About Us

Hetty Johnston founded White Balloon Day in Brisbane during Child Protection Week, September 1997. White Balloon Day was created in response to the revelation that a family member was a paedophile. A brave disclosure by a 7 year old led to the realisation that this much loved family elder had preyed on innocent children and their trusting parents for 40 years. Compounding this tragedy was the fact that this 40 year reign of terror had never been disclosed, let alone reported.

With the support of her family, Hetty decided that the time had come to change the culture of silence that has, for too long, aided and abetted the assault and torture of our most vulnerable members of society, our children. The search was on for a symbol to demonstrate this issue.

After much discussion, there seemed no better symbol to highlight the issue of child sexual assault than the humble 'White Balloon'. The White Balloon was considered symbolic of the issue of child sexual assault following reflection on a public demonstration, which was held in Belgium on 20th October, 1996. On this day 300,000 people gathered with white balloons and white flowers in a show of public sympathy and support for the parents of the young girls who were either murdered or missing at the hands of a previously convicted and released paedophile Marc Dutroux.

White Balloon Day is now an annual national event run by Bravehearts. It is widely supported by commercial, government and community sectors alike. In addition, White Balloon Day enjoys overwhelming support and encouragement from the media, schools, churches, health practitioners, emergency services, the legal fraternity and community organisations.

Bravehearts Today

Bravehearts Inc. operates under an Article of Association, is operated by a Board of Management and is assisted by a professional Advisory Committee. We are registered under the Collections Act 1966; ABN and GST registered (41 496 913 890), are a registered Charity and are registered with the ATO as a DGR (Deductible Gift Recipient). We have four offices in three states and employ more than 30 staff.

Bravehearts' members comprise survivors, parents, friends, partners, professionals and non-abusive members of the community who share in the belief that child sexual assault must stop.

Bravehearts aims to 'Break the Silence', provide healing and support, engender child sexual assault prevention and protection strategies; advocate for understanding and promote increased education and research.

The work of Bravehearts in the community includes:

The Ditto® Suite of Programs: Ditto's Keep Safe Adventure - CD ROM and Ditto's in-school protective behaviours education program sees Ditto successfully and effectively protecting tens of thousands of Australian children every year. A letter from an independent evaluator states that this program has the potential to reduce the incidence of child sexual assault by up to 50 per cent. That equates to approximately 28,000 kids a year. The Ditto program was developed by Bravehearts Inc with the assistance of the Commonwealth Government and the Telstra Foundation. The school-based program has currently been seen by well over 100,000 children nationally. It operates with a mix of state, federal and private funding. Commonwealth funding and collaboration with other local agencies, including the Royal Flying Doctors, ensures Ditto's in-school program is also delivered to Indigenous communities north of Townsville and Mount Isa right through to Cairns and into Far North Queensland.
Research: Bravehearts is actively involved in research and policy development that prevents, responds to, and ultimately reduces the incidence of child sexual assault.
Lobbying and Campaigning: Bravehearts advocates for survivors directly and more broadly through participation in State and Commonwealth government committees, inquiries and working parties, media, community debate and legislative review and reform.
Bravehearts Online: Our online partnerships with Google, YouTube and MySpace together with our presence on other social networking sites provides for the sharing of information, advice and support directly to young people and those who care for them.
Supporting Hands: This program provides valuable and effective training and awareness workshops on risk management for staff and volunteers in organisations that have contact with children, including teachers.
Community Awareness Campaigns: Now partially funded by the Commonwealth Government, National White Balloon Day® is our signature awareness campaign. Held annually since 1997, the campaign has been labelled a ‘phenomenon' by senior Police when in 1999, White Balloon Day resulted in a staggering 514% increase in disclosures to Qld Police HQ.
Risk Audit: Bravehearts provides a specialist Physical and Policy Risk Management Audit service for community groups, sporting clubs, retail and commercial sites that engage with children.
Counselling and Support Programs: We provide counselling and support to children, adolescents and adult survivors of child sexual assault as well as their family members.Our expertise in this area is unsurpassed and is recognised by the Commonwealth Government and State Police Services.Other growing elements in this area of our work include working with young offenders and Youth Justice Conferencing.
Sexual Assault Disclosure Scheme: SADS is a Bravehearts initiative developed in 2001 with the assistance of a Queensland Government interagency working party inclusive of all sectors of the justice and child protection areas. It successfully encourages survivors to overcome the barriers to disclosure and as such, exists to protect thousands of children from those who, through SADS, become known predators.
Telephone Crisis and Advocacy: Bravehearts currently provides a Freecall 1800 BRAVE1 (1800 272 831) crisis, support and advocacy line. We receive more than 80 phone calls each week from people who need fast, accurate advice, assistance or referral in times of crisis. Our work in this area has protected thousands of children from known offenders and has ensured thousands more receive the care, support and attention they deserve
Fair Play: This program provides training and awareness workshops on risk management for staff and volunteers in organisations that have contact with children. The workshops are also available to other interested parties such as parent groups.
White Balloon Awareness Campaign: Held annually since 1997, the campaign was labelled a 'phenomenon' by Senior Police when the 1999 campaign resulted in a staggering 514% increase in disclosures.
Loud & Clear: Produced in conjunction with Qld Police & the Qld Law Society, this free educative booklet provides adult survivors with vital information about the process of the criminal justice system.
Crisis Information Pack: This publication was produced to provide information to parents and family members where there are concerns about child sexual assault. It also includes information for adult survivors and an extensive list of contacts.