The child accident prevention foundation of Australia was first established on March 5, 1979 and we are celebrating our achievements all year.  Follow Kidsafe Australia to find out more. #KIDSAFE40YEARS

Kidsafe NSW has a Safety Demonstration House that offers families, community members, health professionals and vocational students detailed information about safety in and around the home. 

Kidsafe was established in response to the number of children who died or seriously injured in their homes each year due to preventable accidents.   Recently, Kidsafe NSW was awarded a NSW Community Building Partnership grant to refurbish the Safety Demonstration House to bring it up to date with a more user-friendly approach. 

Due to the refurbishment, Kidsafe House will be closed from Tuesday 19 March 2019 to Monday 29 April 2019.

Our office remains open for all enquires and staff can be contacted on 02 9845 0890. We apologise for any inconvenience.

Kidsafe NSW warmly welcomes Dr Kate Hunter to the role of Council Chair.  Dr Hunter is a NSW Health Early and Mid Career Research Fellow (2017-2019) and Senior Research Fellow with the Injury Division at The George Institute for Global Health. She has over fifteen years’ experience in injury prevention research and has produced several reports and guidelines currently in use by Australian Government and non-government organisations. 

Kidsafe NSW would like to take the opportunity to thank our retiring Chair, Dr Nicholas Cheng.  Dr Cheng will remain to support Dr Hunter at Kidsafe NSW as the Deputy Chair. 

The Child Restraint Evaluation Program (CREP) recently released  results for child car seats.  While all car seats in Australia must meet strict standards, some are found to be easier to install and use, which could reduce the chance of installing or using the seat incorrectly.

Kidsafe NSW’s Executive Officer, Christine Erskine, recently spoke with Shevonne Hunt from Feed Play Love about how to choose the right car seat for your child.  Listen to the podcast here!

Top tips to keep children safe in child car seats:

• From birth to about 6-12 months use a rear-facing car seat
• From 6-12 months to 4 years use a forward-facing seat with an inbuilt harness
• From 4-7 years use a booster seat with an adult seat belt.

Remember, look for the shoulder height markers to know when to move your child to the next car seat!

For more information check out Seat Me Safely!

Prams and strollers in Australia have safety standards that are mandatory.  Some of the safety requirements include a tether strap, an inbuilt harness and parking brake.  While some safety features are mandatory, other features are voluntary.  CHOICE recognised that the standards for prams and strollers was written 20 years ago and many changes have occurred in that time.  As a result, CHOICE created their own, more rigours testing method for prams.  The outcome report shows that 18 prams and strollers did not pass CHOICE’S safety tests.   

The same report shows that nine prams did pass.  If you want to check if your stroller passed the CHOICE test or purchase a new one, check out the full results here.

If you would like to join CHOICE’S campaign to strengthen product safety laws click here.

Follow these top tips to keep your child safe in a pram or stroller:

• Use the 5 point harness as all times
• Always use the tether strap on your wrist
• Engage the brake as soon as you stop
• Avoid hanging shopping bags or parcels from the handles
• Don’t use phone while crossing roads

Check out our Pram and Stroller Safety information sheet here.

On 14 Feburary 2019, the Assistant Treasurer, the Hon. Stuart Robert MP, made an amendment to the mandatory safety standard for prams and strollers following a review of the ACCC.  It can be found at  Consumer Product Safety Standard for Prams and Strollers.

The change was made to include convertible wheeled vehicles, which in one mode are designed to transport a child in a seated position, as strollers.  This means these strollers, also known as convertible tricycles, will have to comply to the established mandatory standards.  Product Safety Australia details the mandatory safety standards for prams and strollers. 

Image Source:  Product Safety

Martha Wilcox, Chief Marketing Officer from Safe Kids Worldwide, joined Kidsafe NSW for an afternoon of sharing ideas about how to “make a safer world for kids.”    With more than 400 coalitions in the United States, Martha and her team focusses on reducing traffic injuries, drowning, falls, burns and poisoning.  With their strong connections with industry, they have helped reduce the U.S. childhood death rate from unintentional injury by 57 precent.  Click here to learn more about Safe Kids World Wide.   

Did you know that Kidsafe NSW has a fantastic Facebook page?  If you haven’t already, be sure to like and follow us to stay up to date on excellent home, road, community and play safety tips!    https://www.facebook.com/kidsafensw/