15+ years of development, partnership and operating proof.
SAFE is not a recent software idea. It’s the continuation of a long-term infrastructure build, shaped by government investment, research capability, frontline sector input and child-risk assessment evidence.
Early government investment
The Commonwealth and Victorian governments invest in PROTECT - the early name for SAFE.
Development partner ecosystem
Development with the Commonwealth Departments of Education and Social Services, the Victorian Department of Education, CSIRO, NICTA, Community Child Care Co-operative NSW, Raising Children Network, Family Day Care Australia, the Australian Childcare Alliance, the University of Queensland and others.
Pilots and further development
Engagement with Infoxchange, the Queensland Department of Education, Commonwealth Bank and Telstra; pilots with the Queensland, New South Wales and South Australian governments.
Public visibility and mentorship
Media coverage including the Herald Sun. Fiona Richardson MP and Lucy Turnbull become mentors. Frank DiGiammarino - former White House senior advisor and AWS public-sector leader - joins as a shareholder.
National recognition and DTA exemplar
Ruby O'Rourke is awarded Women in Innovation at Parliament House. PROTECT is announced as an initial exemplar of the Digital Transformation Agency. PROTECT joins Healthy Australia in a policy and advocacy partnership.
Governance and technical credibility
Ron Dewhurst becomes Chair, bringing senior global investment and governance credibility. Dr Terry Percival AM joins the guardian team, bringing internationally recognised technology & research credibility.
PROTECT becomes SAFE
The name change reflects the evolution from an early child-protection concept into a broader child-safety infrastructure system. Child Abuse Prevention Service (CAPS) partners with SAFE.
Westpac partnership and operating proof
Westpac becomes involved through a three-year funding relationship.
Dedicated child-safety AI infrastructure
SAFE is separated and scaled as dedicated child-safety AI and infrastructure: structured assessments, expert review workflow, national dashboard direction, API gateway and microservices direction, and independent deployment pathway.
Government child protection legislation for childcare services
SAFE modifies to provide 24 hour recording for childcare services in accordance with new legislations.
By 2026, SAFE has assessed and de-risked 68,943 children.
SAFE’s technical capability didn’t emerge from the current AI cycle. It has been shaped through secure infrastructure, structured child-risk logic, machine learning, expert review, dashboarding and real-world assessment volume across more than fifteen years.
How the technology evolved.
Secure child & family data infrastructure
Foundations for sensitive child and family records: multi-organisation access, role separation, auditability and large-scale data handling.
Sovereign cloud scale
Australian-hosted cloud capability - local data residency, lower latency, resilient operations and scalable infrastructure.
Child-at-risk model formalised
Built with NICTA: big-data analytics, labelled training data, classifier training, true/false-positive analysis and threshold-based risk flagging.
Structured decision model at scale
Observation-first reporting, yes/no indicators, free-text context, concern ratings, attachments and timely escalation translated into repeatable digital assessment.
AI-assisted triage & expert review
Structured assessment, machine-learning probability, priority rating, triage queues, expert-reviewer verdicts, case notes, heat maps and visual plots.
National case-review & operating scale
SAFE operated nationally as a secure cloud-based service, with structured assessment, AI-assisted triage and a growing child-safety dataset.
Dedicated child-safety AI infrastructure
Standalone registration, API gateway and microservices direction, national dashboard direction, expert review workflow and independent deployment pathway.
15+ years of learning loop
Rare, real-world child-safety data shaping ML / NLP capability, expert review and product design - a moat that’s hard to replicate.
The proof case in seven points.
Mission, history, operating volume, distribution, timing, defensibility and expansion logic — in one place.
Long development history
Built over more than a decade — not assembled quickly in response to the current AI cycle.
Government, research, technology & sector involvement
SAFE’s evolution includes credible contributors across policy, research, technology and service delivery.
Real operating volume
More than 68,000 children have been assessed and de-risked through SAFE.
Existing SAFE user base
Beachhead rollout can begin from existing SAFE familiarity, bundled packaging and partner-channel activation.
Category timing
Australia’s early childhood sector is entering a reform window focused on safety, transparency, accountability and stronger oversight.
Data & workflow defensibility
Structured assessment logic, expert review pathways, operating history and data layer created over a decade.
Global expansion logic
The first beachhead is Australian early childhood. The broader opportunity is early warning infrastructure for child-facing and vulnerable-population services globally.
Get in touch
Questions about partnerships or implementation? We're here to help.
For enquiries
hello@safe.inc