Every Conversation Matters: Talking With Young Children About Body Safety

National Child Protection Week runs from 6 to 12 September 2026, and this year's theme is Every Conversation Matters, Shifting Conversation to Action. It is a theme we find quietly powerful, because the work of keeping children safe is rarely dramatic. It is made of small, ordinary conversations, repeated often, long before anything goes wrong.

Body safety is one of those conversations. It can feel daunting to start, and many loving parents put it off because they are not sure what to say or worry about frightening their child. The reassuring truth is that body safety, taught well, is not frightening at all. To a young child it simply sounds like another everyday thing they are learning about how the world works, alongside road safety and washing their hands.

Here is how we think about it at Sagewood, and how you can weave it into life at home in a way that feels natural rather than heavy.

What is National Child Protection Week?

National Child Protection Week is run each September by NAPCAN, the National Association for Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect, with support from the Australian Government Department of Social Services. It has grown into a year-round campaign built on a simple idea, which is that protecting children is everyone's business and not only the responsibility of authorities.

This year's theme asks us to move from talking to doing. For families, that action can be small and still count. Learning the correct names for body parts alongside your child, or helping them name three adults they could go to for help, is exactly the kind of practical step the theme is pointing at.

What are protective behaviours?

Protective behaviours is the umbrella term for the skills and language that help children recognise when something is not right and know how to seek help. It is prevention education, and it is built on a small number of ideas that even very young children can hold.

Children learn that their body belongs to them. That there are correct names for the parts of their body. That some parts are private. That they are allowed to say no to unwanted touch, including from people they know and love. That they can recognise the feelings in their body that tell them something is wrong. And that there are trusted adults they can always tell, who will listen and believe them.

Notice what is not on that list. There is nothing about frightening children, nothing about stranger danger, and nothing that requires explaining abuse to a three year old. Protective behaviours is about giving children language and confidence, not fear.

Why should children learn the correct names for body parts?

This is often the piece parents find hardest, and it is one of the most important.

When children know the anatomically correct names for their body parts, including their private parts, two things happen. They can describe clearly and unambiguously what has happened to them if they ever need to, which matters enormously if a concern is ever raised with a professional. And they absorb the quiet message that no part of their body is shameful or unmentionable, which makes them more likely to speak up rather than stay silent.

Family nicknames come from a place of affection, and there is no criticism in this at all. It is simply that the correct words are a safety tool, and children pick them up as easily as any other word if we use them matter-of-factly during nappy changes, bath time and getting dressed.

What is a safety network, and how can you help your child build one?

A safety network is a small group of trusted adults a child can go to if they feel unsafe or need help. Children are usually asked to name a handful of people, ideally including at least one person outside the immediate household.

Building one with your child is a lovely, low-key conversation. You might count them on their fingers together, or draw around their hand and write a name on each finger. The point is that a child who has already named their people does not have to work out who to tell in a difficult moment, because they have decided in advance. 

It is worth revisiting occasionally, because networks change as children grow.

How do you talk about secrets, surprises and early warning signs?

Two ideas do a lot of work here.

The first is the difference between a secret and a surprise. A surprise is something happy that will be told soon, such as a birthday present or a party. A secret that you are asked to keep forever, especially one that makes you feel worried, is not okay, and it is always alright to tell a trusted adult about it. Framing it this way gives children a clear rule without needing to explain why the rule exists.

The second is early warning signs, which is the language protective behaviours education uses for the physical feelings that tell us something is not right. A tummy that feels funny, a racing heart, wobbly legs, feeling hot or teary. Helping your child notice and name these feelings in ordinary situations, such as before a swimming lesson or during a scary part of a film, builds the awareness they would need in a situation that mattered.

Alongside this, it helps enormously if children are never forced into physical affection. Letting a child choose between a hug, a high five or a wave when greeting relatives is a small thing that teaches a very large lesson about consent and body autonomy.

How Safe4Kids works at Sagewood

Child safety is not an add-on for us. Every approved service in Australia operates under the National Quality Standard and the National Child Safe Principles, and every service must have child protection policies and trained educators. That is the floor, not the ceiling. 

Beyond those requirements, our centres run Safe4Kids, a Perth-developed protective behaviours program that teaches children from around age three the language and skills of personal safety, body autonomy and help-seeking. Our educators are trained in the Safe4Kids method, personally inducted by the program's founder Holly-ann Martin OAM, and families receive regular newsletters so the same language continues at home.

That last part matters more than anything. A program taught in isolation at a centre is far less effective than the same ideas being echoed at the dinner table. When a child hears the same words from their educators and their parents, the message becomes simply how things are.

This thinking runs alongside our ELMA program, which builds the emotional literacy children need to recognise and name what they are feeling, and our Montessori-inspired philosophy, which treats children as capable people with agency over themselves rather than as passengers. We wrote about a related side of this in our post on how active play supports child safety.

What should you do if your child tells you something worrying?

If a child ever discloses something to you, the way an adult responds in that first moment shapes a great deal of what follows. The guidance from the WA Department of Communities on responding to a child disclosing abuse is worth reading before you ever need it, and the essentials are these.

Stay as calm as you can, even though your instinct will be anything but. Listen without interrupting. Tell them you believe them, that you are glad they told you, and that it is not their fault. Avoid questioning them in detail or asking leading questions, because that is a job for trained professionals and can complicate things later. Write down what they said in their own words as soon as you can. And then contact the people whose job this is.

Where can WA families get help?

If you have a life-threatening concern about a child, contact the police on 000.

If you are worried about a child's safety or wellbeing, the WA Department of Communities Central Intake Team can be reached on 1800 273 889. You do not need to be certain, and you do not need proof. A concern is enough, and it is their role to work out what happens next.

Their child safety and wellbeing pages set out the reporting pathways, including after-hours Crisis Care and anonymous reporting options. If you have a concern relating to your child's time at our centres, please also speak to your Centre Director, and know that it will be taken seriously.

Frequently Asked Questions

What age should I start talking about body safety?

You can begin from toddlerhood, using correct names for body parts during nappy changes and bath time and letting your child have a say over affection. Formal protective behaviours education, including the Safe4Kids program we run, generally begins from around age three.

Will talking about body safety frighten my child?

Taught in an age-appropriate way, no. Protective behaviours education gives children language and confidence rather than fear, in much the same way that teaching road safety does not make children afraid of cars.

Should I use the correct anatomical names for private parts?

Protective behaviours educators consistently recommend it. Correct names mean a child can describe clearly what has happened if they ever need to, and they carry the quiet message that no part of their body is shameful to talk about.

What is the difference between a secret and a surprise?

A surprise is happy and will be told soon, such as a gift or a party. A secret that a child is asked to keep forever, particularly one that makes them feel uncomfortable, is something they should always feel able to tell a trusted adult about.

What is the theme of National Child Protection Week 2026?

Every Conversation Matters, Shifting Conversation to Action. National Child Protection Week 2026 runs from 6 to 12 September.

How do I know a centre takes child safety seriously?

Ask. Ask about their child protection policy, how educators are trained, what protective behaviours education children receive, and how concerns are raised and handled. A service that welcomes those questions is telling you something important.

We would be honoured to walk alongside you

Every conversation really does matter, and none of them need to be perfect. A few words at bath time, a hand drawn on paper with five names on it, a relative offered a wave instead of a hug. Small things, repeated, are what build a child who knows their body belongs to them and knows exactly who to tell.

If you would like to see how child safety is woven through daily life at our centres, we would warmly welcome you to book a tour at the centre closest to you, and to ask us anything at all.