CPSU is the national Union for Child Protection Practitioners across Australia and this week is National Child Protection week and we're celebrating the achievements of this vital workforce bestowing awards on a Child Protection union delegate this week.

Victorian Nominee Rachel Dann

CPSU is the national Union for Child Protection Practitioners across Australia and this week is National Child Protection week.

The inaugural CPSU Child Protection awards are being bestowed on a Child Protection union delegate this week.

CPSU is proud to celebrate Child Protection Week and give recognition to the valuable and challenging work of our members.

I am pleased to  announce that Rachel Dann is the Victorian nominee for the award and has been nominated for our national award.

At this time Rachel works as a CPP 2 practitioner at The Arbour which is a contact centre for children involved in Child Protection in the West of Melbourne.  The Arbour is a unique and innovative centre and  Rachel is an integral part of The Arbour.  The Arbour has a limited budget and Rachel and her colleagues have worked to source community resources to ensure that contact between parents and children is a positive and trauma informed experience.  Rachel has been involved and supported the success of the program in supporting families to reunite or in other cases to build lasting supportive relationships.

She has recently joined the Victorian Branch Council of CPSU which is our union governing body in Victoria and has an active role advocating for her Child Protection colleagues across the state.

In addition Rachel has been a member of the Supervised Contact Transport Trial Project Control Group, if adopted the trial will change the way that contact and transport is delivered across the state.

Rachel has also been involved in the recent unprecedented implementation of change process across the state for ALL Child Protection Practitioners.

The Victorian CPSU group believe that Rachel deserves to be a recipient of this award due to the her unfailing and tireless work on behalf of her colleagues and the children she works with to have a better chance in life.

Supporter Selfie Poster

One of the ways CPSU is recognizing Child Protection Week is asking members to take a picture of themselves with our selfie poster either alone or in a group and send it back to us so that we can celebrate Child Protection staff in our social media.

Please contact CPSU organizer Magda Akkerman or by phone (03) 9639-1822 or toll free on 1800 810 153 if you have any questions.