Safeguarding children

Creating safe sporting environments for children and young people requires a commitment from everyone involved in sport.

Providing safe sporting environments for children and young people in Victoria is not optional, it is required by law under the Child Wellbeing and Safety Act 2005.

Victorian Child Safe Standards

All organisations in Victoria that provide services or facilities for children are required to comply with Child Safe Standards. This ensures that the safety of children is promoted, child abuse is prevented, and allegations of child abuse are properly responded to.

The minimum compulsory standards for all organisations that interact with children and young people are outlined in the 11 Child Safe Standards available on the Commission for Children and Young People website.

The Standards aim to prevent abuse through cultural change and creating positive environments where children feel safe to speak up about issues that affect them.

New Child Safe Standards came into effect on 1 July 2022 to more closely align with the National Principles for Child Safe Organisations.

Commission for Children and Young People

The Commission for Children and Young People (CCYP) is the independent statutory body that oversees the Victorian Child Safe Standards and the Reportable Conduct Scheme in Victoria.

CCYP promotes improvement in policies and practices affecting the safety and wellbeing of Victorian children and young people.

A range of free resources to support implementation of the Standards is available on the Commission for Children and Young People website.

Reportable Conduct Scheme

The Reportable Conduct Scheme (RCS) was introduced in 2017 to improve accountability and oversight of the way organisations respond to allegations of child related misconduct or abuse.

It requires heads of organisations to notify CCYP within 3 business days of becoming aware of an allegation of reportable conduct by their workers or volunteers. Failure to report to CCYP is an offence under Victorian law.

There are 5 types of reportable conduct:

sexual misconduct committed against, with, or in the presence of a child
sexual offences committed against, with, or in the presence of a child
physical violence against, with, or in the presence of a child
any behaviour that causes significant emotional or psychological harm to a child
significant neglect of a child.

Any allegations of behaviour that could be illegal must still be reported to Victoria Police.

Organisations responding to a reportable conduct allegation must investigate the allegations and must keep CCYP informed about their investigation.

Visit the CCYP website to learn more about the Reportable Conduct Scheme.

National Redress Scheme

The National Redress Scheme (the Scheme) commenced in 2018 and will run until 2028. It was established following the Royal Commission into Institutional Child Sexual Abuse, for people who experienced child sexual abuse while in an institution, including sport and recreation organisations. The Scheme also includes abuse that happened during an activity organised by the institution, such as a sporting competition. The Scheme helps people access redress in the form of payment, counselling and support.

The Australian Government expects every institution in which child sexual abuse occurred to be accountable for that abuse. An institution named in a redress application must join the Scheme within six months or face penalties.

Victorian sport and recreation organisations across all levels (club, association, league and state) are currently involved in the Scheme. Sporting institutions are assisted by the Scheme to participate if there is a redress application naming their organisation.

For more information, please visit the National Redress Scheme website.

Vicsport

Vicsport is the peak body for sport and active recreation in the Victoria. They work closely with the Victorian Government to promote sport and active recreation, and support the sector across a range of areas including:

participation
industry development
advocacy
safe, fair and inclusive sport.

To support the sport sector in implementing the 11 Victorian Child Safe Standards, Vicsport has a large number of Child Safe Sport resources .

A free training course is also available through the Vicsport etraining portal.

Vicsport Child Safe Help Desk

Vicsport also provide a Child Safe Sport Help Desk that can be utilised by sport and active recreation organisations for support in any child safe related matter.

Phone: (03) 9698 8100
Email: admin@vicsport.com.au

Sport Integrity Australia

Sport Integrity Australia (SIA) is a commonwealth government agency that was established on 1 July 2020 to safeguard the integrity of Australian sport.

SIA provide a range of services including policies, resources, education and support, including assistance with issues regarding child safety.

SIA are committed to embedding child safety measures across all levels of sport, from grassroots through to high performance. This starts with the National Integrity Framework (NIF).

The intent of the NIF is to assist with creating a safe, fair and healthy sporting environment for all by setting out the rules about the types of behaviour that are unacceptable in sport.

The NIF consists of a suite of policies that are adopted by a sport, and includes the Safeguarding Children and Young People Policy (Word) (SCYPP). The SCYPP is designed to protect children in sport by putting in place rules and processes to ensure sporting environments are inclusive, positive and safe for all children at all times.

SIA also offer a comprehensive list of easy-to-follow resources relating to safeguarding for sporting environments, including:

Play by the Rules

Play by the Rules (PBTR) is a free online platform which provides information, resources, tools and free online training to increase the knowledge and capability of all involved in community sport.

PBTR provides guidance in managing issues associated with discrimination, harassment, child safety, member protection, inclusion and integrity issues in sport.

SIA and PBTR offer a number of free online courses, including the Safeguarding Children and Young People in Sport Induction Course.

The course provides:

an overview of safeguarding in sport
the role of child safeguarding safe practices
recognising breaches of the Safeguarding Children and Young People Policy.

For more information, visit the Play by the Rules website.

The Office of the eSafety Commissioner

The Office of the eSafety Commissioner provide a specialist Sports Hub.

Users can explore a range of online safety advice and resources for creating more positive experiences online.

Working with Children Checks

Working with Children Checks were introduced in 2006 by the Victorian Government to help protect children and young people under 18 years of age from physical or sexual harm by preventing those who pose a risk to their safety from working with them. The Working with Children Check enforces a mandatory minimum checking standards for people who work with children in either a paid or volunteer capacity.

Working with Children Checks are mandatory for employees and volunteers who work with, or have direct involvement with, children under the age of 18.

To learn more, or apply, see Working with Children Check.