The issue
Many commercial businesses have not considered how their operations and activities can affect the safety of children and young people. No business is immune to the risks, nor can they afford to turn a blind eye. Recognising the risk is the first step to mitigating it.
Self assessment
It's on us to take the first step
Don’t become a statistic. Take the child safeguarding business self-assessment to understand if your business is at risk of enabling harm to children and young people.
Some disturbing statistics
- A survey of 500 businesses in Australia found that there is a major knowledge gap among business decision makers and leaders, with 65% of businesses believing that child exploitation could not occur within their industry. (On Us Coalition study, 2023)
- Less than half of business leaders have policies in place that protect children when engaging with their services, products, or activities. (On Us Coalition study, 2023)
- 1 in 5 people are not confident they could recognise if a child was being abused or neglected. (On Us Coalition study, 2023)
- 62% Australians have experienced child abuse and you are likely to have someone with lived experience in your workforce (ACMS, 2023)
- Child abuse costs the Australian economy 24.5b in productivity losses and reduced quality of life (AIFS, 2018)
- 40% of adult mental health issues are linked to child abuse potentially affecting your employees health, wellbeing and productivity (University of Sydney. 2024)
- Young workers aged 15-17 are 45% more likely to experience sexual harassment in the workplace (McKell Institute, 2024)
acknowledgement of country and abuse victims
The On Us: Australian Business Coalition for Safeguarding Children acknowledges Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the Traditional Custodians of the land and waters across Australia in which we share. We honour and pay our respects to Elders past and present and acknowledge the many thousands of years in which First Nations’ peoples have raised their children to be safe and strong. We also acknowledge the spirit and courage of victims and survivors of childhood abuse, exploitation and violence. Their efforts over many years have inspired our commitment to make changes at every level to better protect the children of today.