The Western Region Centre Against Sexual Assault (WestCASA) is offering several free support services for people who may be affected by alleged sexual assaults in childcare centres.
Located in Werribee, the organisation is offering confidential services including initial engagement and assessment; single-session crisis support; brief interventions of one to four sessions; and referrals for longer-term counselling.
Chief executive Annette Vickery said more than 200 impacted individuals, families and community members have booked to attend education sessions, accessed brief intervention counselling sessions and requested other support.
“Since the alleged childcare sexual assaults came to light, we’ve seen a significant and urgent increase in people reaching out for support—proof that when harm is exposed, our community seeks connection, safety and care,” Ms Vickery said.
“The surge in people seeking our support since this news broke shows both the deep impact of sexual harm and the courage of a community choosing to speak up and seek help.
“With support from the Government, WestCASA has been able to widen our support to early educators in kindergartens and primary schools.
“All people who work with children have been impacted and can come to us for the help they need.”
Families directly affected are welcome to contact the centre, and support services are offered to anyone older than 12 years.
WestCASA also has strong partnerships with local western metropolitan based servies, such as Support After Sexual Harm (SASH), which provides sexual assault counselling for children and young people under 18 years, and GenWest who provide family violence supports and community wellbeing services.
WestCASA is delivering an extensive number of trainings to early childhood education centres across the Western Region to offer tailored education and wellbeing sessions.
These include: guidance on prevention; responding sensitively to child’s disclosure; and creating supportive, emotionally safe environments for children and staff.
WestCASA is also seeing a strong interest in training from primary and secondary schools on how best to support wellbeing staff and teachers, who are often the first trusted person a child discloses to.
If you are interested in training, counselling or other support, call WestCASA’s direct line from 9am-5pm on weekdays on 9216 0444 or visit westcasa.org.au.
