What is Child Link?
Child Link is a digital tool that displays information about a child to authorised key professionals who have responsibility for child wellbeing and safety. Child Link shows limited but critical information, such as a child’s participation in key early childhood and education services.
By providing this information, Child Link helps professionals to:
- collaborate with other services and professionals working with a child and their family
- make more informed decisions about the wellbeing, safety and support needs of a child and their family
- identify needs, issues and vulnerabilities that may be present earlier and provide the support necessary to prevent an escalation of harm.
Security and privacy are core to the design of Child Link and strict safeguards are in place to protect information.
Who can use Child Link
Only trained professionals responsible for child wellbeing and safety can view information on Child Link. These professionals are known as Child Link Users, and include:
- maternal and child health nurses
- key early childhood staff
- school principals, teachers and wellbeing staff
- child protection workers.
Professionals must be authorised by a designated senior staff member in their school or service before they can view information on Child Link.
Senior staff members who are responsible for creating and managing Child Link User accounts are known as Child Link Authorisers.
For more information, see Child Link Authorisers and Users.
Comprehensive training and support is available to help authorised professionals understand their obligations and responsibilities, prior to accessing Child Link.
Child Link Users must undertake compulsory training before gaining access to Child Link. For more information, see Training for the information sharing and MARAM reforms.
How to access Child Link
To access Child Link, you must be in an eligible professional role, and complete the steps detailed in Accessing Child Link.
If you are an authorised professional and have completed training and all the steps required to activate your Child Link access, you can click on the following link to log in to Child Link.
Child Information Sharing Scheme
The Child Information Sharing Scheme (CISS) allows authorised organisations to share information to support child wellbeing or safety.
Together, Child Link and CISS give professionals the clarity and tools they need to share vital information to help improve outcomes for children and young people in Victoria.
For more information, visit the CISS webpage.
Discussing Child Link with parents, carers and young people
Building trust with families takes time, and comes only after forming a genuine relationship. Child Link is a tool to support that work. It can help you come to conversations with families better informed, and coordinate more effectively with other services supporting the same child.
Professionals may download the following resources to support conversations with young people and their families.
General audiences
Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander
audiences
Professionals may also visit the webpages designed to support families understanding of Child Link.
For more information for for general audiences, visit Child Link: Information for families.
For more information for Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander
audiences, visit Child Link: information for Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander families.
Child Link Secretary’s Guidelines
The Child Link Secretary’s Guidelines detail Child Link’s operational, access and usage policies including:
- how information on Child Link is managed
- who can access Child Link and what information can be shared
- how authorised organisations can use Child Link to support the wellbeing and safety needs of children in their professional care.
The Child Link Secretary's Guidelines have been developed in accordance with section 46S of the Child Wellbeing and Safety Act 2005, and are accompanied by a suite of resources, tools and training for Child Link Users.
Further support
If you or someone you are supporting has concerns that Child Link has been used in a way that is not permitted, there are feedback and complaint mechanisms available.
For more information, visit Child Link complaints.
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