Child rights and safety on display in hospitals during Children’s Week

Children’s Week was celebrated across the state in late October, with many child-centred activities happening across the community and in organisations. During Children’s Week, the Department of Health’s Child Safety and Wellbeing team took the opportunity to share child safety information with staff and community members at their Children’s Week engagement stall at the Royal Hobart Hospital. The Child Safety and Wellbeing team also worked alongside Playgroup Tasmania to run a fun colouring activity for children!

Children passing through the foyer of the Royal Hobart Hospital created beautiful artworks on age-appropriate colouring sheets that featured cute animals and easy-to-understand messages. The sheets showed children what the Department of Health will do to make them feel heard and safe. Some of the sheets included ‘we explain your rights’, ‘we report concerns about your safety’, and ‘we put your needs first’.

Hospital staff loved the opportunity to talk to the Child Safety and Wellbeing team in person. Montana, a nurse, said that having the team there “makes it easy to stop by and ask questions or have a chat in between shifts and to pick up resources.”

The Department’s Child Safety and Wellbeing resources can be accessed and downloaded from the Department of Health website. These include resources for children (including posters and the colouring in sheets) as well as resources for adults.