Two incidents in Melbourne and Daylesford, Victoria, and one incident in Wauchope, NSW in the past 2 weeks highlight the reality of the potential for child abductions in schools.

In the Melbourne incident a man allegedly tried to coax a young boy away from his group at the Melbourne Aquarium during an excursion.  The Daylesford and Wauchope incidents both involved attempted abduction of children within school grounds.

The issue of child abduction has become more prominent in recent years, with the notorious case of Daniel Morcombe illustrating the dangers that unsupervised children can face. Recently, there have been efforts to implement the Daniel Morcombe Child Safety Curriculum into the Australian Curriculum, and this is currently under consideration by the Federal Government.

Schools and teachers have a duty to take or exercise ‘reasonable care’ to protect students from risks of harm that are ‘reasonably foreseeable’ whilst they are involved in school activities, or are present for the purposes of a school activity.

Excursions, incursions, and day-to-day travel to and from school all pose different risks. Even a child’s own parent can pose a risk to children, especially in cases of international child abduction, where a parent attempts to remove a child out of Australia, against the wishes of the other parent, or in violation of a court order.

Various states, such as Queensland, have Child Abduction Alert systems in place. The prompt assistance of the community, including schools, is vital in ensuring that these systems are effective.

Schools managing risks associated with potential child abduction incidents have a range of obligations including:

Preventative measures such as:

• ensuring adequate security measures are in place to protect children on school grounds;
• implementing procedures with respect to the management of visitors to school grounds; and
• ensuring adequate supervision of students.

The implementation of response procedures such as:

• activation of critical incident management plans;
• notification of police and other authorities;
• potential school lockdown;
• lodgement of mandatory reports to child protection agencies in certain cases;
• alerting students and parents in the community in an appropriate manner;
• activation of trauma response procedures;
• implementation of media and communications strategies.

The response of schools and the information collected by them can be crucial to achieve a positive outcome in these incidents. Clear communication practices can also help to educate parents about potential dangers, and to keep them informed.

Does your school have a child abduction policy? How well are your critical incident policies documented and most importantly how prepared is your school to manage a child abduction incident?