ACT Child Safe Standards Scheme
A National Approach to Child Rights, Safety and Wellbeing
The National Principles for Child Safe Organisations are high-level principles that set out a national approach to creating organisational cultures and practices that promote the rights, safety, and wellbeing of children and young people in Australia, by seeking to prevent all forms of harm and abuse.
Safety includes (but is not restricted to) cultural, psychological, and physical aspects that ensure children and young people are safe and supported no matter who they are, where they are from, or what organisation they engage with.
Each state and territory is responsible for implementing the National Principles for Child Safe Organisations (or equivalent standards within their jurisdiction). In the ACT, the Human Rights Commission Act 2005 reflects the National Principles for Child Safe Organisations as the ACT Child Safe Standards. Implementing these territory-based requirements is equivalent to implementing the National Principles.
About the ACT Child Safe Standards Scheme
The ACT Human Rights Commission is committed to making organisations safer for children and young people.
On 1 August 2024, amendments to the Human Rights Commission Act 2005 made it mandatory for all organisations that provide services for children and young people to commence implementing the ACT Child Safe Standards Scheme (the Scheme).
In the ACT, the ten Standards centre on promoting and protecting the rights, safety, and wellbeing of children and young people. For the purposes of implementing the Standards, the reference to ‘child’ refers to all children and young people aged under 18 years.
Organisations must apply the Standards in a manner that is culturally safe and inclusive for all children and young people, including by respecting and valuing the diverse and unique identities and experiences of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and young people (and their families).
Role of the ACT Children and Young People Commissioner
The ACT Children and Young People Commissioner (CYPC) is supporting implementation of the Scheme across the ACT by working with organisations and sectors to enhance their capability.
This includes providing information, resources, support, and training that builds on existing child safety measures to enable organisations to improve practices to better promote and protect the rights, safety, and wellbeing of children and young people.
Our focus is on supporting all relevant sectors to adopt a continuous improvement approach, while leveraging existing regulatory powers and compliance measures to create long-term cultural change.
Oversight of the Scheme’s implementation is risk-based with a focus on awareness-raising, education, and capability development rather than compliance and enforcement.
Key Messages
- The ACT Child Safe Standards help organisations build cultures where children and young people are safe, feel safe, are listened to, and have their rights upheld.
- Implementing the Standards is an ongoing process. Organisations should regularly review and improve their policies, practices, environments and responses to concerns.
- Being child safe means turning policies, procedures and commitments into everyday practice, with clear expectations for leaders, managers, staff and volunteers.
- Children and young people should be supported to understand their rights, speak up, raise concerns safely, and participate in decisions that affect them.
- A child safe organisation takes action to prevent harm and demonstrates zero tolerance for abuse, discrimination, bullying, exclusion or harm.