Support: respond to abuse by an adult engaged by a Catholic school
Guidance on how to support students through your school. Support is one of the 4 Critical Actions.
Schools
Any allegation, complaint, disclosure or concern of abuse (including grooming) by an adult engaged by a school is reportable conduct under Victoria’s Reportable Conduct Scheme.
Your school must provide support for all impacted students. This includes students who experienced abuse (including grooming) and others who may be affected. This can mean siblings or friends who know about the abuse or were impacted in other ways. This is an essential part of your duty of care obligations.
Child abuse can cause trauma. It can also significantly impact a child’s health, safety and wellbeing and disrupt their education. You play a central role in:
ensuring the students feel safe and supported at school
meeting their individual educational and wellbeing needs.
Support complements refer. Both actions happen at the same time if you decide that's the best way to help the student.
Ensure the right staff carry out these actions for all impacted students. Your school’s wellbeing team may lead this work. In some cases, external specialist supports may be more appropriate. If wellbeing staff have worked closely with the alleged offender, it might not be appropriate for them to support the student.
When your school makes a report, your governing body will advise you of the next actions.
If an adult is engaged by a school, the governing body will work with the school and health and wellbeing staff.They will ensure impacted students and their families get the right support.
This may include creating a student safety and wellbeing plan. This plan helps the student attend school safely. It also considers any triggers and health and wellbeing needs.
Other matters
For matters that do not involve sexual offences, your school can support students in a range of ways.
Identify which resources are likely to be the most suitable. This will depend on the type of abuse that occurred and the support that the students need.
To ensure the ongoing safety of all impacted students, you can:
appoint contact people for each student
minimise the time that a student spends in environments they find distressing
make safety plans for break times and external events
introduce safe drop-off and pick-up arrangements
talk to students about their safety outside of school.
Programs and tools
Schools Mental Health Menu: a list of programs, staff, and other support from an evidence-based menu. This includes whole school approaches to individual interventions. The Menu is publicly available. It helps Catholic schools find effective programs and resources. These are based on evidence to support student mental health and wellbeing.
Individual Safety/Wellbeing/Management Plan: helps to manage and reduce risk. This is for students who may be a danger to themselves or others, including students who may be at risk of harm. It includes warning signs, coping strategies, and a list of contacts for support. It is usually created by school staff with the student and their family. It may have input from allied health staff.
Behaviour Support Plan (BSP): support students to develop positive social interaction skills. This helps them to be a more successful learner and to create a safe learning environment for all.
Program Support Groups (PSG): connect key stakeholders who know and support the student. They review adjustments described in their PLP or BSP. The group work to establish goals for the student. These goals support the student’s educational, social and emotional development.
Mandatory Reporting Policy: teachers and other professionals must report any suspected child abuse or neglect to authorities. This policy outlines the required actions. It ensures all Catholic school staff know and follow their reporting obligations. This protects the safety and wellbeing of children and young people.
Be You consultants: features professionals in education and mental health. They help schools implement strategies for improved mental health and wellbeing.
Be You programs directory: a searchable database. It lists external mental health and wellbeing programs for schools.
School referral pathway: school-based document that outlines the referral pathway to support students.
Contact your governing body for more advice on other relevant supports.
Sometimes, there will be no students at your school who are directly affected. For example, if a staff member is charged with sexually abusing a child that has never attended your school.
In these cases, the relevant governing body will still assist you. They will:
support you to appropriately share this information about the charges with your community
Work with school staff with information sharing responsibilities. They can share and request information with other Information Sharing Entities (ISEs) under the Child Information Sharing Scheme (CISS) where needed. What you learn from other ISEs can help you decide how to support the students.
For example, you may request information about a student from:
their previous school
a community service they have used for health and wellbeing support.
If you do not know which services a child is linked with, ask staff who have access to Child Link. They can:
check the child’s participation in early childhood and education services
see key family relationships
see if the child or their sibling has a past or current child protection order.
This can help you find which ISEs to contact under CISS.
It is important to talk to the student about the support they want. This can help them feel empowered and more likely to take part in the process in a positive way.
You can:
hear their thoughts and acknowledge their situation
discuss your concerns about their safety and wellbeing
highlight the supports that are available through your school
help them to explore their options and develop appropriate plans.
Talk to the student in a way that is culturally safe, suitable for their age, trauma-informed and respectful.
It is also important to talk to the student’s parents or carers. Parental support and encouragement can help the student through the process.
When supporting a student, pay attention to their individual circumstances. Some children or young people may experience increased vulnerability.
