06 Sep 2017 Border Mail, Albury-Wodonga (General News) by Shana Morgan POLICE, council and support agencies will come together to take a stance against child sex crimes on Friday during Alburys fourth-annual White Balloon Day event. The chalk-it-up event will be hosted by Bravehearts, an organisation working to prevent child sexual assault, and feature students and budding artists of all ages creating a chalk mural or drawing including a white balloon as a symbol of hope. Mayor Kevin Mack encouraged the community to get on board. Albury City Council has been involved with White Balloon day for the past four years and we recognise the importance of creating awareness in our community that it is never OK to sexually abuse children and that children have the right to feel safe at all times in our community, he said. Bravehearts does fantastic work to help create childsafe communities and we are proud to once again support this great initiative. Albury Police, Aboriginal Health Service, Mission Australia, Family and Community Services and businesses will be at the event. Money raised throughout the White Balloon Day campaign will go towards a cyber safety initiative for schools, and Bravehearts training and support programs. White Balloon Day is held annually during Child Protection Week, held this year from September 3 to 9. The Albury event will be held at QEII Square on Friday from 10am to 3pm. Meanwhile, an extra 450 child protection workers have been promised by the Victoria government to be employed across the state, including the North East. Families and Children Minister Jenny Mikakos announced on Tuesday the $72.2 million investment in what she said was the the biggest-ever boost to Victorias child protection workforce. It has not been revealed how many of the new recruits will be employed in the North East, with Ms Mikakos saying they would be placed around the state based on workload demand. Children are too often the silent victims of family violence. Were investing more than ever to help our child protection workforce gain the skills they need to intervene sooner, she said. The announcement was welcomed by the minister Labor colleague, Northern Victoria MLC Jaclyn Symes. This is helping child protection workers keep kids safer, she said. Caption Text: Mayor Kevin Mack Licensed by Copyright Agency. You may only copy or communicate this work with a licence.