The Victorian Government response to Betrayal of Trust: Child safe standards and capacity-building BETRAYAL OF TRUST IMPLEMENTATION 1

Introduction: Purpose of consultation 2013 Parliamentary Inquiry report (Betrayal of Trust) recommended the Victorian Government: –review contractual/funding arrangements with education and community service organisations that work with children to ensure they have a minimum standard for ensuring a child-safe environment –consider extending a standard for child-safe environments to other organisations or sectors that have direct and regular contact with children The Government has committed to implement all the recommendations of Betrayal of Trust. From August to October 2014, the former DHS and DEECD, together with the Commission for Children and Young People, conducted consultations with a range of organisations that work with children on the key issues of: –Content – what should the minimum child safe standards be? –Scope – which organisations should be subject to (compulsory) standards? –Compliance – how should compliance be monitored? –Support – how can non-government organisations be supported to meet the standards? Now conducting supplementary consultations to respond to 2014 feedback. 2

Overview of the Government response Three phases of implementation Criminal law reform Three new offences focused on immediate safety of children: grooming (commenced) failure to disclose child sexual abuse (commenced 27 October 2014) failure to protect a child from sexual abuse (passed; commencement TBD) Child safe organisations Strengthening organisations’ approaches to preventing and responding to abuse by: requiring all ministers of religion who have any contact with children to have Working with Children Checks (passed) requiring all schools to have policies in place for responding to abuse introducing minimum child safe standards for organisations with direct and regular contact with children, accompanied by capacity-building establishing a system of independent oversight requiring certain organisations with a very high degree of responsibility for children to report allegations of abuse to CCYP Civil law reform Improving access to justice for victims by: removing inappropriate time limitations for child abuse claims considering options to implement recommendations about redress, vicarious liability, and incorporation and insurance of NGOs 3

Why introduce minimum child safe standards? Issues identified by Inquiry overreliance on Working with Children Check as a preventive tool inconsistencies in the child safety standards that apply to different sectors funded and regulated by government fragmentation, gaps and inconsistencies in policies & practices to prevent abuse both within and across different sectors more support needed to assist organisations to implement child safe policies Purpose of child safe standards child safe standards aim to drive cultural change and a focus on risk awareness and risk management in organisations working with children focus on education and capacity-building rather than ‘tick-a-box’ compliance not simply about having relevant policies and procedures in place, but ensuring policies are translated into practice on the ground 4

What standards should organisations be expected to meet? (1) Child safe standards around Australia Broad consensus exists on the key elements of a ‘child safe organisation’ Non-binding national framework in place since 2005 Legislative child safe standards apply in Queensland and South Australia Australian Children’s Commissioners and Guardians agreed Principles for Child Safety in Organisations in 2013 CCYP and NGOs have published materials about ‘child safe organisations’ Royal Commission is inquiring into strategies for ensuring child safe institutions Approach to Victorian child safe standards Minimum standards rather than prescriptive, detailed rules – organisations can tailor standards to their circumstances & build on existing policies and practices Intended to protect children from a range of harms (including physical, sexual, emotional, psychological and cultural harm, and neglect) Considering how cultural safety of Aboriginal children and young people can best be promoted 5

What standards should organisations be expected to meet? (2) Potential Victorian child safe standards The organisation’s policies and procedures for creating and maintaining a child safe environment should incorporate each of the following elements of a child safe organisation: 1.a child safe policy or statement of commitment to child safety 2.a code of conduct that establishes clear expectations for appropriate behaviour 3.human resources practices that reduce the risk of harm to children by new and existing personnel, including through recruitment and selection (including undertaking WWC Checks), training and support, supervision and performance management 4.processes for responding to and reporting suspected harm to children 5.a risk management approach (where organisations actively identify risks of harm to children on an ongoing basis and implement strategies to reduce those risks) 6.mechanisms to promote the participation and empowerment of children 7.strategies to embed an organisational culture of child safety 8.strategies to promote the cultural safety of Aboriginal children and young people 9.strategies to promote the cultural safety of children and young people from culturally and linguistically diverse and refugee backgrounds. 6

Which organisations should be in scope of compulsory standards? (1) Original proposal (October 2014) All child-related organisations expected to meet the standards but only be compulsory for organisations with ‘high responsibility’ for children Feedback All organisations engaged in child-related work should be subject to mandatory child safe standards. Concerns raised with voluntary compliance: –it sends an undesirable message that child safety is ‘optional’ –perpetrators of abuse may target organisations subject to voluntary standards –it creates an impression that organisations in the voluntary category are 'second class' –because they are often subject to less regulation currently, some of the organisations proposed to be in the voluntary category are likely to pose a higher risk to children than some organisations in the mandatory group.

Which organisations should be in scope of compulsory standards? (2) Supplementary consultation In light of this feedback, the government is now considering extending compulsory standards to all organisations engaged in child-related work, consistent with the Inquiry’s recommendations This is broadly consistent with the scope of the Vic Working with Children Check and child safe standards in Queensland and South Australia Adopting the standards will assist organisations to meet obligations under new offences of failure to protect a child from sexual abuse and failure to disclose child sexual abuse

How should compliance with the standards be monitored? (1) Intersection with existing regulatory arrangements for child safety Many organisations in scope of the standards will already have relevant policies and practices in place Aim is to set a clear and consistent benchmark for managing the risk of child abuse and assist organisations to address any gaps in their current approaches Child safe standards are not intended to replace or duplicate existing obligations relating to child safety Organisations will be able to use or build on existing regulatory arrangements that support child safe environments to demonstrate how they are meeting the standards Organisations will be able to tailor strategies to services they provide 9

How should compliance with the standards be monitored? (2) Monitoring compliance with compulsory child safe standards Standards likely to be set out in legislation Designed to minimise regulatory burden Where necessary, existing policies will be amended so compliance with an existing policy is sufficient to meet obligations under child safe standards Where possible, compliance-monitoring will be integrated into existing monitoring processes Where non-compliance identified, focus on education and capacity-building Proposed new power for Commission for Children and Young People to inquire into child safety systems of all organisations engaged in child-related work – to enable CCYP to oversee implementation of standards and identify need for additional capacity-building 10

How can organisations be supported to meet the standards? Translating policy into practice Government is keen to identify effective approaches for raising awareness and building capacity in non-government organisations about preventing and responding to child abuse Need to ensure everyone in organisation understands and can apply child safe policies With support, child safe standards not expected to impose onerous obligations on non-government organisations Examples of supports that have been suggested include: –online resources and tools (e.g. risk assessment tool; templates for child safe policies) –training/workshops –phone advice line Peak bodies could play a role in tailoring the standards to the needs of their sector and supporting organisations to meet the standards Organisations with lower capacity to meet the standards could be supported by: –phasing in new obligations to allow them more time to comply –targeting resources 11