If your organisation is getting started on its child safe journey, this page will help you put the foundations in place.
Putting the foundations in place
The Child Safe Scheme applies to child-related organisations identified by NSW Government.
The Child Safe Scheme is underpinned by the 10 Child Safe Standards. The Child Safe Standards provide a framework to help organisations meet their obligations under the Child Safe Scheme. When organisations apply the Child Safe Standards, they help build a culture where children and young people are valued and feel safer, and where child abuse is better prevented, detected and responded to.
For small organisations, implementing the Standards may seem daunting. But what you’ll find is that you'll already have some things in place to help safeguard children and you can build on these to meet the requirements of the Child Safe Scheme. The Standards can be applied in practical ways to fit your environment and community. We are here to provide practical help, training and resources to make sure organisations have the key foundations in place.
Six steps to getting started
To put the foundations of child safety in place, there are six action-based steps you can take.
Following them will help you embed child safety in everyday thinking and practice across your organisation. The steps can be taken at the same time as each other, or one at a time – however works best for your organisation.
Step 1: Understand the Child Safe Standards
It is important to know the purpose of each of the 10 Standards and what they look like in practice. We provide many free resources to help you find out more about the Standards.
You can:
Watch a short introductory video about the Child Safe Scheme and Standards
Step 2: Make sure your staff and volunteers have necessary checks
Make sure that everyone in your organisation who is required to have a Working with Children Check (WWCC) has a verified clearance or application. Your organisation must verify WWCCs on the OCG website. Some workers may also need an NDIS Worker Check (NDISWC).
Step 3: Develop or review your key Child Safe documents
As a foundation to creating a child safe organisation, your organisation should have the following child safe documents:
- Statement of Commitment to Child Safety
- Child Safe Policy
- Child Safe Code of Conduct
- Child Safe Reporting Policy,
- Child Safe Recruitment, Induction and Training Policy
- Child Safe Risk Management Plan.
We provide sample templates that you can use that you can use as a starting point to develop child safe documents to suit your own organisation.
You should then ask for feedback from across your organisation, including young people. Once completed, it’s important that these documents are then shared with all staff and volunteers, as well as children, parents, guardians and your community.
Step 4: Reduce risks to children in your organisation
Another key step to creating a child safe environment is to look across your organisation to start identifying potential risks to children. You then need to take action to reduce or eliminate these risks. Use your Child Safe Risk Management Plan to describe these risks and actions taken, and regularly update these.
To get started on understanding and managing risks to children in organisations, watch a short video that explains the key principles, with examples from sports clubs.
You can also read the introductory section of OCG’s handbook on managing risk:
Step 5: Show your commitment to being a child-safe organisation
Open allSome other simple things your organisation can do to promote and prioritise children’s safety:
- 1 Promote and publish your Statement of Commitment to Child Safety
This must be championed by the leaders in your organisation. You can then share it on your website and social media pages.
Download an editable Statement of Commitment to Child Safety sample to get you started.
- 2 Make sure that child safety is the top priority of your organisation
Add child safety as a standard agenda item in your regular staff, management and board meetings. Use these opportunities to make it known that child safety everyone’s responsibility, and to track your progress.
- 3 Print and display our Child Safe Standards posters
Put these in prominent places to show that you value child safety and encourage reporting if something goes wrong. We provide posters in a range of community languages.
- 4 Make sure all children in your organisation can speak up
Children and young people must be able to speak up about anything that concerns them. Giving children and young people opportunities to participate in decisions that affect them helps them feel safe and included.
Read our Empowerment and Participation Guide to learn more.
- 5 Communicate regularly to your community by newsletter, social media or email
Make sure that volunteers, parents, guardians and others understand the importance of the Child Safe Standards in your organisation and that keeping children safe is a shared responsibility.
- 6 Sign up to our newsletters
Find out more about our latest training, resources and changes to legislation.
NSW Office of the Children's Guardian general monthly newsletter
Step 6: Track and review your progress
You can use the OCG’s Getting Started tracker (DOCX, 463.29KB)to keep track of your progress across these 6 steps.
Once you have some foundations in place, use our online Child Safe Self-Assessment to see how your organisation is doing.
Share the customised progress report with your staff, management and board members and use this to identify the areas you need to build on.
Take the Child Safe Self-Assessment
