Sunday 22 April 2018

Term 2, 2018 - CRT Policies, Procedures and Protocols

At our recent CRT Network Coordinators' Meeting (12th April) at the Victorian Institute of Teaching (VIT), Hannah Galloway reminded us all of our professional obligations, "Duty of Care" as teachers.

Let us take this awareness with us, to every educational environment where we teach, this term.

Mandatory reporting[1]

“Mandatory reporters must make a report to the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) (Child Protection) as soon as practicable if, in the course of practising their profession or carrying out their duties, they form reasonable belief that a child or young person is in need of protection, as a result of physical injury or sexual abuse, and the child’s parents are unable or unwilling to protect the child from that abuse.
A mandatory reporter who fails to comply with these reporting obligations may be committing a criminal offence.”

Child Safe Standards[2]

Victoria has introduced compulsory minimum standards for organisations that provide services for children to help protect children from abuse.
From 1 January 2017, organisations that provide services for children are required to comply with the standards. For more information about the organisations that are required to adopt the standards, visit the Commission for Children and Young People website(External link).

The standards aim to drive cultural change in organisations so that protecting children from abuse is embedded in everyday thinking and practice.
The standards are compulsory for certain organisations, but are not prescriptive. This allows organisations some flexibility in how they implement the standards to meet the requirements. To create and maintain a child safe environment, an organisation must have:
The Commission for Children and Young People (CCYP) are the oversight body for the child safe standards.