A child safe organisation is one that creates a culture, adopts strategies and takes action to promote child wellbeing and prevent harm to children and young people.
A child safe organisation consciously and systematically:
- Creates an environment where children’s safety and wellbeing is at the centre of thought, values and actions.
- Places emphasis on genuine engagement with and valuing of children and young people.
- Creates conditions that reduce the likelihood of harm to children and young people.
- Creates conditions that increase the likelihood of identifying any harm.
- Responds to any concerns, disclosures, allegations or suspicions of harm.
There are a number of practical tools and resources that can help organisations implement the relevant child safe standards and national principles for child safety.
See below for more information relevant to your State:
Victoria:
From 1 July 2022, there are now 11 Victorian Child Safe Standards. These Standards are a set of mandatory requirements to protect children and young people from harm and abuse.
The Standards enable organisations to tailor their approach based on their type of organisation, level of responsibly for children, and type of activities involving children.
The best source of training, resources, and guidance on the Victorian Child Safe Standards is the Commission for Children and Young People (CCYP) website.
If you’re just getting started, download the Short guide to the Child Safe Standards. This guide provides an overview of the key concepts and requirements to assist organisations to comply with the new Standards, including information on what the Commission will look for when assessing compliance.
If your organisation is familiar with the current Standards or you are looking for more detailed information, you can access A guide for creating a Child Safe Organisation.
This guide has detailed information and advice on how to comply with each Standard.
The Commission also has a range of tools and templates to help organisations develop key policies, practices, and procedures. These are available in the resources section of the CCYP website.
Tasmania:
In February 2019 the Tasmanian Government endorsed the 10 National Principles for Child Safe Organisations.
The National Principles aim to provide a nationally consistent approach to creating organisational cultures that foster child safety and wellbeing.
In order to allow flexibility in implementation, and in recognition of the variety of organisational types, sizes and capacities, the National Principles outline at a high level the 10 elements that are fundamental to making an organisation safe for children, and include guidance to help leaders, staff and volunteers in organisations understand the important aspects of creating a child safe culture.
Access free National Principles training and resources at the Learning Hub
- Training Resources
- Organisational Self-assessment
- E-learning Modules
The Tasmanian Government is currently developing a new legally mandated Child and Youth Safe Organisations Framework that aims to improve the safety and wellbeing of children and young people in institutional settings.
The new framework will include child safe standards that organisations will have to meet, and a reportable conduct scheme which will specify and oversee reporting requirements.
Subscribe to updates from the Dept of Justice here.
Links/documents:
Victorian Commission for Children and Young People
Victorian Child Safe Standards training and resources
National Principles for Child Safe Organisations
National Principles Learning Hub
Tasmanian Child and Youth Safe Organisations Framework
Subscribe to Tasmanian Department of Justice for Framework updates