulletin Notices, and Homily Suggestions should you find these helpful. Click here

Under this year’s theme of ‘Putting children first’ we invite all Australians to look at how they can prioritise children in their lives and communities and to engage in National Child Protection Week – as individuals, and as part of families, organisations, communities and society.

Putting children first means prioritising the safety and wellbeing of children. To grow up well children need to feel safe and loved, have a chance to play and explore, have a say in decisions that affect them, and access to essential things like food, shelter and healthcare. 

For children to thrive we need to come together as a community and put children’s needs first during National Child Protection Week and every week.