Enforcement will not take effect for 12 months from when the scheme starts to allow time for capability building.
The Office of the Children’s Guardian is focussing efforts on capability building and support. This reflects the importance of education in changing attitudes and cultures that may make children vulnerable to abuse.
We will take a responsive, risk-based approach to regulation. For most organisations, the focus will be on education and building on the strengths of what organisations are already doing.
Monitoring will be strengths-based and focused on outcomes, not prescriptive compliance. We may investigate how an organisation subject to the Child Safe Scheme is implementing the Child Safe Standards.
Enforcement will be used in circumstances where organisations are not willing to implement the Child Safe Standards and they are a risks to children. It may result in either an Enforceable Undertaking or Compliance Notice.
Capability building
Open allTo support organisations to implement the Child Safe Standards Scheme we will be providing free training and resources. This capability building will follow a three-year plan. It will allow organisations to concentrate on the areas where they need the greatest support. In the first year we will focus on leadership. The second year will look at children, families and the community and the third year will be about child safe recruitment, training and development.
- 1 Year 1
By focussing on leadership, culture and governance, people in organisations will understand more about the foundational elements of being a child safe organisation.
Each quarter will focus on the elements that go into creating and embedding child safe practices.
Jan - Mar
- Child safe leadership and culture
- Child safe Code of Conduct
Apr – Jun
- Child safe risk management
- Child safe reporting
Jul – Sep
- How to develop a policy
- What is ‘Governance’ in a child safe setting?
Oct – Dec
- Keeping children safe online
- Child safe social media policy development
The OCG will provide sector specific webinars, training and resources on each of these topics.
This capability building training will support organisations to develop and improve child safe practices that align with Standards 1, 6, 8, 9 and 10.
- 2 Year 2
We will provide sector specific webinars, training and resources that will support organisations to develop and improve child safe practices that align with Standards 2, 3 and 4.
- 3 Year 3
We will provide sector specific webinars, training and resources that will support organisations to develop and improve child safe practices that align with Standards 5 and 7.
