Aim
This policy is intended to empower children who are vital and active participants in our organisation. 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.
If you believe a child is at immediate risk of abuse phone 000.
Our commitment to child safety
FAN is committed to providing a child safe organisation by adhering, advocating and reinforcing the following standards:
- We want children to be safe, happy and empowered. We support and respect all children, as well as our staff and volunteers.
- We are committed to the safety, participation and empowerment of all children.
- We have zero tolerance of child abuse, and all allegations and safety concerns will be dealt with seriously and consistently.
- We have legal and moral obligations to contact authorities when we are worried about a child’s safety, which we follow rigorously.
- FAN is committed to preventing child abuse. FAN seeks to identify potential risks of child abuse early and reduce and remove them
- FAN has robust recruitment practices for all staff, students and volunteers.
- FAN is committed to regularly training and educating our staff, students and volunteers on child abuse risks.
- We are committed to the cultural safety of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children, the cultural safety of children from a culturally and/or linguistically diverse backgrounds, and to providing a safe and supportive environment for children with a disability.
- We have specific policies, procedures and training in place that support our leadership team, staff, students, and volunteers to achieve these commitments.
Our children
We promote diversity and tolerance in our organisation, and people from all walks of life and cultural backgrounds are welcome. FAN is dedicated to providing a safe and inclusive environment by:
- promoting the cultural safety, participation and empowerment of Aboriginal children
- promoting the cultural safety, participation and empowerment of children from culturally and/or linguistically diverse backgrounds
- ensure that children with a disability are safe and can participate equally.
Our staff, students and volunteers
This policy guides our staff, students, and volunteers on how to behave with children in our organisation.
All of our staff, students and volunteers must agree to abide by our code of conduct which specifies the standards of conduct required when working with children. All board members, staff and volunteers given the opportunity to contribute to the development of the code of conduct. Families and children are given opportunities to provide feedback on the services they receive through online feedback forms and anonymous forms in the FAN office.
Training and supervision
Training and education is important to ensure that everyone in our organisation understands that child safety is everyone’s responsibility.
All staff, students and volunteers (in addition to parents/carers and children) are provided a safe space to feel confident and comfortable in discussing any allegations of child abuse or child safety concerns. We train our staff, students and volunteers to identify, assess, and minimise risks of child abuse and to detect potential signs of child abuse.
Staff, students and volunteers receive ongoing supervision to:
- develop their skills to protect children from abuse
- promote the cultural safety of Aboriginal children
- the cultural safety of children from linguistically and/or diverse backgrounds
- the safety of children with a disability.
New employees, students and volunteers are supervised regularly to ensure they understand FAN’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 this organisation’s code of conduct for further information). Any inappropriate behaviour will be reported through appropriate channels, including the Department of Fairness, Families and Housing and Victoria Police, depending on the severity and urgency of the matter.
Recruitment
FAN undertakes all reasonable steps to employ qualified and skilled people to work with children. Our position descriptions, selection criteria and advertisements clearly demonstrate our commitment to child safety. FAN when recruiting board members, staff, students and volunteers ensures that all ethical and legislative obligations are met.
All staff at FAN, including board members, volunteers and students, are required to hold a WWCC and to provide evidence of obtainment.
FAN carries out reference checks and police record checks to ensure that we are recruiting appropriately trained people. Police record checks are used only for the purposes of recruitment and are discarded after the recruitment process is complete. We retain our own records (but not the actual criminal record) if an applicant’s criminal history affected our decision-making process. This is held onto for 12 months and will then be shredded. It is not held in the staff’s files. 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. International police checks will be undertaken if a staff member has lived overseas for more than 12 months in the past 10 years.
Fair procedures for personnel
The safety and wellbeing of children is our primary concern. The decisions we make when recruiting, assessing incidents, and undertaking disciplinary action regarding staff, volunteers and students will always be thorough, transparent, and based on evidence.
We record all allegations of abuse and safety concerns using our incident reporting form, including investigation updates. All allegations of abuse will be reported to the CEO. 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, board members, students, volunteers, parents or children, unless there is a risk to someone’s safety. All incidents will be reported to Manager Client Services and CEO, who will assess if others need to be informed. We have safeguards and practices in place to ensure any personal information is protected by being stored securely. Clients are entitled to know how this information is recorded, what will be done with it, and who will have access to it.
Legislative responsibilities
FAN 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.
- Reportable Conduct Scheme: Any allegations of child abuse (and other child-related misconduct) made against any FAN staff member or volunteer will be reported to the Commissioner for Children and Young People.
- Grooming Offences: This offence targets predatory conduct designed to facilitate sexual activity with a child.
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, student or volunteer is to have contact with a client/child on social media).
Regular review
This policy will be reviewed every three years and following legislative changes or significant incidents if they occur. Where possible we do our best to work with local Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities, culturally and/or linguistically diverse communities and people with a disability.
Allegations, concerns and complaints
FAN takes all allegations seriously and has practices in place to investigate thoroughly and quickly. Our staff, students and volunteers are trained to deal appropriately with allegations.
FAN works to ensure all children, families, staff, students 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 Reportable Conduct Scheme and 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 from a perpetrator.
Helpful Links
Policy Authorisation
Date of Original: August 2021
Next Review: August 2027
Authorised by: CEO