Information for Parents and Carers
What is the Child Safe Standards Scheme?
The Child Safe Standards (Standards) are about making sure that organisations improve their culture and practices to protect the rights, safety, and wellbeing of children and young people.
The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse recommended the implementation of Child Safe Standards in its 2017 Final Report. The ACT Government accepted this recommendation in principle and subsequently endorsed the National Principles for Child Safe Organisations in February 2019.
The National Principles for Child Safe Organisations have since been adopted as the ACT’s ten Child Safe Standards (the Standards) and, importantly, cover more than just child sexual abuse. They also centre on promoting and protecting the rights, safety, and wellbeing of children and young people. For the purposes of the Child Safe Standards, the reference to ‘child’ refers to all children and young people aged under 18 years.
The Standards are principle based and can be implemented flexibly by organisations based on their size, workforce, and resources. This means the actions taken by the various organisations involved with your child or young person will be different based on what they have already implemented, their risk profile, and their priorities. Organisations will be supported to progressively implement the Standards by the Children and Young People Commissioner and existing sector regulators.
A child safe organisation is one where the Business Owner, Board, leadership team, staff, and volunteers:
- create an environment where children and young people’s rights, safety and wellbeing are at the centre of thought, values and actions;
- place emphasis on genuine engagement with, and valuing of, children and young people;
- create conditions that reduce the likelihood of harm occurring to children and young people;
- create conditions that increase the likelihood of any harm being identified or discovered; and
- respond appropriately to any concerns, disclosures, allegations, or suspicions of harm.
What you can expect from a child safe organisation?
It is important that as a parent or carer, you can see what an organisation is doing to become safer for children and young people. To find out if an organisation is putting the rights, safety, and wellbeing of children and young people at the centre of everything they do, there are lots of things that you can ask about. Obviously, you do not have to ask all of these things, but some might be more relevant or of more interest to you based on your experiences, and those of your child or young person.
Check the organisation’s website to see if they have made a public commitment to becoming a child safe organisation, and if they have a Child Safety Policy and Staff Code of Conduct that anyone can read. Check if there is any signage in the organisation displaying the Standards. If not, you may wish to ask someone from the leadership team of the organisation what commitments they have made or are making.
You can ask to review the organisation’s child safety policies, complaints handling practices, and Code of Conduct. If these reference the Child Safe Standards, this will give you an indication that the organisation has started to think about how they will use the Standards to improve their practices.
Listen to and observe how staff and volunteers speak to and show respect for children and young people’s opinions, unique qualities, and boundaries during interactions. Are their words and actions congruent and do children and young people seem at ease around staff? If you have concerns about staff and volunteer interactions with children and young people, you may wish to raise this with a member of the leadership team in the first instance. If you still have concerns after speaking with the organisation, you can contact the relevant sector regulators to seek information and advice.
Ask a member of the leadership team about what being culturally safe and inclusive means within the organisation and what actions they are taking to show they respect and value the diverse and unique identities and experiences of all children, young people, and families, notably Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children, young people, and families.
Ask about the organisation’s tolerance for racism, bullying, or discrimination of any kind, and expect to hear the words ‘zero tolerance’. Ask what this means in practice.
Ask about how the organisation manages the behaviour of others, including other service users, to make sure their organisation is child safe, child friendly, and child aware. Ask how they address attitudes and behaviours that create barriers for children, young people, and families with diverse needs to make sure their organisation is a welcoming place for everyone.
Ask the organisation how children and young people can contribute their views to improving the organisation’s practices. Do they have a Youth Advisory Group? Do young people have opportunities to provide feedback? Are there ways for children and young people to be involved in decisions that affect them?
Ask your child or young person about how they feel when they are in the organisation and what would help them to feel more valued and respected.
Talk to your child or young person about safety and what to do if they ever feel scared, worried, uncomfortable, or confused about something another person is doing.