The Office of Children’s Guardian regulates specialised substitute residential care under the Child Safe Scheme.
The Code of Practice for Providers of Specialised Substitute Residential Care sets out the mandatory minimum requirements to ensure providers implement the Child Safe Standards.
Code of practice for providers
The Code of Practice for Providers of Specialised Substitute Residential Care is found in Schedule 4 to the Children’s Guardian Regulation 2022. It applies to all providers of specialised substitute residential care.
The code of practice sets out the mandatory minimum requirements that providers must follow to comply with the Child Safe Scheme. In particular, the code applies the principle-based Child Safe Standards to the specialised substitute residential care context by setting out clear requirements for intake, assessment, supervision, case planning, reporting and inter-agency coordination.
We are developing an Implementation Guide for the Code of Practice to help providers embed the requirements into their policies, procedures and practice. The guide will provide additional detail and examples of effective implementation and day-to-day practice. It also integrates the 10 Child Safe Standards that are the foundation of the Child Safe Scheme. The guide will be available in coming weeks.
Information exchange
Chapter 16A of the Care and Protection Act lays out a framework for the exchange of information relating to the safety, welfare and wellbeing of a child or children between providers, agencies and other prescribed bodies.
Resources about information exchange under Chapter 16A can be found on the Department of Communities and Justice website.
- Checklist for requesting information under Chapter 16A
- Template letter for requests of information
- Template letter for agreeing to a request for information
- Template letter for declining a request for information
- Template for requesting information from Community Services
Detailed information on mandatory reporting is also available from the Department of Communities and Justice website.
Learning and support
We provide a wide range of resources and training about the Child Safe Standards on our training and resources page.
External resources
External resources to help you apply the principles outlined in the Regulation.
