Child Safe program to be trialled

A PILOT Child Safe program similar to successful United Kingdom programs will be trialled at Ipswich Central State School in the April school holidays.

Arts Community and Cultural Services Committee chairman Charlie Pisasale said the Child Safe brand was becoming increasingly recognisable throughout the United Kingdom and Europe and operators were now keen to see it launched in Australia.

“While our trial, the first in Australia, starts at Riverlink shopping centre on Tuesday, April 14, coincidentally a similar trial will commence in Ipswich, England on exactly the same day,” Cr Pisasale said.

Cr Pisasale said the city had adopted the Child Safe branding and tools to assist with child safety related incidents.

“In a nutshell, the tools include a phone number that has been set up to directly link to the police call centre and stickers that will be displayed that include this phone number.

“There will be free wrist bands for parents that they can get at entry points to the centre to write their mobile phone number on and wrap around their kids' wrists,” he said.

“Therefore if a child is lost, all staff members, security, shop assistants (and eventually other parents) know they can phone the number on the back of the wrist band to quickly reunite parents and lost children.

“The Child Safe program will be piloted at Riverlink shopping centre and if successful, will be rolled out to all of Ipswich central,” he said.