The Victorian Child Safe Standards are in effect now, and every non-government school in Victoria should be working towards compliance with both the Standards and Ministerial Order 870 (Ministerial Order), according to the Victorian Department of Health and Human Services.
We recently reported on the release of the Ministerial Order which details exactly what non-government schools must do in order to comply with the Standards, see News Flash: New Victorian Child Protection Laws Passed.
Did you know:
Briefing Paper to assist with compliance
To assist Principals and Business Managers within Victorian non-government schools to understand and clearly communicate these changes to their boards, executive and staff, CompliSpace has put together a detailed Briefing Paper which can be downloaded for free from our public website. Download the Briefing Paper: New Victorian Child Safe Standards: A radical shift in your school’s child protection obligations.
This Paper references specific evidence guidelines within the Ministerial Order and covers:
What does compliance with the Standards look like?
The Standards aim to improve the way that organisations that provide services for children prevent and respond to child abuse, focusing on helping organisations to drive cultural change so that protecting children from abuse is embedded in everyday thinking and practice. For this reason, the Standards require schools to create a holistic child protection program, rather than a suite of disjointed policies, to create a coherent culture of child protection within the school.
The Standards specifically require schools to:
As you can see from this lengthy list, the changes to your school’s child protection obligations require detailed planning and allocation of appropriate resources as the Standards have essentially ‘raised the bar’ of child safety and protection from abuse and harm to a level that very few, if any, organisations across Victoria would currently be implementing.
Webinar on Child Safe Standards
CompliSpace Managing Director David Griffiths will be hosting a webinar on Tuesday 22nd March 2016 to discuss what schools in Victoria must do to comply with the new Victorian Child Safe Standards by 1 August 2016.
This Webinar is also relevant to other States and Territories due to the child protection reforms being made Australia-wide. For more information, and to register for the Webinar, please visit www.complispace.com.au/.