In part one of this two part article on the proposed new laws relating to the registration of non-government schools in Victoria, we looked at the new oversight powers and changes to the registration standards being proposed by the Victorian Government's (Government) reforms. In this part two, we describe the new ‘child safe’ registration guidelines, and other child protection measures.

Background: The Betrayal of Trust Report

On 18 June 2012, a Victorian Parliamentary Committee (Committee) inquiring into child abuse in non-government organisations began taking submissions. The Committee held hearings from 18 October 2012. On 13 November 2013, it tabled its Final Report entitled 'The Betrayal of Trust Report (Report)'.  The Report examines how non-government organisations have historically handled child sexual abuse. The Committee's inquiry began before the announcement of the Commonwealth Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Abuse (Royal Commission).

On 8 May 2014, the Government tabled its response supporting (at least in principle) all of the recommendations of the Committee. As part of its response, the Government committed to implementing new standards in government organisations that have contact with children. The changes introduced by the Education and Training Reform Amendment (Miscellaneous) Bill 2014 (VIC) (Bill) reflect this.

Child-safe environments

In recommendations that would later be followed by the Royal Commission, the Report recommended that the Government regulate education and community service providers to introduce the following minimum standards for a child-safe environment:

• a statement of zero tolerance of criminal child abuse;
• principles to guide decisions;
• procedures on the employment of new personnel;
• a risk management approach; and
• processes for reporting allegations of criminal child abuse.

A child-safe approach describes the practices that are implemented to prevent child abuse from occurring. It involves building into an environment certain practices, and a level of external scrutiny that minimises the risk of child abuse occurring.

Although policies and practices to prevent child abuse may seem obvious, the need to mandate these is illustrated in the Report. Giving evidence to the Committee, Mr Ian Lawther, the father of a child abuse victim, stated 'with one fraction of the effort... you could announce a zero tolerance policy for child molesters; you could prevent peadophile men from signing up to train for priesthood'. Previously, these practices to actively prevent the danger of child abuse just didn't exist.

The proposed changes require that government schools must develop policies in accordance with a Ministerial Order for managing the risk of child abuse including:

• the implementation of minimum standards for a child-safe environment; and
• responding to allegations of child abuse committed against a child enrolled at the school.

Responding to allegations

The Report tells us that those who report sexual abuse, both victims, family and other persons, have historically tended not to be believed, or have faced negative consequences. An effective process for responding to allegations will ensure 'that victims, their family and personnel... can make reports ... without fear of negative repercussions or of not being believed'.

The proposed laws will require schools to implement policies for responding to allegations of child sexual abuse. These requirements are additional to a school's existing reporting obligations.

According to the Bill's Explanatory Memorandum, the new laws will require schools to implement policies to address:

• incidents of sexual abuse which take placed or are disclosed in the school context;
• investigation of allegations against employees that involve or give rise to the risk of child abuse (including in the employee's family or wider community); and
• abuse of a student by someone associated with the school.

The content of these policies is to be prescribed by a yet to be published Ministerial Order.

A policy under the new requirements will feature a system whereby reports are investigated with some external scrutiny. This will be designed to ensure that disclosure of child abuse is encouraged, and the interests of victims are protected. More information about the specific recommendations of the Report can be found on the Committee's website.

A national first

Victoria's swift moves to implement the recommendations of this report are commendable. The implementation of child-safe and other child protection policies may seem onerous, but it is important to keep in mind the devastating effects of institutional child abuse. To this day, the inappropriate behaviour of those in positions of power towards children continues to be an issue.

Of particular note with these changes is the focus on a risk-based approach. This should be looked upon favourably by schools. Instead of a one-size-fits all approach, a risk based approach takes into account various individual factors. It involves a process of examining what the potential risks are, what controls can be sensibly put in place, having regard to the potential consequences. Although risk management may be new for some schools, it is quickly becoming the new normal for Australian businesses and public servants. For example, the Commonwealth Government has adopted ISO 31000, a 'standards' based approach to risk management that provides a uniform framework for managing risk. CompliSpace has written an article about this.

Given the findings of the Royal Commission Interim Report, and the stories which the Royal Commission is continuing to uncover, the reforms in the area of child protection seem like an inevitability. The question for schools is when, not if, they will be required to put in place these requirements. For now, the rest of the country can look to Victoria for an indication of what is to come.