'Reality check': Daniel Morcombe's father responds to sickening abduction video

Sickening footage of a young girl being lured away by a sexual predator at a Queensland shopping centre is a "reality check for the whole of Australia", the father of Daniel Morcombe has said.

Sterling Free, 27, pleaded guilty yesterday to taking a seven-year-old girl from the toy aisle of a Kmart in Brisbane's North Lakes, driving her into bushland and sexually assaulting her.

Bruce Morcombe told Today the country needs to "sit up and take notice" of the risks of sexual predators targeting children.

Daniel Morcombe was abducted and murdered as a 13-year-old on the Sunshine Coast in 2003.

Since then, Mr Morcombe and his wife Denise have been tirelessly warning Australians of the risk of child abduction and assault.

"I think it's very well recognised that children naturally are very trusting. And that's just human nature," he told Today.

"Obviously in Daniel's loss, he was a pretty smart kid but he made a mistake. He got into a car with somebody he didn't know. So he was tricked."

Mr Morcombe said parents and carers should consider creating a "family password".

"It could be their favourite food, the sporting team they support, or their Nanna's maiden name.

"So should they be standing at a bus stop or outside school and a vehicle and a person comes up and says 'I'm looking for my pup, can you help me?' or 'You look like someone who would enjoy a piece of cake, I've got some cake in the car'.

"If that person doesn't know that password, don't go with that person."

Mr Morcombe said children should respond to what their body is telling them.

"Our body naturally alerts us of potential danger," he said.

"Your heart might be fluttering, butterflies in your tummy, sweating, nervous, maybe you feel like you want to go to the toilet or you're sad.

"It's your body telling you a message so we want everyone to listen to the body clues, don't disregard them, listen to them and react."

Mr Morcombe and the organisation his family started, the Daniel Morcombe Foundation, now travel to schools around the country teaching children about the threat of predators.