Policies and procedures document how the organisation is safe for children and young people.
WHAT'S NEW?
Preparing comprehensive policies and procedures to support implementation of child safe practices is already required by the current Child Safe Standards.
The new Child Safe Standard 11 contains new obligations for organisations to:
- make policies and procedures easy to understand
- use stakeholder consultation and best practice models to inform the development of policies and procedures
- ensure organisational leaders champion and model compliance with policies and procedures.
compliance indicators
documents
- A Child Safety and Wellbeing Policy sets out the organisation’s expectations, practices and approach in relation to each of the Child Safe Standards. (11.1, 11.2 and links to 2.3)
- A Code of Conduct sets out the expectations for behaviour and responsibilities of staff and volunteers. (11.1, 11.2 and links to 2.4)
- Risk assessment and management plans address risks of child abuse and harm. (11.1, 11.2 and links to 9.1 and 9.3)
- The complaint handling policy and processes address how the organisation will respond and all internal and external reporting obligations. (11.1, 11.2 and links to Standard 7)
- Organisational recruitment, human resources and volunteering policies have a clear child safety focus. (11.1, 11.2 and links to Standard 6)
- If your organisation contracts facilities and/or services from third parties, procurement policies ensure the safety of children. (11.1, 11.2 and links to 9.4)
actions
- Regular consultation on child safety with everyone involved in your organisation is undertaken. (11.3 and links to Standards 3 and 4)
- The organisation uses input from consultations and available information about creating child safety and wellbeing to help develop, review and update policies and procedures related to child safety. (11.3)
- The organisation’s policies and procedures cover all the Child Safe Standards and address the risks to the safety of children that are specific to the organisation and its environment. (11.1)
- Policies and procedures are easy to understand and can be accessed easily. (11.2).
In complying with Child Safe Standard 11 an organisation must, at a minimum, ensure:
11.1 Policies and procedures address all Child Safe Standards.
11.2 Policies and procedures are documented and easy to understand.
11.3 Best practice models and stakeholder consultation informs the development of policies and procedures.
11.4 Leaders champion and model compliance with policies and procedures.
11.5 Staff and volunteers understand and implement policies and procedures.