Child Safeguarding Policy and Framework

Date last updated: March 2023

The Alannah & Madeline Foundation (the Foundation) is committed to the safety of children and young people.

This means that we do whatever we can to ensure that the children and young people we work with, and those in our communities, are safe and inspired with the freedom to flourish.

The Foundation has a zero-tolerance approach to child abuse and neglect and is committed to embedding measures to ensure it is a strong child safe organisation. We will work towards achieving this by increasing the awareness and capacity of our people and community, including families and children, to prevent and respond to the risks of child abuse and harm.

This Child Safeguarding - Policy & Framework sets out the Foundation’s expectations about child safe practices for staff, volunteers including Board Directors, contractors/consultants and the broader organisational community, and supports our commitment to meeting and acting as champions of the Child Safe Standards.

It will provide guidance to minimise the risk of harm to any child or young person that we engage through our work and to ensure a clear understanding of roles and responsibilities with regard to implementing and adhering to the policy across the organisation.

Victoria was one of the first jurisdictions to introduce Child Safe Standards in 2016, after the Victorian Parliament’s Betrayal of Trust Inquiry revealed devastating accounts of children experiencing abuse and harm in organisational settings.

The following year, the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse recommended each state and territory move to introduce similar schemes in line with nationally agreed principles – the National Principles for Child Safe Organisations. Considering this, Victoria has updated its Child Safe Standards to create greater consistency with the ten National Principles, which came into effect in July 2022.

These broadly require organisations to embed child safety in organisational culture and governance, have clear policies that promote child safety, to respect and acknowledge the diverse needs of children and engage effectively with children about their experiences of safety.

The Foundation directly undertakes a broad range of activities and delivers a diverse suite of programs and services for children, young people and their families. In addition, the Foundation delivers these programs and services in various settings including early learning centres, kindergartens, schools and in the homes of children and young people.

It is imperative that the work we do prioritises the safety and wellbeing of children and young people.

The Foundation acknowledges that preventing child abuse requires proactive approaches across policies, procedures and practices consistent with the requirements of the following (appendix 2):

• Child Safe Standards (Commission for Children and Young People, Victoria)
• National Principles for Child Safe Organisations (Australian Human Rights Commission)
• United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.

Our work is also underpinned by several core principles including but not limited to acting in the best interests of children, respect of local laws and the making of timely, age appropriate and gender sensitive referrals to reduce the risk of further harm.

The Foundation has a purpose, mission and responsibility to create nurturing environments where children and young people are respected, where their voices are heard, and where they feel safe and are safe.

The Foundation holds the care, safety and wellbeing of children and young people as central to our work.

We have a zero tolerance for all forms of child abuse and maltreatment and are committed to protecting children and young people from harm.

The Foundation acknowledges that preventing child abuse requires proactive approaches across policies, procedures and practices consistent with the requirements of a range of external policies, frameworks and legislation in each state and territory in which we work and will ensure that our work reflects and keeps pace with these.

The Foundation is committed to ensuring that children and young people who engage with our services are safeguarded from harm, and to take action when harm has occurred as a result of engaging with our services. The Foundation will act in response to concerns about the potential for harm and act with the best interest of children and young people including ensuring that timely age, development and gender sensitive referrals are activated to reduce the risk of further harm.

We affirm our commitment to the cultural safety of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and young people and encourage and support them to express their culture and enjoy their cultural rights. Foundation staff and volunteers must actively support and facilitate participation and inclusion by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and their families in our services and programs and racism will not be tolerated.

Foundation leadership has a responsibility to help everyone involved with the organisation to acknowledge and appreciate the strengths of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture and understand its importance to the wellbeing and safety of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children.

The Foundation will take action to ensure that we are and remain compliant with the Victorian Child Safe Standards and the National Child Safe Principles irrespective of where service is being delivered.

This policy provides a broad overview of the child safe frameworks at the Foundation and should be read in conjunction with supporting resources eg. implementation guidelines, factsheets and templates.

• The Foundation’s framework for action includes:
• Child Safeguarding - Policy & Framework
• Commitment Statement
• Code of Conduct
• Child Safety Standards of Behaviour (Appendix 1)
• Child Safety Reporting – Policy & Procedures
• Trauma Informed Practice - Framework
• Child Safety Reporting - Form
• Risk Management – Policy & Procedures
• Reconciliation Action Plan
• Privacy - Policy
• Media & Social Media - Policy & Procedures
• Involving Parents & Guardians in Planning and Decision Making – Policy & Procedures
• Whistleblower – Policy & Procedures
• Working with Children & Criminal Record Check – Policy & Procedures
• program level documentation
• Feedback from Children & Young People - Policy
• Child Safety Training for new staff, for the Board and ongoing training
• appointment of a Child Safe Officer
• regular supervision of all staff in child/young people contact roles
• Child Safety Commitment identified in recruitment advertisements and descriptions
• feedback from children and young people.

The safety and wellbeing of children and young people is everyone’s responsibility. This policy & framework (and related procedures) applies to:

• people employed directly by the Foundation (whether full time, part time, casual or fixed term)
• volunteers with the Foundation
• contractors or consultants engaged by the Foundation (including contractors or consultants engaged through an employment agency)
• visitors to Foundation work sites for the purpose of engaging with us
• work experience students or graduate placements who perform work for the Foundation
• Board Directors

The application of this policy & framework extends to services delivered within the physical boundaries of the Foundation or partner organisations; beyond the physical boundaries including delivery of outreach services to children and young people in their homes; online or via digital environments and while travelling locally, interstate or overseas.

The policy and framework applies to all activities in the organisation which involve, result in or relate to contact with children and young people, both online and offline.

The Foundation defines a Child or Young Person as anyone up to the age of 18 years (in line with child protection legislation). We define Child Safety and Wellbeing as taking all action necessary to ensure children and young people can be and feel safe, and are safe with the freedom to flourish in the places where they live, learn and play, including digital spaces, regardless of their age, sexuality, gender, ability, religious or spiritual beliefs or socio-economic background.

Child abuse or maltreatment is defined as an act (or series of acts) that endangers a child or young person’s physical or emotional health or development and/or a failure to provide conditions to the extent that the health and development of the child or young person is significantly impaired or placed at risk.

Categories of abuse and maltreatment include:

• physical abuse
• sexual abuse including grooming
• emotional abuse including spiritual abuse
• family violence
• neglect
• discrimination
• bullying.

Signs and indicators of child abuse or maltreatment are not always obvious. Physical abuse may be more visible than other forms of abuse (eg. bruising). Neglect is harder to identify as it consists of a failure to provide adequate care and attention. Likewise, you may not witness discrimination or bullying in relation to disability, mental illness, family violence, skin colour or race, gender identity or sexual orientation. However, it may result in signs or indicators in the child’s behaviour, for example social withdrawal and depression.

Being trauma-informed helps us to understand the ways in which children and young people may communicate their safety or lack thereof.

A trauma-informed approach involves understanding, recognising and responding to the effects of trauma and stress. At the Foundation we strive to ensure our efforts are informed by knowledge of trauma and its potential wide-ranging and lifelong implications and to target risk and protective processes at multiple levels (individual, relational, organisational, and community/systems) through our prevention, advocacy and care programs.

Please refer to the Foundation’s Trauma Informed Practice - Framework for further information.

The Foundation’s Child Safeguarding - Framework guides our commitment and action to safeguarding children and young people and realise our vision that all children and young people are safe and inspired with the freedom to flourish.

The Framework in underpinned by three pillars that are inherently linked to the Child Safe Standards:

• Culture
• Operation
• Environment

11.1 Culture

This section reflects the following Victorian Child Safe Standards:

• Standard 1: Organisations establish a culturally safe environment in which the diverse and unique identities and experiences of Aboriginal children and young people are respected and valued.
• Standard 2: Child safety and wellbeing is embedded in organisational leadership, governance, and culture.
• Standard 3: Children and young people are empowered about their rights, participate in decisions affecting them and are taken seriously.
• Standard 8: Staff and volunteers are equipped with the knowledge, skills and awareness to keep children and young people safe through ongoing education and training.

The Foundation is committed to creating a safe and respectful culture that empowers children and young people and aspires to promote intergenerational leadership and governance to embed child safety and wellbeing in all that we do.

We will do this through:

Governance

• Having robust governance processes that keep children and young people at the centre of all that we do (nothing about us without us).
• Creation and regular meetings of a Child Safe Committee which supports the development of a Foundation Action Plan and actions as required.
• Ensuring all employees and volunteers are involved in our risk management process and understand how to identify and report risks.
• Ensuring that child safety and wellbeing is embedded in our strategic planning processes.
• Reporting on child safety and wellbeing to our Board, Senior Leadership Team and Organisational Leaders.
• Undertaking annual child safety and wellbeing self-assessments, engaging staff at all levels and program areas.
• Ensuring any partner meets our child safety and wellbeing requirements through a Child Safe Vendor Agreement, Service Agreement, Memorandum of Understanding or other.

Leadership

• Actively preventing all forms of abuse by ensuring all service delivery is, at a minimum, in adherence with this policy & framework.
• Role modelling behaviour which promotes the safety of children and young people including identifying and responding to behaviours or risks inconsistent with this policy & framework, Child Safe Standards of Behaviour or Code of Conduct
• Providing all employees and volunteers with the knowledge and skills required to keep children and young people safe.
• Championing the rights of all children and young people as guided by the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.
• Ensuring that employees, volunteers and Board Members understand the devastating impacts of abuse and harm and are mobilised to act as champions of child safety.
• Where appropriate, partnering with external organisations to continue improving our practices.

Empowerment and participation

• Listening to, and consulting with, a wide range of children and young people utilising diverse opportunities and platforms to engage them.
• Amplifying the voice of children and young people in a true, genuine intergenerational approach.
• Providing relatable information about our child safety and wellbeing commitments.
• Ensuring we have mechanisms in our services to review feedback and incorporate feedback into continuous quality improvements.
• Having a range of mechanisms for children and young people to provide feedback about our services and responding to this feedback with curiosity and commitment to continuous quality improvement.

Values and behaviours

• Demonstrating the highest standards of behaviour and conduct with our values at the core of who are, guiding the way we work every day: We act with courage; We are stronger together: We are curious; We believe accountability matters; We act with empathy always.
• Standing up for children and young people’s rights.
• Role modelling safe, respectful and inclusive behaviours.
• Educating and ensuring our people adhere to the Child Safeguarding - Policy & Framework and Code of Conduct.
• Empowering our people to speak up and take action suspect (see, hear, feel) a breach of our Child Safety & Wellbeing - Policy and/or Code of Conduct

Education and training

• Providing high quality child safety and wellbeing education and training.
• Inducting all our people appropriately using our Child Safeguarding – Policy & Framework.
• Providing regular training, including annual refresher training to our people on how to keep children and young people safe.
• Having child safety on all internal team meeting agendas.
• Identifying or developing a range of child safeguarding information and resources and making this available to all staff and volunteers.
• Undertaking cultural sensitivity and awareness training as required through our Reconciliation Action Plan.
• Encouraging our people to speak up and ask questions when they are unsure of their responsibilities.

Continuous improvement

• Learning from others and national and international best practice.
• Sharing data and reviewing child safety and wellbeing cases to reduce future risk and inform future practice.
• Regularly reviewing all of our child safety and wellbeing policies, procedures and practices

11.2 Operations

This section reflects the following Victorian Child Safe Standards:

• Standard 6: People working with children and young people are suitable and supported to reflect child safety and wellbeing values in practice.
• Standard 7: Processes for complaints and concerns are child focused.
• Standard 10: Implementation of the Child Safe Standards is regularly reviewed and improved.
• Standard 11: Policies and procedures document how the organisation is safe for children and young people.

The Foundation is committed to creating safe operations to ensure our people have the right policies, processes, and practices to keep children and young people safe.

We will do this through:

People

• Recruiting and retaining the right people by using best practice standards in recruitment, screening and employment (including, but not limited to, police and/or Working with Children Check, reference checks) of all employees, volunteers and contractors/consultants.
• Having questions related to the safeguarding of children in our recruitment processes to any Foundation role.
• Clarifying our safeguarding policies and procedures and ensuring these are communicated to and understood by staff.
• Ensuring safeguarding is embedded in performance appraisals.
• Listening to the children, young people and families that we engage with, encouraging them to speak up, ask questions and share their views.
• Incorporating feedback from our children, young people, families and communities and incorporating feedback into program reviews and continuous quality improvements.
• Ensuring our people undertake cultural sensitivity and awareness training and have access to culturally specific resources and training as required by their role.
• Providing access to information about a wide range of child safety and wellbeing topics for our staff and volunteers.

Policies, procedures and practices

• Developing and implementing robust child safeguarding policies and procedures - at both a program and Foundation wide level, including this Child Safeguarding - Policy & Framework.
• Ensuring our people understand their responsibility to keep children and young people safe and report all safety and wellbeing concerns.
• Ensuring all safeguarding policies and relevant statements or procedures have child and young person friendly versions and are accessible, where appropriate.
• Embedding the requirements of relevant peak and regulatory bodies.
• All policies and procedures ensure that the rights of children and young people to be safe and respected are a paramount consideration.

Complaints

• We commit to taking all complaints of our services, staff and volunteers seriously and respectfully.
• We will provide a range of information both on and offline that ensures that all people know how to make a complaint and how their complaint will be managed.
• We will ensure that we have information made available to, and shared with, children and young people regarding their rights to safety and how to make a complaint if they do not feel safe.
• We will ensure that we provide all service users with child friendly mechanisms that enable them to raise issues or concerns.
• We will respond to all child safety and wellbeing concerns or complaints in a timely, respectful and just manner and in line with our Child Safe Reporting - Policy & Procedures.
• We will respond to all allegations of harm or abuse that occur as a result of engaging with our services and take action accordingly and in line with legislative requirements.
• We will report any reasonable belief that a child or young person has been, or is likely to be, harmed and report to the relevant state or territory authority, irrespective of whether the staff member is a mandated reporter.
• We will ensure that any child or young person is supported and kept informed about the progress of any complaint they make about our staff or services and take action to ensure that they do not suffer adverse consequences by our services as a result of their complaint.
• We will adhere to all information privacy principles within our work.
• We will share information and concerns to the relevant bodies as well as external reporting agencies as per state or territory legislation.

11.3 Environment

This section reflects the following Victorian Child Safe Standards:

• Standard 4: Families and communities are informed and involved in promoting child safety and wellbeing.
• Standard 5: Equity is upheld and diverse needs respected in policy and practice.
• Standard 9: Physical and online environments promote safety and wellbeing while minimising the opportunity for children and young people to be harmed.

The Foundation is committed to creating safe environments and spaces for Children and Young People.

We will do this through:

Online safety

• Creating safe online environments by identifying, assessing, managing and communicating online risks.
• Ensuring that our people who manage online platforms are appropriately trained and supported.
• Providing opportunities for children and young people to report safeguarding concerns to us online and anonymously.
• Have policies in place that ensure that communication and contact with children and young people online is managed with appropriate oversight and supervision.

Physical safety

• Ensuring that the Foundation programs which work directly with children and young people do so in a way which is consistent with the service models, this safeguarding policy & framework Child Safe Standards of Behaviour and the Code of Conduct, and that these interactions are regularly reviewed during supervision and through feedback and care planning processes.
• Ensuring that the Foundation programs which work directly with children and young people are subject to regular review to ensure compliance with the Child Safe Standards.
• Regularly reviewing the safety of our facilities and those we work in to ensure they are safe and welcoming for a wide range of children, young people and adults from diverse communities.
• Display messaging which affirms the rights of children and young people to safety across our office environments and other offsite work sites where appropriate.

Families and communities

• Supporting families and communities to promote children and young people’s safety and wellbeing.
• Recognising the inherent strengths within families and operating from a respectful and culturally sensitive manner.
• Facilitating access to our services and listening to our families and communities as experts in their own lives.
• Ensuring open and honest communication with families and communities.
• Engaging and listening to families and communities.
• Providing information and access to other community support services.

Diversity

• Striving to understand the cultural needs of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children and young people.
• Taking action to ensure all children and young people with diverse needs are protected from discrimination.
• Promoting the safety and wellbeing of all children and young people including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders, those living with a disability, culturally and linguistically diverse, those who are unable to live at home and LGBTIQA+ children and young people.
• Ensuring cultural safety for those from diverse communities and providing child safety & wellbeing resources in alternate languages and/or imagery where possible.

Everybody has responsibility to ensure the Foundation remains a child safe organisation:

Organisation

• It is the responsibility of the Foundation to ensure this policy & framework (and related procedures) is enacted in the spirit of child safety and wellbeing, ensuring appropriate safeguards are maintained as detailed in this policy framework and added to as required.
• This document will be updated when required and ensure that every person covered by this policy & framework (and related procedures) is made aware of any changes.

Board of Directors

• Provide strategic support and guidance of child safety & wellbeing initiatives to ensure that children and young people to are safe and inspired with the freedom to flourish.

Executive Team

• Ensure adequate resources and support as determined by the Board are made available to enable the Foundation’s employees and volunteers to effectively deliver upon the Child Safety & Wellbeing – Policy & Framework.

Senior Leadership Team and People Leaders

• Provide operational leadership to ensure this policy & framework (and related procedures) are implemented effectively within their team, particularly those teams that work directly with children and young people.
• Set clear expectations with their team about what child safety means within the context of their team/program and promptly raise any concerns regarding child safety with their Executive member and/or the Child Safe Officer.

Everyone

• Commit to create safe cultures, operations and environments for all children and young people.
• Speak up when they see something, hear something or feel something that worries or concerns them.

This policy and framework and related procedures sit alongside our process for responding to allegations of harm against children and young people in our Child Safety Reporting – Policy & Procedures.

Any person who fails to comply with what is set out in this policy and framework may face disciplinary action up to and including termination of employment (for employees) or termination of engagement with the Foundation (contractors and volunteers) and/or reported to the police or other regulatory bodies.

This policy and framework will be formally reviewed every three years, unless there is a change to legislation, national guidance or in response to opportunities to improve within the Foundation. The review process will take place in consultation with children, young people, families, communities, and the Foundation.

This policy and framework (and related procedures) should be read in conjunction with the following Foundation documents:

• The Foundation’s Code of Conduct
• Child Safety Reporting - Policy & Procedures
• Child Safe Standards of Behaviour (appendix 1)
• Trauma Informed Practice - Framework
• Working with Children & Criminal Record Check – Policy & Procedures
• Media & Social Media - Policy

Child Wellbeing & Safety Act (Vic) 2015