Mps Safety Policy

CHILD SAFE POLICY STATEMENT
Child Safe Policy

Child safe standard 2
Our child safe policy is publicly available to help raise awareness about the importance of child
safety in organisations and demonstrate our commitment to protecting children from abuse.
Our Statement of Commitment to Child Safety

Merrivale Primary School is committed to the safety and wellbeing of all children and young people.
This will be the primary focus of our care and decision-making.
Merrivale Primary School has zero tolerance for child abuse.
We want children to be safe, happy and empowered. We support and respect all children, as well as
our staff and volunteers.
Every person involved in Merrivale Primary School has a responsibility to understand the important
and specific role he/she plays individually and collectively to ensure that wellbeing and safety of all
children and young people is at the forefront of all they do and every decision they make.
Particular attention will be paid to children from culturally and/or linguistically diverse backgrounds,
as well as the safety of children with a disability.
Merrivale Primary School is committed to regularly training and educating our staff and volunteers of
child abuse risks.
We have legal and moral obligations to contact authorities when we are concerned about a child’s
safety, which we follow rigorously.

If you believe a child is at immediate risk of abuse phone 000.
Our children
This policy is intended to empower children who are vital and active participants at Merrivale
Primary School. We involve them when making decisions, especially about matters that directly
affect them. We listen to their views and respect what they have to say.
We promote diversity and tolerance in our organisation, and people from all walks of life and cultural
backgrounds are welcome. In particular we:
• promote the safety and wellbeing of all children.
• promote the cultural safety, participation and empowerment of children from culturally and/or
linguistically diverse backgrounds
• ensure that children with a disability are safe and can participate equally.
Our staff and volunteers

This policy guides our staff and volunteers on how to behave with children in our organisation.
All of our staff and volunteers must agree to abide by our Child Safe Code of Conduct which
specifies the standards of conduct required when working with children. All staff and volunteers, as
well as children and their families, are given the opportunity to contribute to the development of the
Code of Conduct.
Training and supervision
Training and education is important to ensure that everyone in our organisation understands that
child safety is everyone’s responsibility.
Our organisational culture aims for all staff and volunteers (in addition to parents/carers and
children) to feel confident and comfortable in discussing any allegations of child abuse or child
safety concerns. We train our staff and volunteers to identify, assess, and minimise risks of child
abuse and to detect potential signs of child abuse.
We also support our staff and volunteers through ongoing supervision to: develop their skills to
protect children from abuse; and promote the cultural safety of all children, the cultural safety of
children from linguistically and/or diverse backgrounds, and the safety of children with a disability.
During the induction process, new employees and volunteers will be made aware of the
requirements of this policy to ensure they understand Merrivale Primary School’s commitment to
child safety and that everyone has a role to play in protecting children from abuse, as well as
checking that their behaviour towards children is safe and appropriate (please refer to this
organisation’s Code of Conduct to understand appropriate behaviour further). Any inappropriate
behaviour will be reported through appropriate channels, including the Department of Health and
Human Services and Victoria Police, depending on the severity and urgency of the matter.
Recruitment
We take all reasonable steps to employ skilled people to work with children. We develop selection
criteria and advertisements which clearly demonstrate our commitment to child safety and an
awareness of our social and legislative responsibilities. Merrivale Primary School understands that
when recruiting staff and volunteers we have ethical as well as legislative obligations.
We actively encourage applications from people from culturally and/or linguistically diverse
backgrounds and people with a disability.
All people engaged in child-related work, including volunteers, are required to hold a Working with
Children Check and to provide evidence of this Check. Please see the Working with Children Check
website <www.workingwithchildren.vic.gov.au> for further information
We carry out reference checks and police record checks to ensure that we are recruiting the right
people. Police record checks are used only for the purposes of recruitment and are discarded after
the recruitment process is complete. We do retain our own records (but not the actual criminal
record) if an applicant’s criminal history affected our decision making process.
If during the recruitment process a person’s records indicate a criminal history then the person will
be given the opportunity to provide further information and context.
Fair procedures for personnel

The safety and wellbeing of children is our primary concern. We are also fair and just to personnel.
The decisions we make when recruiting, assessing incidents, and undertaking disciplinary action
will always be thorough, transparent, and based on evidence.
We record all allegations of abuse and safety concerns using our incident reporting form, including
investigation updates. All records are securely stored.
If an allegation of abuse or a safety concern is raised, we provide updates to children and families
on progress and any actions we as an organisation take. If this is appropriate and takes into
consideration privacy and confidentiality.
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Privacy
All personal information considered or recorded will respect the privacy of the individuals involved,
whether they be staff, volunteers, parents or children, unless there is a risk to someone’s safety. We
have safeguards and practices in place to ensure any personal information is protected. Everyone is
entitled to know how this information is recorded, what will be done with it, and who will have access
to it.
Legislative responsibilities
Merrivale Primary School takes our legal responsibilities seriously, including:
• Failure to disclose: Reporting child sexual abuse is a community-wide responsibility. All adults
in Victoria who have a reasonable belief that an adult has committed a sexual offence against a
child under 16 have an obligation to report that information to the police.1
• Failure to protect: People of authority in our organisation will commit an offence if they know of
a substantial risk of child sexual abuse and have the power or responsibility to reduce or remove
the risk, but negligently fail to do so.2
• Any personnel who are mandatory reporters must comply with their duties.3
Risk management
In Victoria, organisations are required to protect children when a risk is identified (see information
about failure to protect above). In addition to general occupational health and safety risks, we
proactively manage risks of abuse to our children.
We have risk management strategies in place to identify, assess, and take steps to minimise child
abuse risks, which include risks posed by physical environments (for example, any doors that can
lock), and online environments (for example, no staff or volunteer is to have contact with a child in
organisations on social media).
Regular review
This policy will be reviewed every two years and following significant incidents if they occur. We will
ensure that families and children have the opportunity to contribute. Where possible we do our best
to work with local Aboriginal communities, culturally and/or linguistically diverse communities and
people with a disability.
Allegations, concerns and complaints

Merrivale Primary School takes all allegations seriously and has practices in place to investigate
thoroughly and quickly. Our staff and volunteers are trained to deal appropriately with allegations.

1
A person will not commit this offence if they have a reasonable excuse for not disclosing the information, including a fear for their safety
or where the information has already been disclosed.
Further information about the failure to disclose offence is available on the Department of Justice and Regulation website
<www.justice.vic.gov.au/home/safer+communities/protecting+children+and+families/failure+to+disclose+offence>.
2
Further information about the failure to protect offence is available on the Department of Justice and Regulation website
<www.justice.vic.gov.au/home/safer+communities/protecting+children+and+families/failure+to+protect+offence>.
3
Mandatory reporters (doctors, nurses, midwives, teachers (including early childhood teachers), principals and police) must report to child
protection if they believe on reasonable grounds that a child is in need of protection from physical injury or sexual abuse.
See the Department of Health and Human Services website for information about how to make a report to child protection
<www.dhs.vic.gov.au/about-the-department/documents-and-resources/reports-publications/guide-to-making-a-report-to-child-protection-
or-child-first>.
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We work to ensure all children, families, staff and volunteers know what to do and who to tell if they
observe abuse or are a victim, and if they notice inappropriate behaviour.
We all have a responsibility to report an allegation of abuse if we have a reasonable belief that an
incident took place (see information about failure to disclose above).
If an adult has a reasonable belief that an incident has occurred then they must report the incident.
Factors contributing to reasonable belief may be:
• a child states they or someone they know has been abused (noting that sometimes the child may
in fact be referring to themselves)
• behaviour consistent with that of an abuse victim is observed
• someone else has raised a suspicion of abuse but is unwilling to report it
• observing suspicious behaviour.
• This policy will be reviewed every two years

Signed:
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
School Council President Principal
Ratified by School Council October 2016
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CHILD SAFE POLICY STATEMENT

Child Safe Policy

Our Statement of Commitment to Child Safety

Our staff and volunteers

Fair procedures for personnel

Child safe policy

Allegations, concerns and complaints

Child safe policy

• This policy will be reviewed every two years

Ratified by School Council October 2016

Child safe policy

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