Responding to concerns

At The Salvation Army, we take harm and abuse very seriously. If something goes wrong, we act quickly and carefully to protect people and make things right.

What is harm and abuse?

Harm and abuse can happen in different ways. It might be:

• Physical (hurting someone’s body)
• Sexual (touching or behaviour that is not OK)
• Emotional (making someone feel scared, sad or unsafe)
• Neglect (not giving someone the care they need)
• Exploitation (using someone unfairly for personal gain)

Everyone - especially adults - has a legal responsibility to report child safety concerns. This means speaking up when something doesn’t feel right.

How We Respond We follow the law, but we also respond with care, compassion and respect. Our mission, vision and values guide how we support people and build safe communities.

We encourage a culture of reporting. If you see something, say something. You don’t have to decide how serious it is - just let us know, and we’ll take it from there.

What we consider when you report

When you share a concern, it helps us to know:

People

• Who was involved?
• What role do they have?
• What happened?
• Were others there at the time?

Place

• Where did it happen?
• Were there any environmental factors that made things unsafe?
• What can we change to prevent this in future?

Program

• What activity or program was running?
• Is it still happening or finished?
• What safety rules were in place?
• How are we managing risks now?

What happens when you make a complaint?

We will:

• Listen and take your concern seriously
• Let you know it’s OK to speak up
• Make sure you and others are safe
• Find out what happened
• Follow clear steps to fix things
• Get back to you if you leave your contact details

How to speak up or get help

If you’ve been hurt, or know someone who has, please tell us.  You can:

• Talk to someone you trust
• Use the QR code on our safeguarding posters
• Fill out our online safeguarding form
• Use our feedback and complaints form to report harm or unsafe behaviour

Once you’ve shared your concern:

• We’ll respond if you leave your phone number or email
• We’ll follow a fair process to help

Help us improve

We review incidents and look for patterns to improve how we protect people in our programs, places and relationships.  

If you or someone you know has felt unsafe, or if you have ideas about how we can do better, we want to hear from you.  Find our 'raise a concern' link at the bottom of the page to find out more.

Our Safeguarding Specialist team

We have a small national team of experts who support our sites. They provide training, advice and tools to help leaders respond well and learn from every situation.

Not sure whether to report?

If something doesn’t feel right, it’s OK to ask. You don’t have to decide alone.  Share your safeguarding concern with us, and we’ll work together to figure out what to do next.