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Child Safe Standard 3
Child Safe Standard 3 – Children and young people are empowered about their rights, participate in decisions affecting them and are taken seriously.
In complying with Child Safe Standard 3, an organisation must, at a minimum, ensure: 3.1 Children and young people are informed about all of their rights, including to safety, information and participation. 3.2 The importance of friendships is recognised and support from peers is encouraged, to help children and young people feel safe and be less isolated. 3.3 Where relevant to the setting or context, children and young people are offered access to sexual abuse prevention programs and to relevant related information in an age appropriate way. 3.4 Staff and volunteers are attuned to signs of harm and facilitate child-friendly ways for children and young people to express their views, participate in decision-making and raise their concerns. 3.5 Organisations have strategies in place to develop a culture that facilitates participation and is responsive to the input of children and young people. 3.6 Organisations provide opportunities for children and young people to participate and are responsive to their contributions, thereby strengthening confidence and engagement.
Source
Commission for Children and Young People. (2021, July 1). New Child Safe Standards start in Victoria on 1 July 2022 to better protect children. https://ccyp.vic.gov.au/news/new-child-safe-standards-start-in-victoria-on-1-july-2022-tobetter-protect-children/
Child and student empowerment
7.1 Schools and school boarding premises must ensure that children, young people and students are empowered about their rights, participate in decisions affecting them and are taken seriously.
7.2 In complying with clause 7.1, the school governing authority or school boarding premises governing authority must, at a minimum, ensure: a. Children and students are informed about all of their rights, including to safety, information and participation. b. The importance of friendships is recognised and support from peers is encouraged, to help children and students feel safe and be less isolated.
c. Staff and volunteers are attuned to signs of harm and facilitate child-friendly ways for children and students to express their views, participate in decision-making and raise their concerns. d. Schools and school boarding premises have strategies in place to develop a culture that facilitates participation and is responsive to the input of children and students. e. Schools and school boarding premises provide opportunities for children and students to participate and are responsive to their contributions to strengthen confidence and engagement. 7.3 The school governing authority must ensure students are offered access to sexual abuse prevention programs and to relevant related information in an age-appropriate way.
7.4 Where relevant to the setting or context, the school boarding premises governing authority must ensure students are offered access to sexual abuse prevention programs and to relevant related information in an age-appropriate way.
7.5 The school governing authority or school boarding premises governing authority must develop curriculum planning documents or other documentation that details the strategies and actions the school or school boarding premises will take to implement clauses 7.1, 7.2, 7.3 and 7.4.
Explanatory notes:
The Convention on the Rights of the Child provides guidance on children’s rights. For further information see: https://humanrights.gov.au.
The Department of Education and Training also provides advice on equal opportunity and human rights for students at https://www2.education.vic.gov.au/pal/equal-opportunity- human-rights-students/policy.
Background
Under current Child Safe Standard 7, organisations are already required to employ strategies aimed at promoting the participation and empowerment of children and young people. These obligations are retained under the new Child Safe Standard 3.
The new Child Safe Standard 3 also requires organisations to inform children and young people about their rights such as those in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) including: • The right to participate and be heard. • The right to be safe and not harmed by anyone. • The right to live and grow up healthy. • The right to express their views and have a say about decisions that affect them. • The right to information, such as information about the policies and procedures that affect them.
Organisations must ensure that staff and volunteers receive appropriate training so that they understand their obligations and responsibility to support children and young people.
There are also new specific obligations on organisations to: • Recognise the importance of friendships and encourage support from peers, to help children and young people feel safe and be connected. • Equip staff and volunteers to identify the signs of harm to children.
Relevant training should equip staff and volunteers to communicate with children and young people in a way that is appropriate for their age, maturity and capability.
The Royal Commission into institutional responses to child sexual abuse recommended that, as part of a national strategy to prevent child abuse, sexual abuse prevention programs should be delivered through preschool, school and other community institutional settings to increase children’s knowledge of child sexual abuse and selfprotection strategies. Where relevant, organisations should ensure children and young people are offered programs of this kind.
Source
Commission for Children and Young People. (2021b, July 1, p. 9). What’s changing?: Compare current and new Child Safe Standards. https://ccyp.vic.gov.au/assets/resources/New-Standards/Whats-changing-comparison-of-currentand-new-Child-Safe-Standards.pdf
College Strategies
A range of resources have been prepared to support students in being informed about their rights. This includes: • The College has displayed Child Safety posters around the College. • An extract of the Child Safety Policy is published in the College diary for students, including links to a range of supporting resources. • A Child Safety webpage has been published on the College website, including resources that are targeted towards students. Please refer to: https://www.ncc.vic.edu.au/child-safety • The College implements the Australian Curriculum and addresses safety in a number of curriculum areas including Health and Digital Technologies. The College also integrates the Personal and Social Capability across the curriculum. Students in the Secondary School in Years 7 -10 also have a Pastoral Care subject that addresses a broad range of topics. • A wide range of wellbeing policies are published on the Policies page on the College website at: https://www.ncc.vic.edu.au/policies • College Policies are also available at the Reception if a member of the College community would like access to a College policy document.
Action items
Action: Review and update the College’s child safety poster. Action Plan Key: In Place Partially in Place Not in Place
The College recognises the importance of connectivity and the impact this has on student learning and wellbeing. A range of strategies are implemented to support students with developing relationships with others in the College community. This includes: • Buddy programs • Resiliency days • Orientation programs • House program • Extra-curricular activities • Clubs • Social skills groups • Authentic opportunities for group work “Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.”
1 Thessalonians 5:11
The College’s Committee of Management is conducting a review and working closely with the Executive Team to update the College’s Sex Education Scope and Sequence document. This resource will also document the sexual abuse prevention programs in place at the College.
Where relevant, students are offered access to child abuse (including sexual abuse) and reportable conduct prevention programs and other relevant information in an age-appropriate way.
Action items
Action: Document the sexual abuse prevention programs in place at Northside Christian College.
Action: Develop a plan to regularly review the sexual abuse prevention programs in place at Northside Christian College. Action Plan Key: In Place Partially in Place Not in Place
Staff and volunteers are trained to recognise the signs of harm. This is embedded into their annual training. Staff at the College complete the Protecting children: Mandatory reporting and other obligations training modules. This training is accessible on the Information Sharing and Multi-Agency Risk Assessment and Management (MARAM) Online Learning System and can be found at https://elearn.childlink.com.au.
The College recognises the “Process of Empowerment” model published by the Commission for Children and Young People (2021c).
Staff and volunteers are trained to recognise the signs of harm. This is embedded into their annual training. Staff at the College complete the Protecting children: Mandatory reporting and other obligations training modules. This training is accessible on the Information Sharing and Multi-Agency Risk Assessment and Management (MARAM) Online Learning System and can be found at https://elearn.childlink.com.au.
The College recognises the “Process of Empowerment” model published by the Commission for Children and Young People (2021c).
Children and young people are empowered
Source: Commission for Children and Young People. (2021c, p. 22). For more information, please refer to: https://ccyp.vic.gov.au/assets/resources/Empowerment-and-ParticipationGuide/CCYP-Empowerment-and-participation-guide-for-Web.pdf
Northside Christian College is committed to supporting our College community in developing and maintaining a culture of child safety. The voice of our students and staff are important and contribute significantly towards our child safe strategy.
The Commission for Children and Young People (2021c, p. 27) noted that for planned participation to be effective, organisations need to create the right conditions and deliver the activities in the right way. The resource below is helpful when considering strategies to engage staff and students.
For children and young people For staff
Help young people understand why they are being asked to participate, and offer this information in age-appropriate ways. Give them information and time to be able to decide how they think and feel about the topics to be discussed. Foster an environment that treats children and young people’s participation as valuable.
Show staff that their organisation values the opinions of young people.
Give them choices regarding how they can talk about issues.
Show staff that their organisation will respond to the views of young people. Give them choices in what issues they discuss. Give staff support to talk to children and young people in ways that are safe, appropriate and meaningful.
Prepare them to hear from other children and young people, and allow them to find a shared view. Give staff access to resources that help children and young people express themselves.
Let them know that they can choose to stop participating at any time. Allocate time and funding to support staff talking to young people.
Give genuine consideration and responses to their views, to build trust and show the organisation takes them seriously. Consider whether parental consent is required or necessary for participation activities, or whether it could impede full and frank participation.
For more information, please refer to: https://ccyp.vic.gov.au/assets/resources/Empowerment-and-ParticipationGuide/CCYP-Empowerment-and-participation-guide-for-Web.pdf
3.6 Organisations provide opportunities for children and young people to participate and are responsive to their contributions, thereby strengthening confidence and engagement.
The College has commenced implementing a range of strategies to consult with and engage children and young people. Below is a summary of some of the strategies being considered by the College.
•Small focus groups / student wellbeing workshops • Suggestion box • Surveys and questionnaires • Student Representative Council • EI Pulse • Newsletter article seeking feedback from College community • Buddy program for Prep students • Mentoring program for Senior School students
Northside Christian College recognises that students need to be heard in order to be safe. We value the opportunity to hear insights from our students through a variety of forums. Furthermore, we recognise the importance of supporting students to understand their rights and to develop an awareness of unsafe situation.
Source:
Rose, S., Fitzgerald, P., & Elleray, M. (2022, May). Victoria’s new Child Safe Standards – what they mean in practice [Webinar]. Moores Legal.
