Child Safe Standards To Be Implemented In Early Childhood Services

There will be greater consistency in how organisations including Early Childhood Services protect children under new laws passed in NSW Parliament recently implementing the Child Safe Scheme to support the safety and wellbeing of children and young people. 

The Scheme gives the Office of the Children’s Guardian (OCG) additional powers to monitor and investigate how organisations implement the Child Safe Standards.

The Child Safe Standards provide a framework for organisations to create and maintain child-safe cultures, operations and environments.

The Child Safe Standards are:

1. Child safety is embedded in organisational leadership, governance and culture;
2. Children participate in decisions affecting them and are taken seriously;
3. Families and communities are informed and involved;
4. Equity is upheld and diverse needs are taken in to account;
5. People working with children are suitable and supported;
6. Processes to respond to complaints of child abuse are child focused;
7. Staff are equipped with the knowledge, skills and awareness to keep children safe through continual education and training;
8. Physical and online environments minimise the opportunity for abuse to occur;
9. Implementation of the Child Safe Standards is continuously reviewed and improved; and
10.Policies and procedures document how the organisation is child safe.

Under the new Scheme, Early Childhood Services must implement the Child Safe Standards. The OCG will support organisations with the implementation of the Standards in ways that will be appropriate to their size, resources and the nature of their involvement with children.

For more information, please read the following: Child Safe Standards