So I opted for an SUV with big fat tyres suggesting trips across the back streets of Oz, those places of long roads and adventures, red earth and sage green bush. What fun ahead!

Of course I bought the new addition to the family in the Southern Highlands (Southern Highland Motor Group Moss Vale actually).

Could have gone to head office in Bourke Street Waterloo, especially as my daughter and family live there, but heck no – Southern Highlands, my heart lives here, so I’ll support our local industries be they bookstores, fashion, face products, food and wine, whatever.

Even though we should regard the entire of our country with a warm embrace (let’s NOT speak of current politics okay), pulling the same way starts at home.

Support your home community, especially if its workings and product are good. 

Those ripples will spread, go out and come in, just like the tide.

And you betcha, my new car’s rear window will sport that insignia: SOUTHERN HIGHLANDS my heart lives here.

National Child Protection Week runs in Australia from September 2 to 8 and encourages us to promote safety for children in our communities.

The sad reality I have come to realise is that many young people who are abused believe that this behaviour is normal.

Adults in our community are letting our young people down.

Reports of child abuse are overwhelming and give witness to the lack of accountability for adults who abuse young people.

Courts are far too lenient on people who abuse our children; communities are looking the other way, ignoring the abuse of children because this is the easiest option.

People don’t want to get involved in notifying assaults on our young people because of the fear of the consequences from the perpetrators.

We have lost the ability for adults to serve as collective parents for all the young people in our neighbourhood.

Nothing is more important than protecting our vulnerable children from abuse and neglect.

Child abuse goes beyond the tears and pain experienced in childhood.

Victims endure a lifetime of psychological and emotional distress, they often become drug users to kill the pain of abuse, attempt suicide, self-mutilate and have major trust issues.

We, as a society, must ensure that we provide our children with a safe and supportive environment, so that they have the opportunity to reach their full potential.

At Youth Off The Streets we provide an abundance of services to young people from all walks of life across three Australian states.

Above all else in our work, we hold the protection of young people paramount in our activities and programs.

I support National Child Protection Week and the movement to protect some of Australia’s most vulnerable young people, but I would like to see this action become an everyday part of Australian lives.