Working in partnerships with the community to create safer service environments
Commissioner for Children and Young People and Child Guardian, Elizabeth Fraser with Surf Life Saving Queensland President, Ken Bird at the Queensland Surf Life Saving Championships.
The Commissioner, Elizabeth Fraser, attended the Queensland Surf Life Saving championships on Sunday 7 March at Kurrawa, Gold Coast. What an amazing scene of organisation, logistics and skills training, particularly for young people. The three day event being managed by dedicated volunteers included participants from clubs across Queensland. There are currently 59 clubs with over 36,000 members in our state.
Elizabeth said, “the standout impact of the day for her was the incredibly high levels of energy and skill displayed by the competitors and the very high participation rate by young women. None of that could have happened without an enormous commitment to fund raising and club organisation made clear by the vast amounts of available equipment required for the testing of each skills set.”
The Commissioner was delighted to meet up several members of the Executive including Ken Bird, President and his wife Desley, Ralph Nilson, Deputy President, and John Brennan, A/CEO and Suzanne Duncan who is actively engaged in youth activities, together with a number of other supporters dedicated to the cause. Elizabeth noted the Commission’s strong partnership with SLSQ in ensuring members engaged in working with children are appropriately screened and monitored through the blue card system and the efforts of the organisation to actively manage child related risks. SLSQ has supported the Commission’s Industry Reference Group and continues to provide valuable feedback to the Commission to assist improve and streamline blue card system application processes and information resources.
Elizabeth greatly enjoyed the day and experience of witnessing this impressive organisation clearly engaged in doing a great job for young people.
