The Financial Secretary delivered the 2026-2027 Budget today. Save the Children Hong Kong welcomes the Government’s continued investment in the wellbeing of children and young people, particularly the immediate support provided to children and families affected by the Tai Po fire incident in November 2025. We understand the challenges of balancing resource allocation in a complex economic environment, and acknowledge the Government’s efforts in this first year of implementing the Mandatory Reporting of Child Abuse Ordinance, as well as its work in addressing children’s mental health needs. However, we believe there remains room for further improvement in both policies and resource allocation to better safeguard children’s rights.

Medium-to-Long-Term Support for Trauma Recovery Following the Tai Po Fire: Invest Resources to Support Children’s Trauma Recovery

Regarding the psychological impact of the Tai Po fire incident on children and their families, we are pleased to see the Government swiftly activate emergency support mechanisms. In this year’s Budget, the Government has also set aside $4 billion for subsequent long-term housing arrangements. However, children’s emotional responses and support needs following trauma are often long-term and hidden. We recommend that the Government adopt a sustained trauma recovery support strategy, including conducting longitudinal studies to assess the medium-to-long-term needs of affected children, and ensuring that social welfare organisations and professional mental health bodies can work in close coordination with the Social Welfare Department’s services to provide continuous professional support to affected families.

“Zero Tolerance for Child Abuse”: Comprehensively Strengthening the Child Protection System through Legislation, Education, and Cross-Sectoral Collaboration

With the formal implementation of the Mandatory Reporting of Child Abuse Ordinance, child protection work in Hong Kong has entered a new phase. At Save the Children Hong Kong, we have “Zero Tolerance for Child Abuse” – every case of child abuse is one too many. Legislation is merely the last line of defence. To provide comprehensive protection for children, the Government must invest in resources to reinforce the overall child protection net.

We recommend that the Government, drawing on precedents from jurisdictions such as California in the United States and Victoria in Australia regarding the gradual expansion of mandatory reporting lists, earmark re-sources to study the orderly extension of mandatory reporting obligations to other professionals who regularly work with children (e.g., sports coaches, art instructors, private tutors, etc.), thereby weaving a more comprehensive child safety net. We recommend providing funding to tertiary institutions to integrate systematic child safeguarding training into professional curricula for disciplines such as education, social welfare, and medical and health, thereby strengthening prevention awareness and capacity at the source.

Preventive policies in child-facing organisations are the first line of defence in protecting children. To support the implementation of the new Ordinance, we recommend that the Government establish a dedicated funding scheme to support child-facing organisations, including non-governmental organisations, in developing and implementing comprehensive child safeguarding policies, covering staff codes of conduct, safe recruitment procedures, and clear internal reporting mechanisms. Concurrently, funding should be provided for organisations to deliver regular, targeted child protection training for all staff, including volunteers.

Furthermore, with the Ordinance taking effect, it is anticipated that the number of identified high-risk abused children and families in need will increase, leading to a further rise in demand for children’s centres, residential childcare services, after-school care programmes, and community respite services. We welcome the Government’s provision of resources in the Budget, and look forward to seeing service places expanded in new development areas and districts with faster-growing child populations based on actual needs, ensuring that all children in need from birth to 18 can access timely, appropriate, safe and stable care and support.

To enhance legislation and public education, we recommend a multi-pronged approach: Urge the Government to expedite the establishment of a central databank on children, allocating funding and presenting a clear roadmap and timeline, with dedicated resources prioritised for cross-bureau and departmental data integration, gradually including data on ethnic minority children and children with mental health needs, and setting aside an independent budget to ensure data security and establish a monitoring mechanism, thereby enabling effective identification of high-risk cases and timely intervention; concurrently, in light of the expanded scope of the Sexual Conviction Record Check Scheme, allocate additional resources to step up promotional efforts targeting employers and parents, encouraging active use of the system when recruiting personnel who will have regular contact with children; and allocate funding to the Education Bureau to support schools and the community in organising public education activities on child protection and positive parenting programmes, advocating zero tolerance for violence against children.

Promote School-based Social-emotional Learning and Strengthen Preventive Community Support to Enhance Children’s Mental Health

To address the increasingly pressing mental health needs of children and young people, we recommend that the Government increase resource allocation at the levels of prevention, community support and school education. On one hand, continue to fund the Department of Health and other bureaux and departments, in collaboration with non-governmental organisations and community groups, to implement preventive mental health programmes, consolidating the foundational support network at the community level. On the other hand, allocate dedicated resources to the Education Bureau to systematically promote school-based social-emotional learning programmes in schools across the territory. As a cost-effective preventive measure recommended by the World Health Organisation, social-emotional learning not only supports students’ mental wellbeing but also contributes to holistic development, nurturing future citizens with resilience, empathy and social competence.

Establishing Statutory Status for the Commission on Children

The Commission on Children is currently a non-statutory advisory body, with functions confined to policy advice and cross-bureau and departmental coordination. It lacks independent investigative powers and statutory authority to handle individual cases. To fundamentally enhance its effectiveness, we recommend that the Government confer upon the Commission a clear statutory status, vesting it with independent financial, staffing and investigative powers, and providing an annual recurrent allocation to safeguard the independence of its oversight work.

Based on the statutory status of the Commission, we further recommend establishing the standing post of Commissioner for Children as an independent office-holder, vested with full responsibility for the Commission’s daily operations, strategy execution and external representation. The Commissioner’s office should be provided with sufficient funding to exercise statutory investigative powers, publish independent reports, and coordinate cross-bureau and departmental work. Through a stable cross-year budget commitment, we can ensure that medium-to-long-term strategic planning and projects are not affected by annual fiscal fluctuations, thereby maintaining policy continuity and effective implementation for children’s affairs.

Conclusion

We are pleased to see the Government’s continued efforts in child protection and mental health. However, protecting children requires an integrated approach across multiple fronts, including legislation (e.g., implementation and enhancement of the mandatory reporting ordinance), prevention (e.g., public education, positive parenting, and school-based social-emotional learning), services (e.g., trauma recovery support), and cross-sectoral collaboration (e.g., a central databank on children and a statutory Commission on Children). Only through the close integration of these elements can a comprehensive child safety net be woven. In light of the complexity and long-term nature of safeguarding children’s rights, we urge the Government to respond more comprehensively to the real needs of children in future budgets, ensuring that policies and resources are effectively implemented to truly address the developmental needs of children in different situations, and to create a safer and more caring environment for them to thrive.