Australia’s most effective child safety management solution

1. New Child Safe standards go much further than Working with Children Check
2. Skillset Passport brings total solution through partnership with leading child safety practitioner, Child Insight
3. Implementing new standards is achievable for every club and organisation

New and expansive Child Safety Standards are live in Victoria from January 1, 2017. Included in these standards are guidelines and rules that will protect children from those in the community seeking to abuse or harm. It also includes harsh penalties for both clubs and individuals who don’t comply.

While the Working With Children Check is one important element of the strengthened standards, there is so much more for clubs and organisations to be concerned with. Successful compliance requires policies, strategies, systems and education. No small task and certainly not achievable without significant effort…or at least a partner to support such efforts.

Skill Set Passport is a system that simplifies record keeping and management of child safety documentation like the Working With Children Check. Our partnership with Child Insight and it’s CEO, Pen McEncroe adds the policies and education required to make compliance true and complete.

The new Child Safety Standards in Victoria state that every organisation, whether not-for-profit or otherwise, must comply with the standards by July 1, 2017. While the standards became law on January 1, 2017, the department is allowing these organisations some grace to get their houses in order.

The regulations are based around 7 core standards, as follows:

1. Strategies to embed an organisational culture of child safety, including through effective leadership arrangements
2. A Child Safe Policy or Statement of Commitment to Child Safety
3. A Code of Conduct that establishes clear expectations for appropriate behaviour with children
4. Screening, supervision, training and other human resources practices that reduce the risk of child abuse by new and existing personnel
5. Processes for responding to and reporting suspected child abuse
6. Strategies to identify and reduce or remove risks of child abuse
7. Strategies to promote the participation and empowerment of children.

Embracing and implementing these standards will represent significant cultural change within most organisations. While child safety might be assumed to be of paramount importance, compliance with these standards embeds child safety as every organisations top priority.

The implications of the new standards are especially potent for the vast number of sporting organisations that serve the children of Victoria and who rely heavily on volunteer support for the delivery of their services. Lead by enthusiastic and passionate committees or management, with occasional paid administrators, and staffed by dedicated volunteer coaches, team managers, training staff, clubs face a tough task to embrace and embed these changes without solutions to simplify the process.

Effective Child Safety, as intended by the new child safety standards is far more than the Working with Children Check/Card. By making Skillset Passport your partner in Child Safety management, and through our relationship with Child Insight, we will ensure your club or organisation has all of the tools required to protect children and prevent the horrors of abuse.

Learn more about Child Insight and Pen McEncroe

Apply for your Working with Children Check here

New Child Safety Standards in full