On this page
- How to get help if you feel unsafe
- Contact us
- How we can help you if you are in contact with child protection or out-of-home care
- How to make a complaint about the Commission for Children and Young People
- How to make a complaint about if you are unhappy or have a concern about your experience of out-of-home care
How to get help if you feel unsafe
If there is an emergency, or you or someone else is in danger, then call Triple Zero (000) immediately.
If you have a safety concern about someone who works or volunteers with an organisation tell an adult that you trust. The person you tell might be a parent, carer, family member or another adult in your household, a teacher or coach, a counsellor, or any other adult you feel comfortable with.
If they don’t help you, keep telling other adults you trust. The organisation you are concerned about must take your concern seriously and do something about it. They need to listen to you and support you to be safe and to feel safe.
For mental health or wellbeing support, you can also contact Headspace or the Kids Helpline.
You can find also links to other organisations with resources and supports for children and young people here.
Contact us
If you need help understanding your rights, or if you have any safety concerns about a person in an organisation, you can contact us at the Commission.
Call us on: 1300 782 978 (free call)
Email us at: contact@ccyp.vic.gov.au
How we can help you if you are in contact with child protection or out-of-home care
On 1 July 2024, new laws came in that give us more powers to help children and young people in contact with child protection or out-of-home care.
These new powers mean we can speak to some organisations that work with you, to make sure concerns about your care are heard and acted on.
The types of things we can ask for include:
- assistance resolving your issue or complaint
- relevant information or documents.
We can request information from the Department of Families, Fairness and Housing (DFFH) (which was previously known as DHS or DHHS), out-of-home care services and other organisations that work with children and young people.
The new powers are in place to make sure you have someone independent (not from Child Protection) who can:
- give you advice and information
- help with problems you might have with your care
- speak up for your safety, wellbeing, and rights when you are in contact with child protection or out-of-home care.
The government has not given us funding to do this new job, which means we do not have the people or resources we need to help everyone who needs it.
We continue to seek more funding, so we can help more children and young people in need. We appreciate your patience as we try to support as many children and young people as we can.
How to make a complaint about the Commission for Children and Young People
Click here for information about how to make a complaint about us.
How to make a complaint about if you are unhappy or have a concern about your experience of out-of-home care
If you’re a child or young person in out-of-home care and you are unhappy with your care, you can make a complaint to the Department of Families, Fairness and Housing. Find out how here.