Cairns Safe Communities Program

Community Safety Is

The right of all individuals living, working or visiting Cairns to go about their daily pursuits without fear or risk of harm or injury; and it is the shared responsibility of Government agencies and all other people in the community to ensure this is possible.

What Is A Safe Community?

In August 2008, the Cairns Safe Communities Program became an accredited international safe community, under the World Health Organisations (WHO) Collaborating Centre on Community Safety Promotion.  Click here to see the Cairns Safe Communities application for accreditation document.  Based at the Karolinska Institutet, Sweden http://www.phs.ki.se/csp/, this is a supported approach to injury prevention and safety promotion that aims to reduce the overall number of injuries over time. The Cairns Safe Communities Program, an initiative of Cairns Regional Council, commenced in 2005.  It is pursuing a more co-ordinated approach to local safety and wellbeing issues in Cairns, and aims to demonstrate a best practice model for safety promotion.

A Safety and Wellbeing Partnership for Cairns

The Cairns Safe Communities Program is based on partnership and collaborations between groups that are responsible for safety promotion in their community.

The Safe Communities program encourages and promotes community collaboration on public safety promtion, crime and violence and injury prevention issues, health and wellbeing, using the following strategies:

1.  Co-ordination Team
2.  A Broad, Diverse Network
3.  Project Working Groups - Safety Issue Teams (S.I.T.'s).  Those already established are:

Seniors S.I.T - Tammy Allen, Senior Health Promotion Officer, Tropical Population Health Unit (tammy_allen@health.qld.gov.au)

Crime Prevention S.I.T - Boris Pointing, Crime Prevention Officer, Queensland Police Service, Far Northern Region & Amanda Lee-Ross, Co-ordinator, Cairns Regional Domestic Violence Service
(pointing.boriss@police.qld.gov.au & manager@dvcairns.org).

Road Safety S.I.T - Brian Hughes, Road Safety Advisor, Queensland Transport (qt.northern.rsa@transport.qld.gov.au)

Child & Home S.I.T - Andrea Jackson, Project Director, Delfin Lendlease & Tracey Dickinson, Mission Australia (andrea.jackson@lendlease.com.au & markotsisj@missionaustralia.com.au)

Want To Know More? Like to Get Involved?

For more information about the Cairns Safe Communities program, contact:

Pam Maher, Co-ordinator
Cairns Safe Communities Program
Cairns Regional Council
Email: p.maher@cairns.qld.gov.au
Ph: (07) 4044 3503
Fx: (07) 4044 3830

Further Links You May Find Helpful

Safe Communities Quarterly Newsletter

Queensland Safe Communities Support Centre www.safecommunities.qld.org

Australian Safe Communities Foundation
www.safecommunities.org.au

Queensland Government - Dept of Emergency Servides - for safety tips on various issues, eg. cyclones, bush fires, Child & Home safety, etc
www.safer.qld.gov.au

Child Accident Prevention Foundation of Australia
www.kidsafeqld.com.au

Safe Communities Foundation New Zealand
www.safecommunities.org.nz

Safe Communities Network, Sweden - for a global perspective and more about the World Health Organisation's Safe Communities Model
http://www.phs.ki.se/csp/

For more on road safety - Queensland Transport Road Safety www.transport.qld.gov.au/Home/Safety/Road/

To view "What's Happening to Make Cairns A Safe Place To Live, work and Visit"