Former Neighbours star Madeleine West is urging parents to trust their instincts and have difficult conversations with their kids as she launches a free audio resource focused on preventing child sexual abuse.
The actress, best known for playing Dee Bliss on the long-running Australian soap Neighbours, has become the voice of Project Paradigm’s It’s Never Too Early toolkit, an initiative aimed at helping parents, carers and teachers recognise risks, discuss child safety and know where to seek help.
WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE: Madeleine West’s mission to protect Australian children
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The launch comes amid renewed concern about child safety following recent allegations of abuse within early childhood settings across Australia.
“This toolkit basically is an effort to provide an accessible resource for parents, for carers, for teachers, just the community at large, especially those who are tasked with caring for really little kids, about how to keep them safe,” West told The Morning Show on Wednesday.
The busy mother of seven said the resource helps adults identify warning signs, navigate challenging conversations around abuse prevention and understand how and where to report concerns.
Recognising that many parents struggle to find time to engage with lengthy educational material, the toolkit has been converted into an audiobook format that can be listened to while commuting, driving or completing household tasks.
West pointed to confronting statistics that highlight the scale of the issue, saying one in three girls and one in five boys experience child sexual abuse, with reported cases representing only part of the picture.
“We know already that 38 per cent of reported sexual abuse cases, the victims are children between birth and 14 years old,” she said.
She said one of the biggest misconceptions among adults is the belief that child sexual abuse does not occur within their own communities.
“The idea that it couldn’t happen here is one of the most dangerous assumptions we can make,” West said.
The actress warned parents about online risks, describing the internet as “a predator’s playground” where anonymity can make children particularly vulnerable.
“When we hand a child a device, we’re not just giving them access to the world; we’re giving the world access to them,” she said.
West’s message to parents was to trust both their instincts and their children.
“No one likes having a difficult conversation but we love our kids and their safety is out priority,” she said.
“If a kid reports something to you, it’s very, very rare that a child will make up something like this.
“Our kids don’t need more gadgets, they need us.
“Kids have never had more than they have now, but they’ve also never been more at risk.”
The free audiobook and additional child safety resources are available through Project Paradigm.
