Child Protection Briefing for Volunteers

Child Protection is everyone’s business! All Australians need to do something to stop the physical, emotional and sexual abuse and neglect of children “There is no more important test for judging our society than how it values children. Protection of children from abuse and neglect is a moral and ethical imperative.” (NSW Premier Bob Carr 1997)

Our schools must be places of welcome and safety for students, their families and staff. Healthy communities honour and love their most vulnerable – the children. In a Catholic school we maintain that all children have the right to a safe and supportive environment free from any form of abuse or harm. In our school relationships between adults and students are governed by trust and Gospel values.

1. Developments in NSW Child Protection legislation Since 1998 several new acts of child protection legislation have commenced operation in NSW. ActFocus Child Protection (Prohibited Employment) Act 1998 Commission for Children and Young People Act 1998 Children and Young Persons (Care and Protection) Act 1998 Ombudsman Act 1974 Child Protection (Offenders Registration) Act 2000 Prohibited Employment Declaration Employment screening Reporting to DoCS Allegations against employees Registration of certain offenders

2. Child Protection (Prohibited Employment) Act 1998 The Child Protection (Prohibited Employment) Act 1998 requires any person working in child-related employment involving unsupervised contact with children to complete a Prohibited Employment Declaration Who is required to complete a Prohibited Employment Declaration? All current and prospective employees are asked to declare if he/she is a “prohibited person”. A volunteer is considered an “employee” under this Act as he/she is completing a task on behalf of a child-related organisation, ie. a school.

Who is a prohibited person? A person found guilty of certain serious sex offences is termed a ‘prohibited person’ under the Act. Such offences include:  Sexual abuse of a child  Offences related to child pornography or child prostitution  Carnal knowledge  Sexual activity or  Acts of indecency, committed in NSW or elsewhere would have been punishable by penal servitude or imprisonment of 12 months or more if the offence had been committed in NSW.

If a person has any doubts about his/her status he/she should seek independent legal advice

The Child Protection (Offenders Registration) Act 2000 ‘Registrable’ person is also a ‘prohibited person’. This Act recognises there are offences, in addition to sex offences, which may render a person unsuitable to work with children and young people eg. child murder, kidnapping

What must a VOLUNTEER do? Declare to the employer his/her status relating to the definition of a prohibited person NOT apply for, or remain in child-related work if he/she is a prohibited person NOT make a false disclosure regarding his/her status as a prohibited person.

What must the employer do? Obtain a Prohibited Employment Declaration from ALL employees (paid and unpaid) who may have direct, unsupervised contact with children.

3. Employment Screening – Commission for Children and Young People Act 1998 The Prohibited Employment Declaration is not to be confused with Employment Screening which is a further requirement for preferred applicants for paid positions. At this stage employment screening is not required for volunteers.

4. Children and Young Persons (Care and Protection) Act 1998 Schools must report to DoCS children under 16 years of age, who are suspected of being at “risk of harm”

What is meant by “risk of harm”? A child or young person is at risk of harm if current concerns exist for his/her safety, welfare or well- being because of any of the following circumstances: basic physical or psychological needs are not being met not receiving necessary medical care physical or sexual abuse or ill-treatment has or may occur domestic violence in the household carer’s behaviour creates risk of psychological harm

What if I have concerns about the well-being of a child? It is possible that a volunteer working in a school may encounter a child who is at risk of harm. i.Disclosure by a child eg. conversation in the classroom, on excursion, or ii.Observation eg. noticing of marks, bruising

Report to the Principal If you have concerns about the safety, welfare or well being of a child report to the Principal

5. Ombudsman’s Act 1974 This Act applies to employees in designated agencies including schools Under the Act an ‘employee’ includes both employees and any individual engaged by the school to provide services to children. This includes volunteers.

What constitutes reportable conduct under the Ombudsman’s Act?

Reportable Conduct includes: Sexual abuse – any sexual act or sexual threat imposed on a child, eg. sexual intercourse, acts of indecency and indecent assault Physical abuse – physical assault (hostile towards a child) and/or non-accidental injury and/or harm towards a child. Actual physical harm does not have to occur for an assault to have taken place. An assault can occur regardless of the adult’s intention to harm Neglect – failure to provide basic necessities of life

Behaviour causing psychological harm – behaviours shown to have caused psychological and emotional harm to a child eg. public humiliation, exposure to domestic violence, threats to hurt or kill Misconduct that may involve child abuse – eg. inappropriate relationship with a child (not sexual), inappropriate language, inappropriate touching (not sexual), exposing children to pornography.

What if my concerns involve a member of school staff? Report to the principal

6. Further information Confidentiality Child protection legislation requires the identity of the person reporting a child protection matter remain confidential.

Good practices for adults dealing with children and young people – Listen Be interested Ask for help Act if we suspect abuse

Establishing adult – child boundaries in the school setting Volunteers maintain an appropriate relationship with a child or young person

Examples of boundary violations Inappropriate comments about a student’s appearance Conversation of a sexual nature Use of pet names Jokes of a sexual nature Obscene gestures and language Facilitating access to pornographic or overtly sexual material Personal correspondence including , phone, sms text Discussing personal details of lifestyle of self or others Sharing of personal information about other volunteers, staff or students Unwarranted and/or inappropriate touching of a student Initiating or permitting inappropriate physical contact by a student eg. massage Inviting students home Being alone in a school facility with a student after hours Watching students in a change room

Appropriate physical contact with students The following are good practice guidelines Never be with a student in a one-on-one and out of sight situation, and never touch a student in such a situation Do not presume that a hug or touch is acceptable to a particular student Do not touch a student in a way that may be uncomfortable for the student In some circumstances, a young child may require appropriate deflection of physical contact from the volunteer without embarrassing the child, eg. minimising of unnecessary physical contact with volunteer by calmly and quietly removing child’s hand from volunteer.

Important! Do not use physical contact to require a child to do as they are instructed

Report to the Principal If you have concerns about a violation of an adult-student boundary report to the Principal

Fifty years from now it will not matter what kind of car you drove, what kind of house you lived in, how much you had in your bank account, or what your clothes looked like. But the world may be a little better because you were important in the life of a child.