We might think our kids are amazing and 'so grown up' and they beg us to take them on a ghost hunt because they have watched all of the shows on TV and seen all of the movies, but there is an area of duty of care that every tour provider needs to understand before they let allow children to attend. If you run tours, investigations, or anything that brings the public into a dark building with a bit of history hanging off the walls, you are not just telling stories. You are legally responsible for what happens to the people in front of you. That’s where duty of care comes in, and it’s one of those phrases people throw around without really understanding what it means until something goes wrong. In Australia, duty of care is not optional and it’s not flexible depending on the mood of the night. It’s a legal obligation to provide a reasonably safe environment for the people who have paid to be there. That doesn’t just mean making sure no one falls down a staircase. It extends to physical safety, emotional wellbeing, and anything that could be considered a foreseeable risk. That phrase, foreseeable risk, is the one that matters because it covers more than most people realise. Think about what we actually do on a ghost tour or investigation. We walk people through dark spaces where visibility is limited. We deal with uneven flooring, old buildings, narrow hallways, and sometimes confined areas where groups move together. Then layer on top of that the psychological side of things. People get frightened, they panic, they react in ways they didn’t expect. None of that is unusual, which is exactly why the law sees it as foreseeable. You are expected to anticipate it, not react to it after the fact. Where this starts to get more serious is when children are involved. The law doesn’t view them as just smaller versions of adults. Children are considered a vulnerable group because they don’t assess risk properly. They act on impulse, they get caught up in the moment, and they often don’t understand the difference between controlled fear and real danger. That means the level of responsibility sitting on you as the operator increases the moment a minor is part of your group.

Our latest True Hauntings episode has just dropped. Apologies for the delay. I honestly thought it was due next week! lol - Anne https://open.spotify.com/episode/4o8wVhxIE1QiOR5Ia2O4ta?si=aCsUo5zWTVmcXyHM3rVR_Q https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/case-201-the-girl-who-was-bitten-by-nothing/id1537052147?i=1000762092124

We have been lucky enough to visit quite a few very interesting and allegedly haunted places in the UK and a few in America, Romania, Germany and Prague and of course Australia. But there are so many more we would still love to go to! Some of the 'allegedly' most haunted places were actually very quiet when we visited. But, that is the reality of ghost hunting. we all know that it does not happen 24/7 and you just have to be at the right place and the right time and we definitely do not provoke. Except when I get cranky that nothing is happening and I kind of what things to move along! But if you would love to jump into this conversation let us know where you would like to go and if you have been somewhere interesting include a photo!

If you’ve ever sat at a table with a Ouija board, even just once, you’ll know it carries a strange sort of reputation that sits somewhere between curiosity and caution. People lean in, half fascinated and half unsure whether they’ve just opened a door they don’t fully understand. That tension is exactly why it has lasted as long as it has. A Ouija board, in simple terms, is a talking board. It is marked with letters, numbers, and basic words like yes, no, and goodbye. Participants place their fingers lightly on a small pointer, often called a planchette, and ask questions with the intention of receiving answers from spirits. Whether you believe that movement comes from subconscious muscle response or something external is where opinions start to split, but the experience itself has been remarkably consistent across generations. The modern version of the Ouija board became popular in the late 19th century, during the height of the Spiritualist movement. This was a time when people were actively trying to communicate with the dead, often in parlours filled with candlelight and expectation. It was not fringe behaviour back then. It was fashionable. Entire communities were built around séances and spirit communication, especially in America and parts of Europe. The Ouija board offered a more accessible version of that experience. You did not need a medium. You just needed a board and a willingness to try. By the early 20th century, it had become commercialised, sold as both a game and a tool. That dual identity is where things started to get complicated. On one hand, it was marketed like a family pastime. On the other, it was being used in very serious spiritual contexts. Over time, especially through the mid to late 1900s, its popularity began to decline. Horror films played a large part in that. The board shifted from something curious and social into something associated with danger and possession. People stopped seeing it as a novelty and started seeing it as a risk.