AISNSW Child Protection & Safeguarding Conference 2025

Building a Safe and Supportive School Environment - A Collective Responsibility

Ensuring the safety of children is a collective responsibility —one that has become increasingly complex in today’s fast-paced and digitally connected world. Schools play a vital role in safeguarding children, which requires a multi-layered, proactive approach to prevent harm and respond effectively to emerging risks.  

At the 2025 AISNSW Child Protection and Safeguarding Conference, we will explore the challenges and strategies involved in creating safe school environments. What does it take to apply robust safeguarding practices and strategies to prevent harm and abuse to children in your care?

Building safe and supportive school environments is not the work of one individual – it requires collective commitment from educators, staff, parents and the wider community in proactively protecting children and preventing harm.   

Key questions that will be addressed:  

  • How has PHSB evolved, and how can schools stay ahead?
  • What works in holistic risk assessment and mitigation?
  • How can schools build whole-school online safety strategies?
  • What patterns of harmful sexual behaviour emerge in schools?
  • How can schools spot and prevent situational offending?
  • Are your staff ready to tackle cyberbullying and sexting?

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Date: Friday 29 August 2025

Location: Aerial UTS Function Centre, Sydney

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Keynote Presenter: Miranda Bain

Over the past 25 years, Miranda has worked across the USA, New Zealand and Australia as a clinician, educator, and advocate, with a focus on interpersonal violence, sexual abuse, and trauma. Her role as Director of Therapy & Specialist Services at Act for Kids includes oversight of best practice, and stewardship of specialist therapeutic services. 

Miranda is a also a member of the National Strategic Advisory Group informing the National Office of Child Safety’s implementation of recommendations from the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse.

Keynote Presenter: Sarah Kopp

Sarah Kopp is a dedicated advocate and educator specialising in child protection, with a focus on grooming and child sexual abuse prevention. As a survivor of childhood trauma, Sarah brings a unique perspective to her work, empowering communities through education and awareness. With expertise in teaching and a background in the entertainment industry, Sarah is committed to creating safer environments for children through her organisation, Step In For Kids.

Keynote Presenter: Dr Amanda Robertson

Amanda is a postdoctoral researcher with prior professional experience supporting schools to manage various aspects of child protection and safeguarding. Amanda’s doctoral project focused on adult-perpetrated sexual abuse against adolescents in Australian schools, including consideration of women’s perpetration and gender bias. 

She is currently a Senior Research Officer at the National Centre for Action on Child Sexual Abuse.

Keynote Presenter: Professor Benoit Leclerc

Dr Benoit Leclerc has been working in the field of sexual offenders since 1999. He has been involved in sexual offenders’ treatment programs where he was responsible for conducting risk and phallometric assessments of adolescent and adult sexual offenders. In research, he led projects involving interviews with individuals who committed child sexual abuse in youth-serving organisations from which he has developed an offender-based expertise from.

Keynote Presenter: Kellie Britnell

With a background in education, Kellie now combines this experience with over 16 years in the online safety and government regulatory space. She leads eSafety’s training initiatives to key audiences with direct influence on children and young people including educators, youth serving professionals and parents and carers. A career highlight at eSafety includes representing the agency as part of the online safety expert panel for the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse.

Conference Program

Explore the full conference program, including keynotes and workshop sessions.

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