Business leaders gather in Sydney to elevate young people’s voices in safeguarding

Friday 5 December, 2025 – Corporate leaders, child advocates and young people will come together this Friday for the Child Safeguarding in Business Summit, hosted by the On Us: Australian Business Coalition for Safeguarding Children. The Summit will focus on how businesses can embed children and young people’s voices into their safeguarding practices, in line with the Coalition’s Business Principle 3 which calls on businesses to actively listen to young people, ensuring their perspectives shape decisions that safeguard wellbeing, identify risks early, and build trust.

In Australia, the urgency is clear: 4 in 10 young people have experienced maltreatment, almost 30% have lived through physical abuse, and one in four have been sexually abused. These figures underscore why listening to children and young people must be at the centre of business safeguarding strategies.

In the wake of the childcare centre crisis, it is critical that all businesses understand how their products, services or operations can place children at risk. The latest research from the McKell Institute shows that of the 500,000 young people in the workforce, 45% of those aged 15 to 17 have experienced sexual harassment in the past five years.

The event will feature a powerful line‑up of speakers: National Children’s Commissioner Deb Tsobaris; lived experience advocate Conor Pall; Dan Bowen and Sinead Fitzgerald from Microsoft; Lucy Chesterton and members of the Youth Council; Georgia Naldrett and Jeremy Pritchard from the CSAM Deterrent Centre; representatives from TikTok; and Phil Doorgachurn, Director of Safeguarding at Australian Childhood Foundation.

The Summit will launch a new e‑learning program, The Power of Business in Child Safeguarding, the first of its kind for business, designed to equip them with practical tools to reduce the risk their operations has on children and young people. Designed to take just 30 minutes, the course helps business leaders and employees understand how their products, services and operations can impact children’s safety, even when they don’t work directly with them. Through three modules, participants explore what child safeguarding means for business, practical steps organisations can take to reduce risk, and the role every professional play in creating safer environments for children and young people.

Phil Doorgachurn said the Summit is an opportunity for business leaders to step up: “Children and young people want to be heard. This Summit is about ensuring their voices shape the way businesses create safe environments.”

Conor Pall, survivor advocate, added: “I often hear that children should be seen and not heard. That was my experience growing up in family violence, and it’s the reality for many children and young people across the country right now. At the upcoming On Us Business event, I’ll share my experiences of growing up in an unsafe home and the businesses I interacted with, along with tips on what businesses can do to ensure all children know they have the right to be safe and free, and how businesses can play a part in advocating for child safety across our country.”

The On Us Coalition was established between Australian leading businesses and Australian Childhood Foundation to unite businesses in a shared vision: ensuring children are safe wherever they are. Friday’s Summit will reinforce that safeguarding is not only a moral imperative but a business responsibility.

For more information, visit OnUs.org.au

Media enquiries:

Gina Dafalia
PR and Communications
Phone: 0447558195
Email: gdafalia@childhood.org.au