Full transcript of “An Overview of Victoria's Child Safe Standards”. Click a timestamp to open the video at that moment. Need another video? Use the YouTube transcript generator.
0:07 Welcome to this video on Victoria's Child Safe Standards. I'm Liana Buchanan, the Principal Commissioner for Children and Young People. I would like to start by acknowledging the Traditional Owners of the many lands on which we live and work and to pay my respects to the Elders past and present. I'd also like to extend my respect to any Aboriginal people who are watching this video and acknowledge that wherever we are in this country, we are on land that always was always will be Aboriginal land. In this video, we'll take you through some information on child safety and organisations, the 11 Child Safe Standards and what organisations need to do to comply with the Standards. You will also hear from members of the Commission's Youth Council about what safety in organisations looks and feels like to them.
0:53 They'll pose some questions about the Standards for you to reflect on within your organisation. In this video, we provide you with a summary of information from written guides available on our website. We recommend you also read these guides to get more in depth information, advice and tips to help you keep children safe and comply with the Child Safe Standards. You can also contact the Commission if you have any questions. Child abuse can be a difficult subject to discuss. It may bring up strong feelings and questions, and for those of us with personal experience of abuse, it can raise traumatic memories. Please take care of yourself as you watch this video. Take breaks and do whatever you need to do to keep yourself safe. If you need support, speak with someone at your organisation or contact one of the many services
1:40 available to assist you such as Lifeline, Beyond Blue or the Blue Knot Foundation. I'm going to touch briefly on why your work on the Standards is important. In recent years, a number of inquiries have uncovered just how many children have been harmed or abused in organisational settings when organisations don't have the culture, systems, processes and understanding to prevent child abuse. The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse alone heard from over 8,000 survivors of institutional abuse. At the Commission, we oversee investigations into allegations of abuse in organisations. We know that abuse in organisations is still a problem, that it remains more common than any of us want to believe.
2:28 The overwhelming majority of people who work with children have their best interests at heart, and we've seen many organisations putting great work to make sure the children they work with are valued and respected, protected from harm and empowered to speak up about safety concerns, but it can be too easy for people to think that child abuse in organisations is something that only happened in the past or that it could never happen in their organisation, meaning they don't put in the effort needed to think about what kinds of risks might exist and how they can be managed. It can be too easy to act on outdated myths about child abuse. To think that what children say is less reliable than what adults say or that only certain types of adults can pose risks to children, and it can be too easy to get your child safety policies and systems in place but not realise that
3:17 child safety has to be constantly reviewed, refreshed, and embedded in your organisation. Based on what we see in our work at the Commission, I can tell you your work to implement the Child Safe Standards is as important as ever. Implementing the Child Safe Standards will mean your organisation has a culture that values and prioritises children's safety, and has the systems and processes to keep children safe. It will mean everyone in the organisation will be clear about appropriate ways to behave when working with children and enough understanding to pick up signs of grooming or abuse when they see it, and it will mean children in your organisation will know what they can expect from the adults around them and know that if they speak up about a safety issue, they'll be listened to. At the Commission, we've developed a range of resources
4:04 to help you as you implement the Child Safe Standards. These resources are available on our website. I want to thank you for the effort you are putting in and will put in to reflect on the child safety policies, processes, and culture in your organisation to identify what needs to improve and take action. The amended Child Safe Standards give us some additional obligations, but they also give us an opportunity to test that we are doing everything we can to prevent child abuse and to refresh and reinvigorate our child safety efforts. Thank you for your work with us to keep children safe from harm. Victoria was one of the first jurisdictions to introduce mandatory Child Safe Standards in 2016 after the Victorian Parliament's Betrayal of Trust inquiry revealed devastating
4:52 accounts of children experiencing abuse and harm in organisational settings. In 2017, the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse recommended every state and territory should move to introduce similar schemes. Since then, we have seen how the introduction of legislated mandatory child safe standards have improved safety for children in Victoria. The 11 updated Standards that came into effect on 1 July 2022 are a set of mandatory requirements that organisations must meet. Changes mean they more closely align with the National Principles for Child Safe Organisations to provide greater national consistency. With Victoria's Child Safe Standards in operation now for a number of years, many organisations have already worked to develop and embed their child safe
5:41 practices. In some areas, organisations will need to change or develop their current child safe policy, practices and organisational culture to meet the 11 Standards. If your organisation has been asked to implement the National Principles and the law also requires you to also implement Victorian Standards, it's important that you know there are some differences. In Victoria, we have an additional standard on promoting the cultural safety of Aboriginal children. The second difference is in Child Safe Standard 3, where there is an explicit emphasis on empowering children. When listening to this video or reading our resources, there are some terms that are important to understand. When we talk about abuse, we include sexual abuse, grooming,
6:26 physical abuse, causing emotional or psychological harm and neglect. Each type of abuse is serious and can have lifelong impacts. When we say a child or young person, we mean someone who is under the age of 18. For the purposes of the Child Safe Standards, we use the term Aboriginal to be inclusive of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. Most organisations that provide services or facilities to children are required to comply with the Child Safe Standards. The types of organisations covered ranged from small volunteer run clubs and groups through to national organisations and government departments. If you are not sure whether your organisation is required to comply with the Standards, visit our website for more information or contact the Commission. For those
7:14 required to comply, the Standards are mandatory within Victoria. Organisations must comply with all aspects of the Standards and there can be legal consequences for non-compliance. The Commission for Children and Young People is one of the regulators responsible for the Child Safe Standards in Victoria. We have a responsibility to help organisations understand the Standards and what they need to do to ensure they are fully implemented. The Commission also has a range of enforcement and compliance powers it can use where organisations are not complying with the Standards. Our regulatory role and functions are set out in the Child Wellbeing and Safety Act 2005. You can read information about our approach to supporting organisations and enforcing the Standards on the Commission's website.
8:00 There are also several other regulators for the Standards in Victoria that we call co-regulators. For example, the Victorian Registration and Qualifications Authority regulates the Child Safe Standards in schools. If your organisation has a co-regulator, we encourage you to check with them for more information about what they look for when assessing compliance with the Standards. If you are unsure whether your organisation has a co-regulator for the Standards, check the Commission's website or contact us. Let me explain how the Standards are structured. Each Standard is expressed as an outcome that organisations must achieve. Each Standard also includes a set of minimum requirements that organisations must meet. They provide clear guidance for organisations on what they must do to meet the
8:48 outcome. It's important to remember that all of the Standards and the minimum requirements are legal obligations. This means that your organisation must implement them all. You can't pick and choose. The Commission has produced guidance on what we look for when we assess if an organisation is complying with the Standards. You can find this as well as practical tips, templates, and strategies to help your organisation comply with the Standards in the Guide to creating a Child Safe Organisation. Hello, my name is Meena Singh and I'm a Yorta Yorta woman and I am the Commissioner for Aboriginal Children and Young People. This is a brief overview of Standard 1. I encourage you to also look at the Commission's online resources for more information and in depth guidance. If you have a co-regulator,
9:36 please also refer to their guidance on how to comply with this Standard. Under Standard 1, organisations need to establish a culturally safe environment in which the diverse and unique identities and experiences of Aboriginal children and young people are valued and respected. Just like with every child, your organisation needs to ensure that Aboriginal children feel safe and are safe when participating in your organisation. Historically, Aboriginal people and community have been excluded from participating fully in all aspects of community. While legal barriers have been removed, there can still be attitudes, biases, and practices that make Aboriginal people feel unsafe. In some environments, achieving cultural safety involves thinking about how an organisation is viewed
10:22 and experienced by Aboriginal children, their families, and other members of the community. A culturally safe environment is one that supports Aboriginal children to feel proud of their identity and culture so they feel safe to speak up if something happens to them. Your organisation needs to take specific steps to create a culturally safe environment for Aboriginal children. Organisations must provide supportive environments for Aboriginal children that recognise each person is unique with their own characteristics, strengths and challenges. It is your responsibility to make sure your organisation is inclusive and this requires education, reflection, and positive action. Child Safe Standard 1 is required for all organisations. You may have Aboriginal children and families in your organisation already,
11:11 but perhaps they have not shared this with you. Your work in creating a culturally safe environment will help these children and could encourage other Aboriginal community members to engage with your organisation. The best way to approach cultural safety is to think of it as a journey. It will take time, dedication, and meaningful engagement with Aboriginal culture, knowledge and community. Organisations need to commit long term and take meaningful action each year to keep progressing their compliance with Standard 1 and remember, implementing this Child Safe Standard will not only help keep Aboriginal children and young people safe, it will expand your own understanding of Aboriginal culture, community, and history. To comply with this Standard, your organisation must meet the following 5 minimum requirements,
11:59 Minimum requirement 1.1 A child's ability to express their culture and enjoy their cultural rights is encouraged and actively supported. Culture and identity are linked and by supporting Aboriginal children to feel strong in their identity, you are also helping them enjoy their cultural rights. Being able to express their cultural identity makes Aboriginal children stronger and safer. When Aboriginal children do not feel safe to be themselves, the risk they will be abused by others increases and it may reduce their willingness to report abuse. For a child to feel safe, they need to see supportive and encouraging responses to Aboriginal culture and identity from leaders, staff, and volunteers within your organisation.
12:45 They need to feel that their culture and identity is accepted and respected. Minimum requirement 1.2 Strategies are embedded within the organisation which equip all members to acknowledge and appreciate the strengths of Aboriginal culture and understand its importance to the wellbeing and safety of Aboriginal children and young people. Aboriginal communities represent the oldest continuous cultures in the world with diverse languages, kinship, family structures, and ways of life. Aboriginal people have demonstrated resilience and strength over thousands of years despite the challenges and adversity they have faced since colonisation. For Aboriginal people, connection to culture is a protective factor leading to better emotional,
13:31 social and physical health outcomes. It is important to provide opportunities for people in your organisation to learn and reflect on their own knowledge and attitudes about Aboriginal people. Providing a safe, respectful space for reflection and discussion is important. Celebrating the strengths of Aboriginal culture helps an organisation to be inclusive. You could participate in days and events that are important to Aboriginal people such as NAIDOC Week and the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children's Day There is a wealth of information online, in books and in documentaries. Your organisation should also take the opportunity to connect with Aboriginal community and Aboriginal community controlled organisations in your area.
14:16 Minimum requirement 1.3 Measures are adopted by the organisation to ensure racism within the organisation is identified, confronted, and not tolerated. Any instances of racism are addressed with appropriate consequences. Racism causes emotional harm that impacts on mental and physical health. Racism is harmful for children and impacts their safety and wellbeing. It can be a form of child abuse. Sadly, the impact of racism can be felt for years. Racism can be harassment, abuse or humiliation. It can sometimes lead to intimidation and violence. Racism includes name calling and hurtful jokes and excluding people from groups or activities. It might be comments that seem harmless but demonstrate a lack of respect for
15:04 another person. In organisations, racism may be shown through the attitudes and actions of staff, volunteers, leaders, or members of your community. It can be demonstrated in policies and procedures that reflect implicit biases and assumptions. Racism can also happen because of an organisation's culture. Perhaps the organisation is not welcoming for people from different cultures or backgrounds. Racism can lead to someone removing themselves from situations or interacting with certain people because they are worried about experiencing racism. If children and their families experience racism in your organisation, they may not feel confident about raising concerns or complaints. Your organisation needs to think about how racism is called out and responded to
15:50 in order to identify and respond to it. Everyone in your organisation should know that racism will not be tolerated and if it occurs, there will be clear consequences. Minimum requirement 1.4 The organisation actively supports and facilitates participation and inclusion within it by Aboriginal children, young people and their families. Making a child's family feel welcome and included in an organisation contributes to their safety. When thinking about how to support inclusion and participation in your organisation, remember that for Aboriginal children, culture and family go hand in hand. Preventing racism needs to extend to how families are treated so that they are encouraged to participate as well as children. Minimum requirement 1.5
16:37 All of the organisation's, policies, procedures, systems and processes together create a culturally safe and inclusive environment and meet the needs of Aboriginal children, young people and their families. Statements of support such as displaying the Aboriginal flag or having an Acknowledgement of Country plaque are important, but these alone will not make a child safe. All organisational policies, procedures, systems and processes need to meet the needs of Aboriginal children and their families. Your organisation's approach to creating cultural safety needs to be embedded throughout the organisation. Organisations will be at different stages of their cultural safety journey and the process is one of continuous improvement. A good place to start is to look at what your organisation already does to
17:25 provide cultural safety and identify any gaps. Creating a culturally safe environment takes time, dedication, and meaningful engagement. Organisations need to commit long term and take meaningful action each year to keep progressing their compliance with Standard 1. What tells you that an organisation acknowledges and respects Aboriginal culture? For me, it's when they have Aboriginal Torres Strait Islander flags on display, when they have black staff that are in not just identified roles, but also in all roles throughout the organisation, just so that it doesn't seem like it's tokenistic and yeah, when they have acknowledgements,
18:11 like something as simple as having it in their email really does make a huge difference. How can you tell that an organisation is committed to stamping out racism? I think if they've got policies in place, I think as well if there's ongoing conversations happening and if there is an incident that comes up, it's rectified immediately and in a respectful manner. My challenge would be for organisations to truly understand the diversity of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, not just in a sense of who we are, but all of our different journeys that we have throughout this continent that we're in today. I challenge organisations to continue the discussion and the dialogue
19:00 with indigenous peoples. To meet the requirements of Child Safe Standard 2, your organisation must demonstrate that it has embedded child safety and wellbeing in organisational leadership, governance and culture. Standard 2 sets the foundation for an organisation's child safety system. Becoming a child safe organisation requires leaders who champion child safety governance arrangements and policies that support child safety and a culture that embeds child safety considerations into every part of the organisation. To comply with this Standard, your organisation must meet the following 6 minimum requirements, Minimum requirement 2.1 The organisation makes a public commitment to child safety.
19:46 Children have a right to be safe when engaged with your organisation. Parents and carers expect their children to be safe when they are in the care of your organisation. A public commitment to child safety signals to the whole community that your organisation prioritises children's safety and will not tolerate child abuse or harm. You can design the public commitment so it best reflects your organisation and those involved with it. Your commitment needs to be available and accessible to the public. Options might include displaying your commitment on your website or social media channels, in your job advertisements, in the reception area or in newsletters. Minimum requirement 2.2 A child safe culture is championed and modeled at all levels of the organisation
20:32 from the top down and bottom up. Having a child safe culture requires you to build child safety into the everyday thinking and actions of leaders, staff, volunteers, members, and children in the organisation. All levels of the organisation need to champion and model a child safe culture. Leaders should clearly communicate your organisation's expectations of child safety and demonstrate their commitment. Leaders must also model the child safe behaviors expected, including prioritising child safety in their decision making and in their allocation of resources. Preventing child abuse should be seen as a responsibility of all adults at all levels, not just your child safety officer or leadership team. People in the organisation should be held to account for unacceptable behaviour.
21:20 Any harmful behaviour towards children should be challenged. A culture of openness in your organisation will support child safety where everyone is encouraged to talk about difficult subjects and decisions. To identify mistakes and to learn from them, your organisation should promote a culture of reporting where everyone feels safe to report any safety concerns or incidents and concerns are addressed in a timely manner. Minimum requirement 2.3 Governance arrangements facilitate implementation of the Child Safety and Wellbeing Policy at all levels. A Child Safety and Wellbeing Policy outlines how your organisation prioritises the safety and wellbeing of children and what steps it will take to do this. It sets out the organisation's expectations about child safe practices for staff,
22:09 volunteers and the organisation's community. Involving staff and volunteers, children, families, and community in developing your Child Safety and Wellbeing Policy will help you develop a meaningful and effective policy. Everyone in your organisation should be able to easily access and understand your policy. Your leaders are responsible for ensuring that your policy is implemented across all levels of your organisation. Strong and clear governance arrangements about child safety help the organisation check the Child Safety and Wellbeing Policy has been implemented. The Commission's resource Creating a Child Safety and Wellbeing Policy is on our website and provides practical steps to develop policy. It has a template and an example policy that you can refer to.
22:56 Minimum requirement 2.4 A Code of Conduct provides guidelines for staff and volunteers on expected behavioral standards and responsibilities. When staff and volunteers know what behavior is expected of them and what the consequences are for not behaving appropriately, they are more likely to act in a way that supports children's safety and wellbeing. A Code of Conduct should list acceptable and unacceptable behaviours with children. It should be written in plain language and include examples of behavior relevant to the organisation. It needs to be communicated to everyone, including children and families. This helps staff, volunteers, children and their families identify and report inappropriate behaviour. Your Code of Conduct needs to be tailored to the activities and services you
23:44 provide and the particular risks in your organisation. For example, a sports club's Code of Conduct will be different to that of a religious organisation, which will be different again to that of a disability support service. Leaders have responsibility to hold staff and volunteers to account to comply with the Code of Conduct. You can download our resource Steps to develop or update your Code of Conduct on our website. It helps you prepare a code of conduct and includes an example for you to refer to. You can also have a look at examples from your peak body or similar organisations. Just remember that your Code of Conduct needs to be tailored to your organisation. Minimum requirement 2.5 Risk management strategies focus on preventing identifying and mitigating
24:30 risks to children and young people. Managing risks of child abuse and harm should be part of your organisation's leadership, governance and culture. It is the responsibility of senior leaders in an organisation to ensure risk management plans are updated and current, and the organisation's governance arrangements should support those leaders to check whether risk assessment and management is properly focused on risks of child abuse and harm. We look at risk management in more detail when we cover Standard 9. Minimum requirement 2.6 Staff and volunteers understand their obligations on information sharing and record keeping. Sharing information can be critical to managing child safety. If information is not shared when it should be, this can mean risks to children are not picked up
25:17 and addressed. Staff and volunteers need to be clear on their obligations. This includes sharing information with key people in your organisation as well as with Victoria Police, Child Protection, the Commission for Children and Young People and other bodies who work to protect children. It is also important for your staff and volunteers to create, keep, and store accurate records in relation to child safety. Complete accurate records should be created about all complaints or safety concerns that are raised and these records should be kept and safely stored. Records help your organisation hold staff and volunteers to account for their actions, assess the organisation's performance and support potential criminal investigations and court action. Your organisation should be familiar with any record keeping and information
26:05 sharing obligations that arise from legislation, professional standards or any contractual or funding agreements. Importantly, your staff and volunteers also need to be respectful of the privacy and confidentiality of those involved in a safety concern or incident. How can an organisation show you that they take your safety seriously? To me, when an organisation takes child safety seriously, they adopt a whole organisational approach both inside and outside their organisation, making sure that every employee, every person that is part of the organisation, every stakeholder is aware of the processes and the practices in place involved with child safety to make sure that every single child that they
26:51 interact with feels safe and also feels like they can address any concerns or raise any concerns with the organisation. What behaviour do you expect from leaders? I think from leaders making sure that everything that the organisation does revolves around children and young people and making sure that firstly, they feel safe but also feel like they could interact with the organisation comfortably and engage with them as well, so that could potentially look like regularly chatting to young people and how they're feeling through formal and informal conversations as well as asking or inviting them to participate in regular reviews of child safe policies, but also helping them to break down those policies as well because we can see then how they're implemented across the organisation.
27:39 I'd like to challenge organisations that work with children and young people to regularly review their practices and policies surrounding child safety, ensuring that people from the top of the organisation works directly with young people in a genuine way that isn't seen as tokenistic, but rather invites them to understand the child safety practices and policies in place as well as ensuring that they have their say in terms of what that looks like within their organisation. It may be tricky initially to get children and young people on board when they're not familiar with those practices, but investing that time I think is really important to ensure that they
28:26 genuinely feel safe and engage with that organisation. Under Child Safe Standard 3, your organisation must ensure that children and young people are empowered, have information about their rights, participate in decisions affecting them and are taken seriously. Children are more likely to raise complaints or concerns in an organisation that empowers and listens to them. Organisations should create a culture where children feel confident to report problems, particularly if they are harmed or feel unsafe. Child Safe Standard 3 focuses on what your organisation can do to empower children through building them up and strengthening their confidence. This involves building children's skills and knowledge so they can make informed decisions and have a greater say over their lives.
29:13 It's also about how an organisation informs children about their rights and how an organisation listens to them. Children have a right to participate in the decisions that affect them. Participation is about giving children genuine opportunities to have their say and informed decision making. This requires organisations to listen, hear, and genuinely consider their views when making decisions, and this is not only about respecting children's rights. Policies and practices that are informed by children's views will be more effective at preventing harm to children and meeting their needs. The Commission's Empowerment and participation: A guide for organisations working with children and young people can help you implement this Standard. To comply with this Standard,
29:58 your organisation must meet the following 6 minimum requirements. Minimum requirement 3.1 Children and young people are informed about all of their rights including to safety. Information and participation rights are basic entitlements that belong to every single person. Just like adults, all children have rights. You must inform children in your organisation about their rights including to safety, information and participation. Empowering children about their rights means everyone in an organisation, including leaders, staff, and volunteers, upholds and respects children's rights at all times, educates them about their rights and supports them to exercise their rights. There are lots of ways that your organisation can inform children about their
30:46 rights, such as having discussion about rights, developing a poster in child friendly language or including information about rights on social media posts. Remember that you need to consider the communication needs of all children, including those with disability, very young children and those who best communicate in a language other than English. It also helps if your organisation educates staff and volunteers about children's rights so they can help children learn about them. Minimum requirement 3.2 The importance of friendships is recognised and support from peers is encouraged to help children and young people feel safe and be less isolated. Children often view their friends as their main source of support and advice. They should be allowed to meet and enjoy time together and your organisation
31:33 should support their social connections and friendships. Children are more likely to tell their friends about being harmed before telling an adult. Letting children know they can raise concerns with your organisation about the safety or wellbeing of their friends and peers is a good way to encourage them to support each other. It's also important that your organisation challenges bullying or isolating behavior because this can have a significant impact on children's safety and wellbeing. Things your organisation can do to support friendships and connections include buddy systems promoting teamwork, monitoring group dynamics, and calling out bullying or excluding behaviors, Minimum requirement 3.3 Where relevant to the setting or context, children and young people are offered access to sexual abuse prevention programs
32:19 and to relevant related information in an age appropriate way. We know that although awareness is growing, many people in our community do not know much about child sexual abuse and grooming and how to identify it. Sexual abuse prevention programs build children's knowledge and capacity to identify and act on inappropriate behavior by adults or other children. They are delivered in a way appropriate to a child's age and to help them protect themselves from potentially abusive situations. Children are also taught how to seek help. You should consider if your organisation should provide these programs or other information that helps children understand sexual abuse and grooming and how to get help. The Commission's Guide for creating a Child Safe Organisation has information on what kinds of organisations should provide these programs.
33:07 Many people report feeling uncomfortable and unsure about how to discuss personal safety and sexual abuse prevention with children, particularly young children. While it may be hard to find the right way to bring up these issues, children who are informed are better placed to raise concerns. Even if your organisation does not provide a sexual abuse prevention program, it is still important to help children know what behaviors are appropriate and inappropriate and how to raise a concern if someone is making them feel uncomfortable or unsafe. Minimum requirement 3.4 Staff and volunteers are attuned to the signs of harm and facilitate child friendly ways for children and young people to express their views, participate in decision making and raise their concerns. There are a few parts to this minimum requirement.
33:54 The first is that staff and volunteers should be able to identify signs of harm and abuse. We will go into this in more detail in Standard 8. The second part recognises that staff and volunteers have a role in empowering children and encouraging them to participate. Staff and volunteers may need support, information or training to do this. Children need to be given opportunities to share their views and concerns and to talk about what makes them feel safe or unsafe and have a say in decisions that affect them. Remember, if children don't feel safe to talk to you about the small things, they won't talk to you about the big things. Some children find it easier to participate than others, so make sure you include and support all children to participate. This requires your staff and volunteers to really listen to children but also
34:41 take meaningful action based on what they tell you. Minimum requirement 3.5 Organisations have strategies in place to develop a culture that facilitates participation and is responsive to the input of children and young people. Participation should be part of your organisation's everyday practice as well as planned activities. Participation requires adults to listen to children, take their views seriously and allow children to have a say. Your organisation should be clear about how you will listen and respond to what children say. Your organisation's policies should reinforce adult's responsibilities to listen and empower children. Minimum requirement 3.6 Organisations provide opportunities for children and young people to participate and are responsive to their contributions,
35:29 thereby strengthening confidence and engagement. This minimum requirement builds on the previous one and requires your organisation to create opportunities for children to participate and have their say. Children will see through token efforts so their participation must be meaningful and purposeful. When you're making decisions that are going to impact children include their views in your decision making. You should also let children know how you have responded to their input. When children are given opportunities and support to voice their views and concerns and to talk about what makes them feel safe or unsafe, they feel empowered. They become more confident in themselves and the organisation. Children aren't always used to being asked about their experiences or what they
36:14 want. You may need to support them to feel comfortable speaking up. Participation activity should be developmentally appropriate, inclusive and accessible and tailored to individual needs and abilities. What does it feel like when adults don't involve you in decisions that are made about you? I think that when you do not consult young people, it says a lot about the organisation as well as the young people because it's not just about our opinion. It's also about whether you're considering every demographic that your issue affects, and we are the demographic on top of that. Young people have issues that they're facing that are very new and online spaces and online communities that people of other generations have not had to experience,
37:04 so if you are not going to have a conversation with young people about those spaces, you can't really make informed policy decisions about them. What can organisations do to make you feel comfortable to participate and have a say? I think the first thing to do is make it regular, not just to get the opinions of young people, but also to make sure that they know that it's an ongoing process. It's not just a one time thing that allows the young people to ease into it because I also think the first time you shouldn't have high expectations of well fleshed out ideas, so yeah, help us ease into it, make it more of a discussion than an interrogation, and lastly,
37:52 involve multiple young people because it provides a sense of comfort and familiarity. When your organisation speaks to children and young people, do you inform the children and young people what has been done with their opinions and how it has contributed to the work that you do? What strategies does your organisation have to make sure that young people can speak up and express their opinions. For Child Safe Standard 4, your organisation must ensure families and communities are informed and involved in promoting child safety and wellbeing. Protecting children from abuse and harm requires effort from the whole community. Supporting families and communities to play a part in your organisation's
38:37 approach to child safety and wellbeing means they will learn what makes organisations child safe and what to do if they are concerned about a child safety or wellbeing. If parents, carers and families know what behavior is expected in the organisation, they can also keep an eye out for unsafe behaviors and raise concerns with participation by parents, carers, and the community. Your organisation's child safe approach will continue to improve. Parents, carers and families should feel welcome in your organisation. Building and maintaining an inclusive culture which is respectful of different kinds of families, supports children to feel safe and to be safe. To comply with this Standard, your organisation must meet the following 4 minimum requirements, Minimum requirement 4.1
39:25 Families participate in decisions affecting their child. Families have unique knowledge and understanding about their child, and many want to participate in decisions that affect them. Families may have helpful ideas because they see things related to their child from a different perspective. It can be helpful for organisations to view families as active partners who participate in decisions affecting their child. Having families participate in decisions means they are asked for their opinion before a decision is made, and this opinion is considered as part of the decision making process. Your organisation should provide families with the opportunity to participate in decisions made by the organisation that impact the safety and wellbeing of their child. Minimum requirement 4.2.
40:11 The organisation engages and openly communicates with families and the community about its child safe approach and relevant information is accessible. When your organisation makes information freely available about its approach to child safety, families and the community will know what to do if they're worried about a safety issue. This also helps them to decide if your organisation is right for them. Key information like the code of conduct and how to report concerns for children's safety should be easy to find and understand for a range of ages, abilities and cultural backgrounds. Minimum requirement 4.3 Families and communities have a say in the development and review of the organisation's policies and practices. When families and communities are supported and encouraged to have a say in your
40:59 child's safe policies and practices, they are more likely to be effective and meaningful. It is important to make sure your organisation welcomes feedback from families and communities and that they know who they can speak to when they want to share their views. Supporting staff and volunteers to develop the skills and confidence to ask families and the community for feedback will contribute to an open receptive culture within the organisation. There are many ways for families and communities to be involved. You could send a survey, share draft policies and ask for feedback. Ask families to join working groups or committees, run a workshop or have a feedback box. Remember to think about the accessibility and communication needs of those you want to engage with. Minimum requirement 4.4
41:44 Families, carers, and the community are informed about the organisation's operations and governance. Make sure families in the community know what your organisation does, how it is structured, who is responsible for making decisions and how they can contact the right person if they have a safety concern. It can be helpful to provide families and carers with information about your organisation in induction packs when children enroll or first access the service. Why is involving families and communities in organisations so important? I feel like a big part of how the organisation engages with the young people they work with comes from the young people's relationships with
42:30 their family and families help young people access the services that the organisation provides, so it's really important for the organisation to have a connection with the family and as well as for the family to understand what the organisation is doing exactly, and this connection will help also provide the young person with the sense of familiarity and safety that comes from knowing that their family also knows what's happening. What are some suggestions for how organisations can involve families? The first step in including family would be to make sure they have a solid procedure to inform the family about what the exact things the organisation does.
43:15 It needs to be accessible both linguistically and the family needs to know where to find it and what to do if they think that they're unhappy slash dissatisfied with the services the organisation provides. I also think it's important to make sure that the family has opportunities to ask questions to the organisation and there's a dialogue and it's not just one way. When your organisation connects with the families of young people you work with, they are made aware of what the organisation does and who to reach out to if they have any concern. So does your organisation do that? Under Child Safe Standard 5,
44:01 your organisation must ensure that equity is upheld and diverse needs are respected in policy and practice. Each child has unique abilities, skills, and life experiences, differences in backgrounds, characteristics, personality and beliefs shape how a child experiences the world and what they need. Organisations and communities are strengthened when diversity is valued and respected because children can access opportunities to fulfill their potential. Experiencing discrimination is harmful in itself and in the context of preventing child abuse, it can increase a child's vulnerability to abuse and harm. It can also mean they're less likely to ask for help or speak up if they have a concern. Equity is a state of fairness in which all children can participate freely and
44:48 equally in areas of life regardless of their background, characteristics or beliefs. A child's safety should not depend on their circumstances and all children should be safe. Research tells us that some groups of children are more vulnerable to abuse and can find it harder to let someone know they are feeling unsafe or being harmed. Organisations are responsible for paying attention to the needs of children with disability, from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds, those unable to live at home, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and intersex children and young people and Aboriginal children. Organisations will also need to give attention to other characteristics, vulnerabilities and needs, including those of non-binary and gender diverse children,
45:33 children of different religions, and children who have experienced past trauma. Learning more about children with these diverse experiences can help you protect them from abuse and harm. When diversity is respected, valued and celebrated, organisations and communities are stronger and safer for all children. To comply with this Standard, your organisation must meet the following 4 minimum requirements. Minimum requirement 5.1 The organisation including staff and volunteers, understands children and young people's diverse circumstances and provide support and response to those who are vulnerable. Organisations need to understand the diverse circumstances of children as well as their right to fair treatment. Understanding the diversity of children in your organisation and community and
46:21 acknowledging that some children may be more vulnerable to abuse than others is critical. This involves putting into place policies and practices to support and respond to all children's wellbeing and safety needs. It is important for staff and volunteers to take the time to learn about the children in their organisation and about their specific needs. At the same time, remember that some children and their families may not want to tell you about their particular circumstances, characteristics, experience, or background, and that's okay. You should also reflect on the broader community your organisation operates in. If your organisation does not feel welcoming, inclusive, and respectful, then children and families of diverse experiences and backgrounds may not see your organisation as providing a safe environment and therefore not become involved.
47:10 Minimum requirement 5.2 Children and young people have access to information, support, and complaints processes in ways that are culturally safe, accessible, and easy to understand. Children have different communication needs to adults. Make it easy for children to find and engage with information. You might have policies and processes in place that adults can understand, but if children don't have access to child friendly information, they won't know how to raise a concern or how to access support. Ensure that any materials you develop for children use developmentally appropriate language and formats that are culturally safe. Consider using multiple ways of communicating such as posters, discussions, videos, and sending information in emails and on social media.
47:58 This minimum requirement links closely with Standard 7. Minimum requirement 5.3 The organisation pays particular attention to the needs of children and young people with disability, children and young people from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds, those who are unable to live at home and lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and intersex children and young people. No two children are the same, so it's important that you take action to support the specific communication, safety, and wellbeing needs of each child and young person Your organisation engages with. Your policies should help your organisation to include all children, provide staff and volunteers information on diversity and inclusion. Help staff and volunteers know how to provide equity for all children using the
48:44 services or facilities and promote inclusion and diversity throughout your organisation. Minimum requirement 5.4 The organisation pays particular attention to the needs of Aboriginal children and young people and provides and promotes a culturally safe environment for them. Aboriginal children have the right to enjoy and feel connected to their culture and community, be safe from harm arising from racism, and have access to culturally safe services and organisations. Detailed information on creating a culturally safe environment for Aboriginal children is in Standard 1. What does a safe place to be yourself feel like? I reckon it's gonna be different for everybody, but for me, a safe place is where I won't be judged,
49:31 just relax and do what needs to be done without feeling judged or under pressure to do something. Do you have an example of when an organisation responded well to support diverse children? Of course, diversity comes in very forms. It can include everything from using closed captions on your Zoom calls to including pronouns and asking for pronouns of the young people you interact with, and I feel like a lot of organisations have started to do that, which is pretty amazing. So a true diverse place that's safe is where we will not get judged for our preferences and our abilities and priorities in life.
50:16 Diversity is very important and must be upheld, so what does your organisation do to address instances of racism and discrimination, which is unfair to the people you work with. Under Child Safe Standard 6, your organisation must ensure that people working with children and young people are suitable and supported to put child safety and wellbeing values into practice. Your organisation needs policies and procedures to make sure staff and volunteers are suitable to work with children. Strong recruitment practices deter unsuitable people from applying and robust processes help screen out applicants who are unsafe or not appropriate to work or volunteer with children. Providing a comprehensive induction and ongoing support and supervision for your
51:02 staff and volunteers are key elements of this Standard. They play a vital role in preventing harm to children and identifying behaviours of concern. The Commission's Practical guide to choosing, supervising and developing suitable staff and volunteers is available on our website and will assist you with this Standard. To comply with this Standard, your organisation must meet the following 4 minimum requirements. Minimum requirement 6.1 Recruitment including advertising, referee checks and staff and volunteers pre-employment screening emphasise child safety and wellbeing. Selecting suitable people to work with children is vital. Having a good child safe screening process helps recruit staff who share your organisation's values.
51:48 It is important to think carefully about the qualifications, experience, and qualities that staff and volunteers need to have, including a statement about your commitment to child safety in job advertisements and clear information in position descriptions about responsibilities with children communicates your organisation's child safe. Focus carefully assess applicants and get a sense of their values. Make sure you conduct referee checks and explore the applicant's suitability to work with children. Take steps to check the identity of the applicant and that the employment history and qualifications are accurate. Minimum requirement 6.2 Relevant staff and volunteers have current working with children checks or equivalent background checks. A Working with Children Check is useful for keeping children safe in your
52:36 organisation, however, it does not assess a person's suitability to work with or care for children in a particular role. Some people engaged in child related work are required by law to hold a valid Working with Children Check. Organisations can also have a policy of asking their staff or volunteers to have a valid Working with Children Check even if they are not legally required to do so. Your organisation should also consider the sorts of roles people are engaged in and any risks to children when deciding this. For more information on who is legally required to hold a valid Working with Children Check, contact the Department of Justice and Community Safety or go to their website at workingwithchildren.vic.gov.au. For some roles, a police check may be appropriate.
53:22 Some professions also have registration processes that include an assessment of their appropriateness to work with children like teachers and health practitioners. Minimum requirement 6.3 All staff and volunteers receive an appropriate induction and are aware of their responsibilities to children and young people including record keeping, information sharing and reporting obligations. Staff and volunteers have an important part to play in keeping children safe. Part of your organisation's induction process should involve making sure new staff and volunteers understand their responsibilities and the organisation's child safe policies. Staff and volunteers should have a sound understanding of your organisation's child safety and wellbeing policy, code of conduct and complaint handling policy.
54:10 They should receive clear information about what to do if they have a child safety or wellbeing concern, and they also need to understand their record keeping and information sharing obligations. Minimum requirement 6.4 Ongoing supervision and people management is focused on child safety and wellbeing. Supervision of staff and volunteers should include a focus on child safety and wellbeing. Clear performance standards and regular meetings between managers and individual staff and volunteers to discuss issues and raise concerns are important mechanisms to support child safe practices in an organisation. Regular supervision enables managers to give feedback and address any concerning conduct by staff and volunteers at an early stage. This could include activities such as observing staff and volunteers'
54:57 interactions with children, asking for feedback from children and their families, and regular communication about your child safety and wellbeing policy and code of conduct. What do you think are the ideal qualities of a staff member or volunteer who works with children? Patience. I think having a lot of patience is very important. Definitely when it comes to kids. Everyone comes from all different walks of life. Kindness and respect as well, not only for the children, but also the families and homes that kids come from. As I said, we all come from different backgrounds and it's very important to be kind and respectful of that. What ideas do you have about how children's feedback can be obtained about staff?
55:46 Actually having a conversation with them? I feel like there's always this sense with, I think when we become adults that there's this fear that we don't know how to talk to children anymore. Like all of a sudden it's like, I'm not good with kids, but I think understanding that kids are human beings as well and having a conversation with them and asking them questions about how they're feeling, how their day is going, and really getting them to open up more. I think that's just the easiest way to get feedback. My challenge to organisations is to make sure that the staff that you are employing are suitable for children, that they have qualities that would really work well with working with kids.
56:34 Standard 7 requires organisations to ensure that processes for complaints and concerns are child focused. Having a child focused complaint handling process requires organisations to have a positive complaints culture. This means your organisation encourages and welcomes it when concerns are reported, responds to complaints promptly, thoroughly, and fairly, and takes immediate action to protect children from risk. Making a complaint can be hard. Having a complaints process that everyone in your organisation understands and can access makes it more likely that people will speak up when they are worried about the safety of children. The way that leaders, staff, and volunteers respond when someone speaks up about child safety can have a significant impact on the person who makes a complaint.
57:19 Your organisation should show that it welcomes concerns or complaints being raised, explain how it will support those involved and make sure procedures are properly followed. This Standard emphasises the importance of complaints, processes being child focused and easily understood by everyone in your organisation's community, including children. A key part of this Standard is developing a complaint handling policy. To comply with this Standard, your organisation must meet the following 5 minimum requirements. Minimum requirement 7.1 The organisation has an accessible child focused complaint handling policy, which clearly outlines the roles and responsibilities of leadership, staff, and volunteers, approaches to dealing with different types of complaints, breaches of relevant policies,
58:05 or the code of conduct and obligations to act and report. As you can see, there are few parts to this minimum requirement. Firstly, your organisation's complaint handling policy must be child focused. This means that the safety of children is prioritised and also that children can make a complaint or raise concerns regardless of their age, ability, or other personal characteristics. Children should also be consulted when developing the policy to help it meet their needs. Secondly, make sure everyone can access information about who reports can be made to and how to make report. Providing information about the roles and responsibilities of the adults in your organisation to respond to complaints, including their obligations to take action and report any safety concerns also helps them know what to do by clearly outlining how different types of
58:54 complaints or breaches of your policies will be managed. Everyone in your organisation's community will be on the same page. Minimum requirement 7.2 Effective complaint handling processes are understood by children and young people, families, staff, and volunteers, and are culturally safe. Policy documents are often written in a way that is complicated and difficult to understand. Have a think about how you can create information on how to raise a safety concern, and what the process is for managing a complaint that can be understood by all children and their families, including those who come from language diverse backgrounds or with disability. Staff and volunteers should also have easy access to complaint handling policies and processes. We encourage you to involve children and young people in
59:40 developing your policies and processes. Remember that some children with particular characteristics may face extra barriers to reporting abuse that you need to understand and help overcome. Minimum requirement 7.3 Complaints are taken seriously and responded to promptly and thoroughly. The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse told us that many adults and organisations did not know how to respond appropriately to a disclosure of abuse or know how to make a report. Making a complaint and raising safety concerns is not easy. Children should be treated with sensitivity and given support when they speak up. It is very important to validate a child's disclosure no matter how you personally feel about it. This means listening to them, taking them seriously,
1:00:27 responding appropriately and acting on the disclosure. By following your organisation's reporting policies and processes, children will often disclose abuse to someone that they know and trust. This means that although you might have a child safety officer, it could be the junior coach or the parent volunteer that a child speaks to. Families, staff, volunteers, or other children can also raise a complaint on behalf of a child. This is why it is essential that everyone in your organisation knows what to do if a safety concern is raised. Different kinds of complaints and safety concerns will be raised with your organisation. All need to be investigated in some way taken seriously and responded to promptly and thoroughly. Minimum requirement 7.4 The organisation has policies and procedures in place that address reporting of
1:01:15 complaints and concerns to relevant authorities, whether or not the law requires reporting, and cooperates with law enforcement. Who an organisation needs to report to depends on the kind of organisation they are and the type of complaint or concern. There are legal obligations that require mandatory reporting by some people and organisations to Victoria Police, Child Protection, the Commission, and other regulators. Regardless of whether you are legally required to report a complaint or concern to external authorities or not, you should prioritise the safety and wellbeing of children in how you respond. If a child is in immediate danger, call Victoria Police on Triple Zero. Contact Child Protection if a child is at risk of harm or where families are unable or unwilling to protect them.
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