Review child safety practices

For the official wording, refer to:

• Ministerial Order 1359 (PDF, 363 KB) – Implementing the Child Safe Standards: Managing the risk of child abuse in schools and boarding premises
• Child Safe Standard 10 – Full text from the Commission for Children and Young People
• Compliance guidance – From the Victorian Registration and Qualifications Authority (VRQA)

Review when:

• someone raises a concern
• there is a complaint or confirmed incident of child harm
• laws or regulations change
• new issues or new activities arise, such as new technologies or building works
• staff or volunteers don’t know about, or aren’t following child safety policies as intended
• the scheduled review date has arrived – once every two years.

• Child safety and wellbeing policy
• Child safety code of conduct
• Child safety risk register
• Complaints policy
• Procedure for responding to complaints and concerns relating to child abuse
• Recordkeeping and information management protocols
• Policies and practices about accessibility, cultural safety, diversity and inclusion
• Recruitment policies and practices for staff and volunteers
• Induction programs
• Training for staff and volunteers
• Communication aimed at students, their families and the community about child safety
• How the school is embedding child safety and rights in the curriculum

• What’s changed since the school last reviewed child safety?
• Can you change the school environment to better support child safety?
• Do the current child safety policies and procedures address Ministerial Order 1359?
• What child safety practices are you doing well?
• What is the root cause of a complaint or incident?
• What can you learn from incidents, concerns and complaints?
• How can you address weaknesses, failures and gaps?
• Do staff and volunteers understand and apply child safety policies as intended?
• How are students, families and the community involved in your child safety approach?
• Who is responsible for actions to improve child safety?
• Who is accountable for child safety incidents?
• Does you need to seek advice from independent specialists?

• Create a register of child safety policies, noting approval dates and reviews every two years.
• When it’s time to review, create a plan and set up a working group led by the child safety champion.
• Track and manage child safety risks using a risk register.
• Find the causes of incidents and watch for repeat issues or systemic failures.
• Use complaints and incidents as chance to learn and improve.
• Find ways to involve the school community in reviews (see Standard 4).

• Document recommendations for applying and improving practices, such as in board meeting minutes.
• Keep a secure log of complaints and concerns, showing appropriate responses and mitigations.
• Review complaints received and incidents reported for gaps, weaknesses or failures in policies.
• Make review findings and recommendations easy to access and understand.
• Include review findings in training for staff and volunteers.
• Share review outcomes with students in age-appropriate ways.
• Inform the school community of any policy changes relevant to them.
• Ask your school community if child safety policies and procedures are clear and easy to find and use.

• Annual report to the school community policy
• Bully Stoppers
• Complaint resolution policy
• Emergency and critical incident management planning policy
• PROTECT poster
• Records management policy
• Reporting and managing school incidents (including emergencies)
• Risk management – schools policy
• Software and administration systems policy

• Victorian Registration and Qualifications Authority – Child Safe Standards
• Catholic Education Commission of Victoria – Child Safety
• Independent Schools Victoria

• Protecting children: Mandatory reporting and other obligations

• Creating a Child Safe Organisation (YouTube video) – Commission for Children and Young People
• Practical tools – Australian Human Rights Commission
• Public Records Office of Victoria Retention and Disposal Order for Records of Organisational Response to Child Sexual Abuse Incidents and Allegations
• Risk Management – Academy