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.
Steps to putting the foundations in place are below.
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.
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 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 organisations should have some key documents. These include:
- 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 templates that you can use to make your own. It’s important that these documents are shared with everyone in your organisation as well as children, parents and guardians.
Step 4: Reduce risks to children and young people in your organisation
Another key step to creating a child safe environment is to look across your organisation to identify risks to children and young people. You then need to take action to reduce these risks.
Watch our short video that explains risks to children in organisations.
The examples in the video are from sports clubs, but the principles are the same in all organisations.
Our two handbooks on understanding and identifying risks can provide more guidance.
Step 5: Show your commitment to being a child-safe organisation
Open allSome other simple steps your organisation can take to put the foundations in place:
- 1 Issue a public statement of commitment to child safety
This must be championed by leaders in your organisation.
Download an editable Statement of Commitment to Child Safety sample to get you started.
- 2 Print and display our Child Safe Standards posters
Put them in prominent places to show that you value child safety, and encourage reporting when something goes wrong. We provide posters in a range of community languages.
- 3 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.
- 4 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.
- 5 Keep child safety a top priority in your organisation
Do this by adding child safety as a standard agenda item in your regular staff, management and board meetings. Use these opportunities to make child safety everyone’s responsibility and to track your progress.
- 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: Review your progress
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.
Take the Child Safe Self-Assessment
