Child Safeguarding Policy.

Safeguarding Central exists to prevent harm or abuse of children. Safeguarding Central provides child abuse prevention advisory and training services to organisations in order to strengthen their child safeguarding systems, policy and practice. We support organisations of all shapes and sizes and across all sectors.  We support organisations in Australia and globally. 

In the course of our advisory services, we can engage with children and their families to seek their views about child safety in these organisations.

Our Commitment

We believe that all children have the right to be safe and feel safe.  Every child that engages with Safeguarding Central has the right to feel safe and be safe. We have a zero tolerance to child abuse and harm.

Safeguarding Central recognises that the safety of children and young people is everyone’s responsibility. We commit to ensuring the safety of children facing additional barriers to safety, including children with disabilities, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children, children from culturally and/or linguistically diverse backgrounds, LGBTQI+ children.

We believe that the participation and empowerment of children and young people is central to child safeguarding practice, and we commit to this in our services. We will ensure that participation is accessible for all.

All Safeguarding Central people are expected to comply with this Policy and the associated Code of Conduct. We commit to respond to all allegations, disclosures or concerns of child abuse and neglect in a robust, timely and child focussed manner.

Policy Purpose

This Policy outlines our approach to safeguarding children across all of our operations and services. It serves to ensure that all Safeguarding Central People are aware of their responsibilities for identifying and responding to concerns or allegations of child abuse.

Policy Scope

This policy applies to all our Safeguarding Central People, who include staff, sub-contractors, representatives, volunteers, third party contractors and partners.  It applies to all of our services all of the time.

Policy Principles

Our work is centred on the rights of children and young people and as such is informed by the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. Safeguarding Central’s child safeguarding approach is shaped by the Australian National Principles for Child Safe Organisations, the , as well as relevant Australian State child safety standards.

Relevant Legislation

Safeguarding Central is headquartered in South Australia and complies with the:

Roles and Responsibilities

The Director of Safeguarding Central is responsible for championing and modelling a child safety culture. They are also responsible to implement all aspects of this policy, including monitoring compliance by all Safeguarding Central People.  

Availability

The Safeguarding Central Child Safeguarding Policy is available on our Website and is provided to all of our clients upon contracting.

Other Relevant Policies and Procedures

This Child Safeguarding Policy and its associated Code of Conduct are the core child safety documents for Safeguarding Central. Processes for risk management, complaint handling, reporting, recruitment and record keeping are all outlined in these documents.

Policy Statements

  • All children have a right to protection from harm and abuse, regardless of age, ability, gender, racial heritage, religious beliefs, sexual orientation, identity or additional vulnerabilities.

  • The best interests of the child are paramount in all considerations about their welfare and protection, including when to maintain confidentiality and when to share information about them.

  • Children have a right to participate in decisions about their lives. Their views, wishes, feelings and experiences are evident in our work with them.

  • All concerns or disclosures of child abuse or harm must be reported.

  • All Safeguarding Central People are expected to act in accordance with our Code of Conduct.

  • Concerns or allegations of abuse or neglect relating to Central Safeguarding People will be managed sensitively and fairly in accordance with relevant legislation.

Participation and Empowerment of Children

Safeguarding Central’s main engagement with children is through our child safeguarding reviews, where we seek children’s engagement via surveys, focus groups and occasionally interviews.  We have created specific methodology that supports children’s engagements in each of these processes.   This includes ensuring that participants understand their right, including their right to be safe at Safeguarding Central. We also explain and provide information about how to raise concerns about Safeguarding Central.

Information shared by children in these processes is taken seriously and prioritised when we make findings about child safety in organisations.

Participation of Families and Communities

Safeguarding Central’s main engagement with families and communities is through our child safeguarding reviews, where we seek their engagement via surveys, focus groups and occasionally interviews.  We have created specific methodology that supports engagements in each of these processes.   This includes ensuring that participants understand their rights as well as how to raise concerns about Safeguarding Central.

In addition, Safeguarding Central recognises the important role of families and seeks parent/carer consent when we invite their children to participate in Safeguarding Central services. On the whole this is mainly involvement in our child safeguarding reviews.  Instances where this consent is not sought directly by Safeguarding Central includes where we engage through schools who seek the consent on our behalf. In addition, we may not seek parental consent when we work with residential care providers where children may not be in the care of their family/carers.

Respecting Equity and Diversity

Safeguarding Central value diversity and equity for all children. To achieve this, we require all our People to undertake training on diversity and to support inclusion and cultural safety.

We welcome and support participation of all children, including children with disability, children from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds, those who are unable to live at home, LGBTIQ+ children and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and their families. We will remove any known obstacles to participation in our child safeguarding review surveys, focus groups and interviews.

We have a zero tolerance of racism and other forms of discrimination and take action when discrimination or exclusion is identified.

Safeguarding Central will acknowledge and celebrate important cultural dates in our training and newsletters.

Safeguarding Central does not have a physical office, but we commit to an online environment that actively celebrates diversity. Our website will undergo regularly diversity assessments. 

Cultural Safety for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children

Safeguarding Central is headquartered on the never ceded lands of the Kaurna People. We acknowledge the Kaurna people as the custodians of the lands and waters of the Adelaide region and pay respect to Kaurna people’s cultural, spiritual, physical and emotional connection with their land, waters and community.

Safeguarding Central acknowledge the Traditional Owners of Country throughout Australia. We recognise their continuing connection to land, waters and culture and pay our respects to their Elders past and present.

Safeguarding Central is committed to creating environments where Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture is celebrated and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children, families and community members are welcomed and included. We do this by ensuring that we Acknowledgement Country at the beginning of all of our internal and external meetings, as well as at the beginning of all of our training deliveries.  We also celebrate NAIDOC Week and acknowledge significant events including National Sorry Day and National Reconciliation Week.

When conducting child safeguarding reviews or other services that include engagement with children, their families and the community we also seek feedback on how to enhance cultural safety.

Human Resource Management

Safeguarding Central puts child safety at the centre of its recruitment and screening processes.  Our recruitment, selection and screening processes include child safety at each stage, including advertising, shortlisting and interviewing.  We also require reference checking that includes child safeguarding specific questions taken person to person from at least two recent professional referees. Every Safeguarding Central person requires a current Working with Children Check (or equivalent if they are based outside of Australia) and National Police Check. We maintain records to monitor currency of our People’s Checks.

Code of Conduct

All Safeguarding Central People are required to comply with the Safeguarding Central Code of Conduct at all times.   

Supporting our People

All Safeguarding Central People are recruited on the basis of their expertise in child safeguarding, including competency in identifying, responding and reporting child abuse and neglect (including responding to historical abuse and redress). All Safeguarding Central People will be inducted into this Policy and the associated Code of Conduct. All Safeguarding Central People will be supervised in the execution of their duties.

Risk Management

Safeguarding Central identifies, assesses and manages risks of child harm in the delivery of its services.  Risks are management is monitored to ensure controls are ensure they are effective.

Complaints Process

All reports of child abuse and child safety concerns will be treated seriously, whether they are made by an adult or a child and whether they are about the conduct of an adult or a child. All complaints and child safety concerns will be responded to promptly and thoroughly.

Complaints can be made to us by phone, by email to safeguardingcentral@gmail.com, in person or through the website.   This complaints process is available on the Safeguarding Central Website. An easy-to-understand complaints information sheet is provided to all children, families and community members that participate in our services.  It is also explained to all children and young people who participate in our Services.

All complaints will be responded to. 

Safeguarding concerns or allegations relating to a Safeguarding Central Person will be investigated. Given we are a small organisation, these investigations will be conducted by a suitably skilled external agency. Where concerns relate to a possible criminal offence, they will be reported to the Police. The investigation will not commence until the Police authorise it.

During the course of the investigation the Safeguarding Central person who is the subject of concern will either be:

  • Redeployed with alternate duties.

  • Provided additional supervision.

  • Suspended (stood down).

These actions are taken to safeguard the child and also the subject of concern and in the interests of maintaining a fair process.  Safeguarding Central commits to not using ‘settlement agreements’.  If a  subject of concern resigns or ends a contract with us, the investigation will continue.

Safeguarding Central is not currently an organisaiton in scope of any of the current Reportable Conduct Schemes (NSW, Victoria or the ACT). However, if the Subject of Concern is a resident in any of these states we will make a voluntary report to the relevant scheme. 

All complaints will be recorded onto the Incident Management System, including outcomes of investigations, in accordance with Privacy legislation.

Identifying, Responding and Reporting to child abuse concerns, disclosures or complaints.

Safeguarding Central can receive information about concerns of abuse or actual abuse in a range of ways.-

-        Direct or indirect allegation, disclosure or concern from a child about themselves or another child.

-        Direct or indirect allegation, disclosure or concern from an adult about abuse of a child

-        Direct or indirect allegation, disclosure or concern from an adult about abuse to themselves when they were a child.

-        Via reports or documents that we receive during the course of our work.

Safeguarding Central will report all allegations, disclosures or concerns of abuse and harm.

Our preference is to work with our client to make the necessary external reports to child protection and/or the Police, however if there is conflict or delay in this process, Safeguarding Central will make the report themselves. We will always let our clients know if we have taken this action. We will work together with our clients to make any other referrals for follow up support services for the child or their family.

Safeguarding Central completes internal reports for all allegations, disclosures and concerns.

Record Keeping

Safeguarding Central keeps full and accurate records about all child-related complaints and reports. All child safety complaints, concerns, incidents and near misses will be recorded in the incident reporting system.  Records which may assist with the investigation of a complaint or safety concern will be identified and kept as part of the record of an investigation. Records will be kept even if an investigation does not substantiate a complaint.  Records will be stored securely and kept by Kids Have Fun Performing Arts Academy for at least 45 years.

Information Sharing

Safeguarding Central will keep information about complaints confidential, except where it is necessary to share information to respond properly to a complaint or to prioritise child safety. We may also need to share information about incidents or complaints with external authorities to comply with the law or to prioritise safety.   We do this inline with the South Australian Information Sharing Guidelines and the Commonwealth Privacy Act.

Non-compliance with this policy and the Code of Conduct

Safeguarding Central will enforce this policy and Code of Conduct. Potential breaches by anyone will be investigated and may result in restriction of duties, suspension or termination of employment or engagement or other corrective action.  

Policy Review

This Child Safeguarding Policy was approved on 01 May 2023. It will be reviewed at least every two years. It will also be reviewed following any change in legislation and/or the outcome of external investigations. The Policy review will include an analysis of all reports included into the Incident Management System as well as the Risk Management Plan. Safeguarding Central will seek the views of children in the review of this Policy and outcomes of the review will be included into Safeguarding Central’s newsletters. 

Code of Conduct

All Safeguarding Central People must:

  • treat all children with respect.

  • not use language or behaviour towards children that is inappropriate, harassing, abusive, sexually provocative, demeaning or culturally inappropriate.

  • not engage children in any form of sexual activity.

  • not use any form of punishment on children

  • be aware of behaviour and avoid actions or behaviours that could be perceived by others as child exploitation and abuse

  • wherever possible, ensure that another adult is present when working with or near children, including if work is conducted on or offline.

  • never use any computers, mobile phones, video cameras, cameras or social media to exploit or harass children, or access child exploitation material through any medium

  • comply with all relevant Australian and local legislation, including labour laws in relation to child labour

  • comply with the Safeguarding Central Child Safeguarding Policy

  • immediately report concerns or allegations of child exploitation and abuse and policy non-compliance in accordance with appropriate procedures

  • immediately disclose all charges, convictions and other outcomes of an offence that relates to child exploitation or abuse.

  • never photograph, record or use the images of a child without their fully informed assent. In addition to assent, informed consent from the child’s parent must always be provided before any photographs or images are recorded. An explanation of how the image or recording will be used must be provided to both the child and the parent. Assent and consent processes must be documented.