Participant Support Procedures > Child Safe Policy
Authorised by Chief Executive Officer
Revised Date: 9 December 2019
Policy
Kyeema Support Services is committed to the safety, participation and empowerment of all children and adheres to practices that protect the rights of children to be safe from harm.
Kyeema commits to zero tolerance of child abuse, and all allegations and safety concerns will be treated seriously and be consistent with our policies and procedures.
This policy references the Child Wellbeing and Safety Act 2005 and the Commission for Children and Young People’s Reportable Conduct Scheme.
Procedures
Staff training will include the following information:
•We have legal and moral obligations to contact authorities when we are worried about a child’s safety.
•Our organisation is committed to preventing child abuse and identifying risks early, and removing and reducing these risks.
•Our organisation has robust human resources and recruitment practices for all staff and volunteers.
•Our organisations is committed to educating our staff and volunteers on child abuse risks.
•We support and respect all children, as well as our staff and volunteers. We are committed to the cultural safety of Aboriginal children, the cultural safety of children from culturally and/or linguistically diverse backgrounds, and to providing a safe environment for children with a disability.
•We have specific policies and procedures in place that support our leadership team, staff and volunteers to achieve these commitments.
If you believe a child is at immediate risk of abuse phone 000.
Kyeema’s Child Safe Policy and Procedures are intended to empower children, who are vital and active participants in our organisation. Where possible we involve them when making decisions, especially about matters that directly affect them. We listen to their views and respect what they have to say.
Staff and volunteers
This policy guides our staff and volunteers on how to behave with children in our organisation.
All of our staff and volunteers must agree to abide by our code of conduct which specifies the standards of conduct required when working with children.
Training and supervision
Training and education is important to ensure that everyone in our organisation understands that child safety is everyone’s responsibility.
Our organisational culture aims for all staff and volunteers (in addition to parents/carers and children) to feel confident and comfortable in discussing any allegations of child abuse or child safety concerns. We train our staff and volunteers to identify and minimise risks of child abuse and to detect potential signs of child abuse.
New employees and volunteers will be supervised to ensure they understand our organisation’s commitment to child safety and that everyone has a role to play in protecting children from abuse, as well as checking that their behaviour towards children is safe and appropriate (please refer to the organisation’s Code of Conduct to understand appropriate behaviour further). Any inappropriate behaviour will be reported through appropriate channels, including the Department of Health and Human Services and Victoria Police, depending on the severity and urgency of the matter.
Recruitment
We take all reasonable steps to employ skilled people to work with children. We develop selection criteria which clearly demonstrate our commitment to child safety and an awareness of our social and legislative responsibilities. Our organisation understands that when recruiting staff and volunteers we have ethical as well as legislative obligations.
All people engaged in child-related work, including volunteers, are required to hold a Working with Children Check and to provide evidence of this Check.
We carry out reference checks and police record checks to ensure that we are recruiting the right people.
If during the recruitment process a person’s records indicate a criminal history then the person will be given the opportunity to provide further information and context.
Fair procedures for personnel
The safety and wellbeing of children is our primary concern. We are also fair and just to personnel. The decisions we make when recruiting, assessing incidents, and undertaking disciplinary action will always be thorough, transparent, and based on evidence.
We record all allegations of abuse and safety concerns using our incident reporting processes, including investigation updates. All records are securely stored.
If an allegation of abuse or a safety concern is raised, we provide updates to children and families on progress and any actions we as an organisation take.
Privacy
All personal information considered or recorded will respect the privacy of the individuals involved, whether they be staff, volunteers, parents or children, unless there is a risk to someone’s safety. We have safeguards and practices in place to ensure any personal information is protected. Everyone is entitled to know how this information is recorded, what will be done with it, and who will have access to it.
Legislative responsibilities
Our organisation takes our legal responsibilities seriously, including:
•Failure to disclose: Reporting child sexual abuse is a community-wide responsibility. All adults in Victoria who have a reasonable belief that an adult has committed a sexual offence against a child under 16 have an obligation to report that information to the police.
•Failure to protect: People of authority in our organisation will commit an offence if they know of a substantial risk of child sexual abuse and have the power or responsibility to reduce or remove the risk, but negligently fail to do so.
•Any personnel who are mandatory reporters must comply with their duties.
Risk Management
In Victoria, organisations are required to protect children when a risk is identified (see information about failure to protect above). In addition to general occupational health and safety risks, we proactively manage risks of abuse to our children.
We have risk management strategies in place to identify, assess, and take steps to minimise child abuse risks, which include risks posed by physical environments (for example, any doors that can lock), and online environments (for example, no staff or volunteer is to have contact with a child participant on social media).
Regular review
This policy will be reviewed every three years and following significant incidents if they occur. We will ensure that families and children have the opportunity to contribute. Where possible we do our best to work with local Aboriginal communities and culturally and/or linguistically diverse communities.
Allegations, concerns and complaints
Our organisation takes all allegations seriously and has practices in place to investigate thoroughly and quickly. Our staff are trained to deal appropriately with allegations.
We work to ensure all children, families, staff and volunteers know what to do and who to tell if they observe abuse or are a victim, and if they notice inappropriate behaviour.
We all have a responsibility to report an allegation of abuse if we have a reasonable belief that an incident took place (see information about failure to disclose above).
If an adult has a reasonable belief that an incident has occurred, then they must report the incident. Factors contributing to reasonable belief may be:
•a child states they or someone they know has been abused (noting that sometimes the child may in fact be referring to themselves)
•behaviour consistent with that of an abuse victim is observed
•someone else has raised a suspicion of abuse but is unwilling to report it
•observing suspicious behaviour.
Reference Document:
Responding to Allegations of Abuse Neglect & Exploitation Policy
Child Safe Incident Report CCF-20
Child Wellbeing and Safety Act 2005
Commission for Children and Young People’s Reportable Conduct Scheme
A Guide for Creating a Child Safe Organisation