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Child Safe Policy
Date of Policy: 10th August 2017 (updated)
Written By: Michelle Harris
Approved By: SGB Committee
Endorsed By: SGB Committee
Date for Review: 10th August 2018
Purpose
This policy was written to demonstrate the strong commitment of the management, staff and volunteers of the South Gippsland Bass Swimming Club (the Club) to child safety and to provide an outline of the policies and practices the Club has developed to keep everyone safe from any harm, including abuse.
Commitment to Child Safety
All children who are a part of the Club have a right to feel and be safe. The welfare of the children in our care will always be our first priority and the Club has a zero tolerance to child abuse. The Club aims to create a child safe and child friendly environment where children feel safe and have fun and the Club’s activities are always carried out in the best interests of the children.
Related Documents
This policy must be read in conjunction with:
Swimming Australia Safe Sport Framework
Swimming Victoria Code of Conduct/Commitment Statement
Swimming Australia/ Swimming Victoria Privacy Policy
The Club’s Constitution & By Laws
The Club’s Commitment & Code of Conduct
The Club’s Photography Policy
Application of this Policy
This policy was developed by the Club and in collaboration with Swimming Victoria, Gippsland Swimming and the members of our club.
This policy applies to all individuals involved in the Club (paid and volunteer) including, but not limited to:
Administrators
Coaches
Officials
Team Managers
Participants
Parents
Spectators
All of the people to which this policy applies have a role and responsibility in relation to child protection. They must all:
understand the indicators and risks of child abuse;
appropriately act on any concerns raised by children; and
understand and follow all applicable laws in relation to the protection of children and reporting or management of child safety concerns.
Child Abuse
Child abuse can take a broad range of forms including physical abuse, sexual abuse, emotional or psychological abuse and neglect. People to whom this policy applies need to be aware that child abuse
can occur whenever there is actual or potential harm to a child. The Club is committed to reducing the risk of any child abuse occurring.
Children’s Rights to Safety and Participation
The Club encourages children to express their views about their safety. We listen to their suggestions, especially on matters that directly affect them. We actively encourage all children who use our services to ‘have a say’ about things that are important to them.
We teach children about what they can do if they feel unsafe. We listen to and act on any concerns children, or their parents, or anyone else who raises a concern with us.
We empower our club captains to act as the leaders and represent the views of our members who are under the age of 18.
Valuing Diversity
We value diversity and do not tolerate any discriminatory practices. To achieve this we:
promote the cultural safety, participation and empowerment of Aboriginal children and their families;
promote the cultural safety, participation and empowerment of children from culturally and/or linguistically diverse backgrounds and their families;
welcome children with a disability and their families and act to promote their participation; and
seek appropriate staff from diverse cultural backgrounds.
Recruiting staff and volunteers
The Club takes the following steps to ensure best practice standards in the recruitment and screening of staff and volunteers:
Interview and conduct referee checks on all staff and volunteers
Require police checks and Working with Children Checks for relevant positions or where required by the Working With Children Act 2005 (Vic).
Our commitment to Child Safety and our screening requirements are included in all advertisements and as part of the induction process for new staff or volunteers.
Supporting staff and volunteers
The Club seeks to attract and retain the best staff and volunteers. We provide support and supervision so people feel valued, respected and fairly treated. We have adopted the Swimming Australia Safe Sport Framework and Swimming Victoria Code of Conduct to provide guidance to our staff and volunteers, all of whom receive training on the requirements of the Code.
The Code of Conduct documents can be found in the documents section of our Team App system.
Reporting a child safety concern or complaint
The Club has appointed a Child Safety Officer with the specific responsibility for responding to any complaints made by staff, volunteers, parents or children. Our complaints process is in accordance with Swimming Australia Safe Sport Framework Part 4 and summarised in Swimming Victoria Safe Sport Reporting Process.
Risk Management
We recognise the importance of a risk management approach to minimising the potential for child abuse or harm to occur and we use this to inform our policy, procedures and activity planning. In addition to general occupational health and safety risks, we proactively manage risks of abuse to our children. To reduce the risk of child abuse occurring, everyone 18 or over to whom this policy applies should avoid direct, unsupervised contact with children in accordance with codes of behaviour outlined in Part 3 of Swimming Australia Safe Sport Framework and outlined in the following specific examples.
Change Room arrangements:
a) supervise children or young people in change rooms whilst balancing their need for privacy;
b) avoid one-to-one situations with children or young people in a change room area;
c) ensure that females not enter male change rooms and vice versa.
Overnight Stays and Sleeping Arrangements:
Overnight stays are to only occur with the authorisation of parents/carers and appropriate Senior Persons in swimming and there are particular standards of behaviour that must be upheld outlined in section 3.6(l).
Transporting children:
Persons in positions of authority can only transport children and young persons in circumstances that are directly related to the delivery of swimming programs, activities, services or events and only with express authorisation of a Senior Person and the parent(s)/carer(s).
Physical Contact:
Physical contact must be appropriate to delivery of swimming programs, activities, services and events (eg, fitting goggles) and based on the needs of the child or young person (ie. To comfort if distressed).
Reviewing this policy
This policy will be reviewed in 1 year and we undertake to seek views, comments and suggestions from children, parents, carers, staff and volunteers involved in the Club.
