Kids for Change Schools Partnerships

HEALING LITTLE HEARTS TAKES TIME THAT’S WHY WE NEED YOUR HELP…

CHILD PROTECTION IS EVERYONE’S BUSINESS, WHICH IS WHY WE NEED YOUR HELP.

CHILD ABUSE AND NEGLECT

NATIONALLY, EMOTIONAL ABUSE

THE FACTS

was the most common primary type of abuse suffered by children.

OVER 451,000 REPORTS In 2019-20, there were 451,184 reports made to child protection authorities in Australia.

Emotional

Neglect

54%

21%

Physical

Sexual

47,516 KIDS CONFIRMED In that same 12 months, 47,516 children were confirmed to have suffered abuse or neglect. That’s 130 kids every single day.

MOST COMMON SOURCE OF CHILD PROTECTION NOTIFICATIONS

15%

10%

Police

School

Medical professional

21%

20%

12%

Social worker

Non-Goverment Organisation

8%

10%

Family

10%

Nationally, only 0.2% of notifications came directly from the child involved.

Source: Australian Institute of Health and Welfare 2020. Child Protection Australia 2018-19. Child welfare series no.72. Cat. No. CWS 74. Canberra: AIHW. Source: Act for Kids study surveying 2,015 participants aged over 18 years of age. Conducted as a National Representative survey.

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CHILDREN UNDER 12 MONTHS

were most likely to suffer abuse or neglect.

The number of children receiving child protection services in the last 5 years.

RISEN BY 12%

ABOUT US Since 1988 Act for Kids has been delivering lifesaving Integrated Therapy Services and awardwinning Early Education Programs, to empower kids and break the cycle of abuse in Australia.

Our dedicated team of psychologists, speech therapists, early education specialists, counsellors, occupational therapists and family support workers help children and families overcome trauma by providing support to the most vulnerable.

SECOND CHANCE AT CHILDHOOD: At Act for Kids, we have a very clear and deliberate strategy in the way we can best support the children and families we work with, as well as the wider community.

OUR VISION IS FOR ALL KIDS TO HAVE A SAFE AND HAPPY CHILDHOOD, FREE FROM ABUSE AND NEGLECT.

We operate under our Three Pillars of service – PREVENTION, TREATMENT and EDUCATION, with a commitment to minimising the instances and impact of child abuse and neglect.

Underpinning our Three Pillars approach, Act for Kids delivers a range of support services to children and families in need through our 30 centres throughout Australia.

”Together we can make a positive change to the lives of at-risk and vulnerable children throughout Australia.”

DR KATRINA LINES, ACT FOR KIDS CEO

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HOW WE HELP In 2019-20, over 450,000 cases of child abuse and neglect were reported in Australia, with over 45,0000 cases confirmed.

That’s one child every 11 minutes suffering from physical, sexual or emotional abuse or neglect often at the hands of people they know and should be able to trust, and most often in their own home.

Some of these children end up with serious problems that affect them their whole lives. Act for Kids provides intensive therapy to help them overcome their trauma and claim a second chance at the happy, healthy childhoods they deserve. We also provide a range of preventative, wrap-around support services for vulnerable families at risk of abuse and neglect.

Our dedicated team of psychologists, speech therapists, occupational therapists, early education specialists, counsellors and family support workers help thousands of kids and families each year.

But unfortunately there are no quick fixes. Most of our children will spend between 6 and 18 months with us. True healing takes time, which is why we need your help, so we can continue providing the specialised treatment and care needed to help heal little hearts.

WE WORKED WITH 44,894 PEOPLE DURING 2019-20

13,349

15,868

21,698

34,324

40,128

46,084

2013-14

2016-17

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2017-18

2015-16

2018-19

ACROSS THE PAST 7 YEARS, WE HAVE HELPED 164,617 KIDS

11,519

14,595

24,597

24,597

31,039

29,135

2014-15

2017-18

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2014-15

2015-16

2018-19

2016-17

2019-20

(covid-impacted)

HOW YOU CAN HELP

DID YOU KNOW? Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children remain

8X MORE LIKELY to have received child protection services.

School fundraising is a wonderful way to get to create greater awareness of Act for Kids amongst students and also rally the broader community behind a common cause, fostering a sense of school unity.

Act for Kids is a charity aimed at improving the lives of vulnerable children. Partnering with us provides students the opportunity to help other kids just like them. We would love to be your schools charity of choice!

Ways to Help

2 THIRDS of parents are not confident their child knows what to do if they feel unsafe.

Movie night

Sausage sizzle

Bake sale

Personal challenges ie: fitness or shave for a cause Service Activities: Student councils and students participating in community service are very welcome to contact us to become involved in volunteer opportunities throughout the year.

There are a number of ways you can partner with us in the Kids for Change Program.

Fundraising: There’s a range of different ways in which students can involve themselves in the Kids for Change program, and it’s often an opportunity for students to be creative and innovative.

If you’re stuck for ideas, here are a few activities that schools can use to raise funds:

Free dress day

Guess how many jellybeans are in a jar

School disco

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94% OF PARENTS whose children have done a Protective Behaviours program said they found it was effective in helping their children identify safe and unsafe situations.

Some of these include:

Selling raffle tickets at our fundraising events

Community engagement activities

For more information, please contact us on telephone 1300 228 000 or visit our website actforkids.com.au

ABUSED OR NEGLECTED breakdown by state VIC NSW QLD WA

18,883 14,131 6,047 4,717

SA NT TAS ACT

1,745 1,167 578 248

PARTNERSHIP OPPORTUNITIES SCHOOL COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIP OPPORTUNITIES There are plenty of other ways that your school, staff, students and families can partner with Act for Kids. These include:

1. WORKPLACE GIVING

2. SPONSORSHIP

Act for Kids is a not-for-profit organisation that offers tax-deductible receipting and donation opportunities to workplaces that offer workplace giving and salary sacrifice options.

Becoming a Corporate Partner helps kids in need – empowering them to create better futures for themselves.

Funding helps support and increase services that prevent and treat child abuse and neglect.

This option allows people to nominate an amount they would like to donate and it is acquired through a deduction of pay (tax-free).

Act for Kids works hard to provide life-changing therapy services for children, young people and families. But we need your help!

Sponsorship packages can be tailored to your organisational objectives, and Act for Kids has a great range of assets that can provide a solid return on your investment.

Act for Kids boasts an exciting events calendar which includes events such as our annual Giving Day, Gala Dinner, golf days, trivia nights, high teas and our annual adventure treks.

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3. COMMUNITY FUNDRAISING Fundraising events are always a hit in the workplace and are a great way to bring the team together. For more information on how we could partner on your next workplace event or fundraiser, please contact our Events team via email fundraising@ actforkids.com.au

4. VOLUNTEERING If you and/or your team would like to volunteer your time and help us raise vital funds at one of our fundraising events, or offer your skills to assist our corporate services team, please send an email to mail@ actforkids.com.au – we’re always looking for support in this area, and greatly appreciate any expertise you can provide our team.

Volunteering is also a great team bonding experience.

5. REGULAR GIVERS

6. PRO BONO

Our Regular Giving program offers supporters who make a regular donation to support Act for Kids initiatives.

Deductions are made directly from a nominated bank account on a regular nominated date.

Act for Kids is very fortunate to have a great range of partners who support us through pro bono ‘services’ – ie. advertising, academic, services etc. If you or your organisation would like to support Act for Kids through the provision of services or products, please contact our marketing team at marketing@actforkids.com.au.

BE A PART OF KIDS FOR CHANGE AND HELP HEAL HEARTS AND MINDS ACROSS AUSTRALIA.

RETURN ON INVESTMENT We appreciate that for a partnership to be successful, it has to be mutually beneficial.

Partnering with Act for Kids can provide your school community with a range of tangible returns on the investment you make – whether that investment is financial, voluntary donation of your time and/or expertise, or helping to bring awareness to our cause.

When we have a great partnership, we like to tell everyone about it! We like to do this through our range of assets, including: our corporate e-news, which is distributed monthly

to approximately 2,500 corporate subscribers; our social media platforms, with a collective audience of over 23,000 followers; i nternal communication platforms to communicate with our over 450 staff.

The team at Act for Kids consists of a diverse range of professionals who can support schools with information around topics related to children and young people, including wellbeing, protective behaviours, disclosure, cyberbullying and many more.

As a partner of Act for Kids, our team of experts can work with you to: present at assemblies around topics relevant for

parents and children; provide guest speakers at your team workshops

and events; deliver presentations to staff (ie. lunchtime

breakout presentations) eg. cyberbullying, back to school, child-centric topics; offer access to Act for Kids education platforms

(Act for Kids Academy); provide invitations to all Act for Kids events

eg. Gala Dinner; offer inclusion in our corporate events, such as our annual Giving Day.

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AIDEN’S STORY For the first six years of his little life, eight-yearold Aiden was beaten, burned, threatened and degraded.

He was sexually abused by his older step-brother from the time he was four, and when Aiden reported the abuse, he was abused more by his own parents. For years he tried to care for and protect his younger sibling from the daily abuse he experienced.

Aiden was removed from his parents and is now living with his Aunty Donna.

Life with Aunty Donna is safe, but he struggles with nightmares, cannot sleep independently, soils himself, is scared, becomes easily angry, doesn’t cope with change and having friends is hard. The trauma Aiden has endured will significantly affect his future.

However, with the vital trauma-informed support and therapy from Act for Kids, Aiden is starting to heal.

After seven months, Aiden is now sleeping and toileting independently, and is concentrating better at school.

He understands his feelings better and has learnt to use various strategies for coping and to selfregulate his angry outbursts.

Social situations are still a struggle, but he is trying to use his new skills. Aiden is being supported to make sense of all the ‘bad’ things that have happened to him in his short life.

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Act for Kids therapists, together with Aunty Donna, are working hard to create a safer environment for Aiden to ensure he will continue to grow and develop, and have a brighter and happy future.

Learn more at actforkids.com.au

For more information please call 1300 228 000 or visit our website actforkids.com.au mail@actforkids.com.au PO Box 1844, Milton, Qld 4064 ABN 98 142 986 767 9

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