Safety Information for Children

If you’re under 18 and think that someone is hurting you or you feel unsafe or are unhappy with how you are being treated, this page is for you.

Your family, carers, or community might also find it helpful.

It is always okay to speak up if you are being hurt, feel unsafe, or are unhappy with how you are being treated.

You can tell us in your own words, and we will listen, take you seriously and act to help keep you safe.

In danger right now?

Call police on Triple Zero 000.

Not an emergency?

If you think you or another young person is in danger of being harmed or abused and it is not an emergency, call Child Safety.

Child Safety business hours contact

• Child Safety Office in Cairns
  Address: William McCormack Place, 5B Sheridan Street Cairns Q 4870
  Postal address: PO Box 4626 Cairns Qld 4870
  Phone: (07) 4255 7101
• You can also find contact details for Child Safety offices in your area on the Child Safety website.

Child Safety after hours contact

• After 5pm and on weekends, call the Child Safety After Hours Service Centre on 1800 177 135.
  This service is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and is a free call.

How we look after you

We are committed to embedding child safety into everything we do. We want every child to feel safe, heard, and empowered to speak up.

We have committed to being a child safe organisation. This means we follow the Child Safe Standards.

We will respect you by:

• Treating you with kindness and fairness
• Welcoming you and valuing who you are
• Respecting your culture, family and community connections
• Listening to your ideas and working with you and/or your family.

We will protect you by:

• Making sure anyone who works for us follows clear behaviour rules
• Acting if you tell us you have been hurt (sometimes we must also tell police or Child Safety).

Sometimes, we may need to share information if we are worried about your safety or someone else’s safety. We will only share information with people who need to know so they can help keep you or others safe (eg Police or Child Safety).

We will support you by:

• Encouraging you to speak up about what matters to you
• Taking you seriously and following up on your concerns
• Explaining things in ways that are easy to understand
• Helping you take part in ways that work best for you
• Learning and improving so we can do our best for you.

What you can report

If you ever feel unsafe or unhappy with the way you or others are treated by someone who works for us, or anyone else, we want you to tell us.

You don’t need to know the right words. Just tell us or show us what happened in your own way. We will listen, take you seriously, and act to protect you.

How to report

We have a complaint form just for you – you can either

• Complete the online form.
• or download and fill out our paper complaint form (PDF, 205.2 KB).

To talk to someone about your complaint, call us on (07) 4081 8400 or freecall 1800 004 973.

You can also contact the Queensland Family and Child Commission.

If its an emergency call the Police straight away on 000.

More information

Learn more in our:

• Child Safe Commitment Statement (PDF, 163.8 KB)
• Child Safe Code of Conduct  (PDF, 233.1 KB)
• Child Safe and Wellbeing Policy (PDF, 790.6 KB)
• Child Safe Complaint Reporting Policy (PDF, 790.6 KB)

These documents apply to all our staff members and anyone else who works for us.

You don’t need to understand all of these documents to make a complaint.  This is just more information you can look at if you want to.

Child Safe Information for Adults

Adults, including parents, carers, family members, friends or support people can also raise a child safety concern with the FRC:

• If your concern is about the immediate safety of a child or young person, call 000.
• If your concern is about the inappropriate conduct towards a child by any FRC staff, Commission Member, contractor or anyone that works for the FRC you can lodge a complaint here.

Privacy Statement – Child Safe

If you are an adult or a child, this Child Safe Privacy Statement outlines how information you provide to us in relation to a child safe complaint will be handled by us.