About Bravehearts

Bravehearts is Australia’s leading child protection organisation and the only charity in the country dedicated to holistically preventing child sexual assault.

Bravehearts was founded in 1997 by Hetty Johnston following her then 7 year-old daughter’s disclosure of sexual assault. Finding there was no organisation to turn to for help, Hetty established Bravehearts to provide support and advocacy to those affected by this crime.

Bravehearts’ Mission is to prevent child sexual assault in our society. Our Vision is to make Australia the safest place in the world to raise a child.

Learn more below about Bravehearts and the work we do.

WHAT DOES BRAVEHEARTS DO?

Bravehearts works tirelessly to make Australia the safest place in the world to raise a child through the
3 Piers to Prevention:

The 3 Piers to Prevention are benchmarks for the prevention of child sexual assault, and making Australia the safest place in the world to raise a child. These benchmarks are the culmination of over two decades of intensive research into child sexual assault prevention.

The 3 Piers to Prevention guide the work of Bravehearts towards achieving our Mission, as well as help us to assess systemic gaps and identify key priorities for lobbying and reform.

The 3 Piers to Prevention are:

Educate: All children and young people receive evidence-based, age appropriate personal safety education.
Empower: All adults are trained, aware and motivated to protect children, and adequate specialist counselling and support is available to all child and adult survivors of child sexual assault and those who support them.
Protect: All systems of community and government engage effectively and respond at all times in the best interests of the child.

WHAT SERVICES DOES BRAVEHEARTS OFFER?

Through our services, Bravehearts is working to meet the 3 Piers to Prevention benchmarks. These services are:

Education and Training

Personal safety education programs and resources for children and young people.
Cyber-safety, sexual safety and respectful relationships programs and resources for children and young people.
Child protection training for those working with and caring for children and young people.
Risk management for organisations working with children.

Therapeutic Services, Advocacy and Case Management

Counselling and support for children and adults who have been affected by child sexual assault, and their family members.
Support and information for the public via Bravehearts’ free call Information & Support Line.
Early intervention programs for young people engaging in, or at risk of engaging in, harmful sexual behaviours.
Case management for survivors and advocacy for children and families affected by child sexual assault.

Research, Lobbying and Reporting

Research into the prevalence and prevention of child sexual assault.
Policy development in the area of child protection.
Lobbying for legislative reform to ensure the best interests of the child are considered first.
Online reporting schemes to enable survivors in reporting child sexual assault.

MAKE THE PLEDGE

If you haven’t already, please take a few seconds to make a PLEDGE TO PROTECT kids. All you have to do is complete the pledge form with your name and email address and that’s it!

If you would like us to send you a free SUPPORTER KIT you will also need to provide your postal address (but this is not compulsory).

Making the Pledge is important because it helps us with reporting back to the Australian Government about the number of people who care about child protection in Australia. So please make the Pledge to protect today!

PLEDGE NOW