Listening to children and young people was the key focus of messaging this Child Protection Week 2018 both across Queensland and nationally. The National Association for the Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect (NAPCAN) deviated from its usual breakfast format to run informative child protection forums in each state. NAPCAN also ensured excellent media opportunities with the opening of the week highlighted in a Channel 7 Sunrise article about the voices of children and young people where young people were the focal point. In Queensland the media has been extraordinary beginning with Kay McGrath’s Courier Mail opinion piece about the complexity of our state and federal systems in protecting children and hearing their voices. That was the beginning of a fulsome week of campaigning for Queenslanders to hear the key messages of child protection.
Queensland Child Protection Week (QCPW) is arranged by a committee made up of 27 organisations concerned with child protection issues. They work together with the QCPW Manager, Caitlin King, to coordinate this community campaign. The week-long event is funded by the Department of Child Safety, Youth and Women with the support of sponsors that include government partners: the Queensland Police Service, Queensland Family and Child Commission, Education Queensland and Queensland Health; as well as long standing partners: Channel 7 and KFC.