Easy English fact sheets for parents dealing with the child protection system. Advice from parents with experience.

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Community Services NSW

Community Services NSW / Keep your child safe
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Keep your child safe

You want your child to be safe.
You want your child to be well.
This fact sheet is about all the ways a child can be hurt.
It is to help parents keep a child safe.
This information may make some parents upset.
Look after yourself. Talk to
  • a counsellor
or
  • a friend.

Ideas from other parents

Your child is the most important person.
Your child comes first.
Read our fact sheet
Your child comes first.
Do not see people who are not safe for your child.
It can be hard to be a parent.
Ask for help.
Read our fact sheet
Help to parent well.
Learn new skills to help you. Like
  • join a parent group
  • join a playgroup.
Get help with a drug problem.
Do not let your child see adults fight.
It is not good for them.
Your child can get sick.
Take your child to the doctor.
Cook food that is good for your child.
Help your child go to school every day.
You may feel very sad all the time.
You may worry all the time.
Go to your doctor.
The doctor can find help for you.
Keep your home
  • clean
  • tidy.

Abuse and neglect

Some parents mean to hurt their child.
Some parents do not mean to do it.
It can hurt a child.
It may change
  • how a child learns
  • what a child learns
  • how a childs body grows
  • how a childs emotions develop
and
  • how a child is with you
  • how a child is with other men
  • how a child is with other women
  • how a child is with friends.

Abuse

There are lots of ways a child can be hurt.
  1. Physical abuse
    A child is hurt by others.
    It is to their body.
    It may be
    • punches
    • hits
  • they shake their child.
It can also be
  • a bite
  • a burn
There may be
  • cuts
  • bruises
  • broken bones.
  1. Emotional abuse
    A child feels hurt.
    A child feels
    • scared
    • alone
    • no good.
It may look like the parent
  • ignores a child. Like
    the parent does not talk with their child
or
  • does not show love to a child.
    Like the parent does not give the child any hugs.
or
The parent shouts at a child.
It is all the time.
It may also look like the parent
  • teases the child.
    It makes the child feel bad.
    The parent thinks it is fun.
    The child does not.
The parent may also
  • make a child break the law.
    Like take a bag from a lady.
or
  • make threats about
    • someone the child cares about.
      Like says the child can not see their grand parents.
or
  • something the child cares about.
    Like says they will give away the dog.
  1. Sexual abuse
    Any sex act with a child. Like an adult
  • touches a childs private parts. Like their
    • bottom
    • breasts
    • penis
    • vagina
    • mouth in a sex act.
It can also be an adult
  • shows a child pictures of sex
  • shows a child videos of sex
or
  • makes a child watch adults having sex
  • has sex with a child.
The person may do things to get a childs trust.
Like
  • give them presents all the time.
    This is called grooming.
or
  • makes threats to a child.
    They may say they will hurt a brother.
    The child is scared.
or
  • tells a child it is a secret.

What is neglect?

A parent does not give a child their basic needs.
It can be a parent
  • uses drugs
  • uses alcohol.
The parent does not care for their child then.
The child is not OK.
It can also be a child
  • does not have enough food
  • is left in dirty clothes
  • is not washed. They are dirty all the time.
It can also be a child
  • is not watched. Like they can go out the door.
    No one sees the child go
  • lives in a very dirty home.
    It can look like
    • the house is very full. It is clutter
    • rubbish in side the home
    • food left on the bench
    • there are mice
or
  • is left in a pram all the time
  • is left in a cot all the time.
Neglect is also when a parent
  • does not take a child to the doctor.
    It may be the child is
    • sick
    • needs their baby needles.
or
  • does not send a child to school.

More information

Keeping children safe
It is a group you can go to.
You can learn to keep your child safe.
They talk about
  • abuse
  • neglect.
Look for Keeping Children safe groups here.
www.resourcingparents.nsw.gov.au
This fact sheet is general information.
It may not be the same for you.
Talk to a lawyer about
  • your own child
  • your family.
This fact sheet was made by
  • The WASH House
  • The Ability Rights Centre. A service of IDRS
with
  • a Parent Advisory Group, 2020.
Images
We have used images from
  • ChangePeople
  • Mayer-Johnson
  • Picto-Selector
Access Easy English helped The WASH House write the Easy English.
May 2020.

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