We've previously reported on the campaign by Bruce and Denise Morcombe to have a national safety curriculum to be introduced across Australian schools.  As you may recall, Bruce and Denise are the parents of Daniel Morcombe, who was tragically abducted and murdered in 2003 at the age of 13 while waiting to catch a bus.  Since then, his parents have sought to have the Daniel Morcombe Child Safety Curriculum (Child Safety Curriculum) rolled out across Australia as part of the National Curriculum and there have been recent developments on their campaign.

What's new?

On 14th October the Daniel Morcombe Foundation announced, via its website, that Federal Education Minister Christopher Pyne had given his support for the inclusion of the Child Safety Curriculum in the National Curriculum. The Morcombes revealed that 'a private phone call from Federal Education Minister Christopher Pyne confirmed.....IT'S DEFINITELY RECOMMENDED to be included in the National Curriculum. YES FOLKS the Daniel Morcombe Child Safety Curriculum is a goer, it's a DAY we are all very proud of.'

Although, ultimately, it's a decision which the relevant curriculum and school authorities in each State and Territory will make as to whether or not the Child Safety Curriculum is taught in schools, the support from the Federal Education Minister, in addition to public support for the work done by the Morcombes, should provide some strong encouragement for the authorities to incorporate a compulsory safety course in some format.

National Curriculum review

Indeed, the big issue, as noted by an article in the Sydney Morning Herald, is not if it will be included in the National Curriculum, but how. Last week we reported on some of the findings from the final report from the Review of the Australian Curriculum, which was released on 12 October 2014.  One of the key feedback points included in the report was that the National Curriculum is already too full - providing a challenge for any State or Territory wanting to include the Child Safety Curriculum in their classrooms in some way.

According to Minister Pyne's website, he will be taking the findings and recommendations made by the Review and the Federal Government's response to it, to discuss at the upcoming meeting of the Education Council of State and Territory education ministers in December.   If the Education Council does decide to make formal changes to the National Curriculum as a result of that meeting, Mr Pyne has stated that the changes won't be made until the 2016 school year.

Northern Territory leading the way

The Northern Territory has recently shown that making changes to improve child safety does not have to be restricted to educational reforms.  Last week, John Elferink, the Northern Territory Attorney-General and Minister for Justice, announced that the Northern Territory will be the first jurisdiction in the country to introduce a publicly accessible website featuring details and locations of convicted serious sex offenders.

The Northern Territory Sex Offender Public Website legislation will be named ‘Daniel’s Law’ in memory of Daniel Morcombe.

According to Mr Elferink, the website will include 'an image, physical description and regional whereabouts of convicted serious sex offenders in the Northern Territory.'

Final details of the legislation are yet to be revealed but in the meantime,  the 'leadership' of the Northern Territory Government has been 'applauded' by the Morcombes, who also hope that the other States and Territories follow its lead.

Day for Daniel

While the ongoing debate of how to improve child safety continues across all levels of government, the Morcombes' legacy is clear from the powerful contribution they and their supporters have made towards the issue.

Friday 31st October 2014 is the next 'Day for Daniel' - a National Day of Action initiated by the Daniel Morcombe Foundation to raise awareness of child safety, protection and harm prevention.  According to the Foundation's website, the Day for Daniel is about 'about educating children and adults about keeping kids safe through child safety and protection initiatives. It aims to help empower our children to ‘Recognise, React and Report’ if they feel something is not right'.

'Wear Red and Educate is the theme of for Day for Daniel as we strive to have schools, kindergartens, businesses and communities across Australia take action and conduct child safety activities in their local communities to help in ‘Keeping Kids Safe’.

See the Foundation's website for more information about the upcoming Day for Daniel and what your school can do to recognise this day.