Day for Daniel is Australia’s largest day of action to raise awareness for child safety, protection, and harm prevention. Held annually on the last Friday of October, Day for Daniel honours the memory of Daniel Morcombe. The theme is ‘Wear Red, Educate and Donate’.

Parents, carers, and educators are encouraged to start a conversation with children and young people about personal safety. Day for Daniel is the Daniel Morcombe Foundation’s biggest fundraiser of the year. Fundraising helps us continue our free education programs, resource development, and support for young victims of crime.

Why do we wear red?

We ask people to wear red on Day for Daniel in remembrance of Daniel Morcombe. Daniel was wearing a red t-shirt on 7th 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.

How can I educate my child?

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. 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.

For children

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.

How do I answer questions my child may ask about Daniel?

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. For children 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 are safe again you need to report, that means to 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. This is why we have Day for Daniel. We all have the right to feel safe all the time.

What should I do if a child makes a disclosure of harm?

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.

Donations can be made to the Daniel Morcombe Foundation via 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.