Day for Daniel is Australia’s largest child safety education and awareness day.
This national day of action advocates for safer communities for children and empowering them to Recognise, React and Report when they feel unsafe.
The day is an initiative of the Daniel Morcombe Foundation, established in 2005 by Denise and Bruce Morcombe following the tragic abduction of their 13 year old son Daniel in December 2003.
‘Wear Red, Educate and Donate’ is the catch cry for Day for Daniel as we strive to have schools, early learning centres, businesses, and communities across Australia take action and conduct child safety activities in their local communities to help keep kids safe and raise vital funds to continue to create safety resources for
children around Australia.
In 2022, the theme for the day is brave conversations. We believe Day for Daniel is the perfect opportunity to start conversations around personal safety.
Day for Daniel is the Daniel Morcombe Foundation’s biggest fundraiser of the year. By fundraising, you can help us continue to provide our free education programs, resource development and support young victims of crime.
We ask people to wear red on Day for Daniel in remembrance of Daniel Morcombe. Daniel was wearing a red t-shirt on 7 December 2003 when he found himself in an unsafe situation. Wearing red links Daniel’s very real story to the importance of safety education. It provides a message of strength and hope that together we can make the world safer for all children as a legacy to Daniel and his family.
The key child safety message on Day for Daniel encourages children to Recognise, React, and Report if they ever feel unsafe. Child safety education does not need to be scary or risk-focused, but should highlight topics such as recognising body clues, understanding body ownership, naming private body parts and identifying adults who can help if a child feels unsafe.
It’s important to ensure the information you are sharing is age and developmentally appropriate. Check out the Daniel Morcombe Foundation’s Keeping Kids Safe Resources, a range of educational videos, activities, and other resources to help you ‘keep talking’. Using everyday opportunities (such as a situation a character on a TV show may find themselves in) to reinforce personal safety messages is a great strategy to ensure you keep communication open and demonstrate you are willing to talk about being safe.
There are lots of things our bodies do to let us know we might not be safe. These are called body clues. It’s important we can recognise our body clues. Things like feeling sick in the tummy, our hands sweating, or our heart beating faster are all clues we might not be safe.
If we ever find ourselves in an unsafe situation, we need to be able to react. This means to find a way, if possible, to become safe again such as saying ‘NO!’, running away or screaming ‘help’. Sometimes we even need to break a rule to become safe again.
If we ever feel unsafe it is really important to report it to a safety helper. Keep telling an adult in your safety network until someone helps.
During Day for Daniel, many children and young people may be curious about Daniel, what happened to him, and why we have a Day for Daniel. It is important children learn about Daniel without getting overwhelmed, scared or sad. Day for Daniel is a day to be positive about learning to be safe.
Daniel was a 13 year old boy who felt safe every day. One Sunday at the start of the school holidays he went to catch a bus. Unfortunately, the bus broke down and by the time the next bus turned up Daniel was gone. Daniel’s situation went from safe to unsafe very quickly. Luckily, what happened to Daniel doesn’t happen very often and there are lots of things we can talk about to help you stay safe. Daniel’s family want to make sure all children know what to do if they ever feel unsafe at home, school, online or while in public. We have Day for
Daniel so children all over Australia can learn what to do if they ever find themselves in an unsafe situation.
Even though you might feel safe all of the time, it’s important you know how to recognise when something isn’t safe; how to react to find a safe place; and once you feel safe you need to report and tell someone why you felt unsafe.
You should also make a plan for things that could happen, like having a meeting place when you go shopping in case you get lost or making a family password, so you know which adults it is safe for you to go with. You might like to watch our ‘Create a family password’ video found in the ‘Videos and Activities’ section of the Daniel Morcombe Foundation’s website.
This is why we have Day for Daniel. We all have the right to feel safe all the time.
Whether you are a parent, carer or professional your initial response in the moment with the child should be the same. Listen and believe. Stay calm and let the child speak at their own pace, don’t ask leading questions, or make promises you cannot keep.
Remember your reaction to a disclosure can make all the difference to a child or young person and their ability and confidence to seek future support, talk to others, and process their experience/s of harm.
All disclosures of abuse should be reported to the relevant state or territory child protection agency. In education settings, educators should be familiar with their student protection policy to determine actions and responsibilities related to reporting a disclosure.
For more information and advice on how to respond to a disclosure of harm, download our factsheet
Donations can be made to the Daniel Morcombe Foundation on our website via credit card. The Daniel Morcombe Foundation also accepts direct bank transfers or deposits, as well as cheques. Please visit the Donate page on the website to make a donation or to find out more information.
All funds donated to the Daniel Morcombe Foundation contribute to harm prevention activities and improving outcomes for children and young people who have been impacted by crime. Donations also support the Daniel Morcombe Foundation to continue providing free of charge educational resources to parents, carers and educators across Australia to teach young people how to stay safe in their physical and online environments.
Your support, no matter how big or small helps to keep kids safe.
Talk with your school leadership team early in the year and agree to register for Day for Daniel, held on the last Friday of October each year. Promote the day and inform parents and carers through the school newsletter or other communications such as social media. Plan your child safety education activities for the day. Don’t forget to Wear Red, Educate, Donate! You can wear red, access the Keeping Kids Safe Resources to educate children, and donate or fundraise.
Talk to your child’s school or learning centre and encourage them to register for Day for Daniel, held on the last Friday of October each year. Use Day for Daniel as an opportunity to start or continue a conversation about safety with your child. If their school or learning centre participates in Day for Daniel, ask your child about what they learnt. Let them know they can always talk to you if they ever feel unsafe.
Use the Daniel Morcombe Foundation’s Keeping Kids Safe Resources to help you talk to family, friends and colleagues, encourage them to have conversations about safety with the children in their lives. Don’t forget to wear red and donate or fundraise if you can.
Register for Day for Daniel, which is held on the last Friday of October each year. You can host an event or gathering at your business or workplace, or in your community to raise awareness of the importance of childsafety education. Decorate your workplace, shop or office in red, and donate or fundraise if you can.
You can purchase materials to support Day for Daniel education and fundraising activities, by visiting the Daniel Morcombe Foundation online shop to purchase. All registered Day for Daniel participants receive a small starter package, including a cardboard donation box, poster and information about how to participate in Day for Daniel. Posters are also available to download for free from the Daniel Morcombe Foundation’s website.
There are many ways to help us keep more Australian children safe.
