Bravehearts’ mission is to provide a coordinated and holistic approach to the prevention and treatment of child sexual abuse.

Our vision is a world where people, communities and systems all work together to protect children from sexual abuse.

Founded in 1997, Bravehearts Foundation is an Australian child protection organisation exclusively focused on the prevention and treatment of child sexual abuse.

Our holistic approach involves educating, empowering, and protecting children against this threat through our personal safety program ‘Ditto’s Keep Safe Adventure’.

For survivors and victims of abuse and their non-offending family members, we provide support via accessible counseling, case management, and advocacy.

We educate and empower communities through our world-class child protection training, risk management.

We also advocate for legislative reform to improve the rights of children and adult survivors.

Our innovative, research-driven public awareness campaigns and community education combat the stigma around child sex abuse.

In collaboration with our cohorts, we strive for the immediate eradication of child sexual abuse, guided by our core values of respect, integrity, energy, empathy, and bravery.

Above all else, the protection of children and survivors is at the heart of everything we do.

Child sexual abuse is complex, requiring an approach which is multi-faceted.

True to our mission, Bravehearts' strategic approach focuses on three key pillars: Educate, Empower, and Protect.

Over the past one to three years Bravehearts has:

• Established a dedicated Education Team in Nowra (thanks to the efforts of the South Coast Committee) teaching children aged 3-8 vital personal safety education.

• Re-designed the Ditto’s Keep Safe Adventure program. This material has now been expanded into three separate shows for corresponding school and early years audiences. All resources have been updated and recreated and are available on our online platform for improved access. Five new songs have been professionally recorded for the Live show, and Bravehearts has created a Ditto Game app. Ditto’s Keep Safe Adventure is endorsed by the e-safety commissioner and has had contributions and oversight by Australia’s leading children’s personal safety education experts.

• Expanded the Turning Corners program for young people (aged 12-18) with harmful sexual behaviours. This includes a program funded by the Qld Department of Children, Youth Justice & Multicultural Affairs and works directly with young people who are referred through Youth Justice.

• Established the Child and Family Advocate Role. This has proven integral in helping families of children who have been impacted by child sexual abuse to navigate the path to healing. This role assists the family members as they assess the support that they need. This program is in need of fresh funding - please contact the Bravehearts Foundation if you are able to assist.

Success for Bravehearts would be a future in which :

• The staggering statistic of 1 in 4 Australian children being sexually harmed is eradicated.

• Personal safety education at school and at home is considered a normal part of a child’s learning.

• Children who speak up about child sexual abuse feel safe in doing so, understand that it is their right to feel safe and are believed.

Child sexual abuse is largely a preventable crime.

For Bravehearts, it means that as a community, we successfully prevent it.

Working with stakeholders who understand the value of working together to solve problems is a part of Bravehearts’ collaboration strategy.

We as an organisation cannot do the work alone and we rely heavily on the support and vision of our partners.

The Coolaroo Foundation has a demonstrated commitment to keeping children safe.

The value of the Coolaroo Foundation’s support of our education endeavors, especially in Nowra and surrounding regions is immeasurable.

The Coolaroo Foundation generously helped expand our reach by introducing us to sectors within their own networks including valuable connections.

We are very grateful for the support of the Coolaroo Foundation.

The primary focus for the Bravehearts NSW South Coast Chapter centres on maintaining the continuity of our essential personal safety program, Ditto’s Keep Safe Adventure, for local children.

Our main current challenge is to secure funding that eliminates the financial barriers to program access that have recently been exacerbated by the current cost of living crisis.

We are working to guarantee that all South Coast NSW children have access to our program, whilst also ensuring that they and their school/childcare communities are armed with vital tools and knowledge to protect children from sexual harm.

At an organisational level, Bravehearts’ next focus is to create/upgrade the remaining age groups’ suite of personal safety programs, thus finalising the whole-of-school community offerings.

We currently offer Ditto’s Keep Safe Adventure for young children from Early Years (aged 3) through to Lower Primary (age 8).

We will create 2 new age-specific programs – ProjectMe! designed for ages 9-12, and we will update our current consent and respectful relationships program – ProjectYou! for ages 13–16.

ProjectMe! and ProjectYou! will be aligned to the Australian National Curriculum.

These programs will be available via Bravehearts’ LMS once created and provided (sold or otherwise) to schools and environments that are child-facing.

Prior to the re-write of Ditto’s Keep Safe Adventure and as COVID-19 took deeper hold (in late 2020), Bravehearts received starter funding to create an app (game) for Ditto to enhance children’s learning and increase outcome data for Bravehearts on the effectiveness of the lessons learned.

The app will mean that children no matter where they are can access Ditto’s Keep Safe Adventure program learnings well beyond the classroom environment.

There will be opportunities for parents and carers to also participate and gain a greater understanding of their child’s personal safety education.

Learn more about the South Coast Bravehearts’ mission to increase local service levels here.