Child safe organisations create cultures, adopt strategies and take action to respect and prevent harm to children and young people.
The National Principles for Child Safe Organisations were endorsed by members of the Council of Australian Governments and outline how organisations can become safer for children. Resources about the National Principles are available in different community languages on the National Office for Child Safety website.
Becoming a child safe organisation is an ongoing process that begins with gathering information from many different perspectives – children, parents, staff, volunteers and leaders – to critically think about how the attitudes and behaviours of individuals throughout the organisation either create safety or a risk of harm to children and young people.
Understanding your organisation in this way supports the development of a clear plan with achievable actions to reinforce child safe practices and do something about risky situations, attitudes and practices. An effective plan will make sense to everyone in and outside the organisation and drive practical changes in how things are said and done by individual staff and volunteers interacting regularly with children and young people through to leadership, organisational policies and procedures and communications.
Change takes time and consistent effort, and organisations will be at different stages along the journey.
Working with Children Check
The Working with Children Check is a compulsory screening strategy for people engaged in child related work in Western Australia and the Christmas and Cocos (Keeling) Islands. It is an important part of the measures that an organisation should have in place to protect children and young people from abuse and neglect when they are engaged with an organisation.
More information
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Resources
Many useful resources have been developed by government agencies and sector bodies to assist organisations in their work to become child safe. There are also resources available for children and young people and parents, carers and families.
Practical examples, promotional tools and events
Read examples of how other organisations in WA that engage with children and young people are implementing the National Principles.
Check out our events page for upcoming webinars and information sessions about how to implement the National Principles.
Organisations are also encouraged to share messages about how they are implementing the National Principles.
Getting started
- Child Safe Organisations WA Guidelines – Commissioner for Children and Young People
- Tips for implementing the National Principles – Commissioner for Children and Young People
- Child safe organisation workplace poster – Department of Communities – outlines the National Principles and where staff and volunteers can go for more information.
- Creating a safer WA for children and young people fact sheet – Department of Local Government, Sport and Cultural Industries – information for arts, cultural, sport, recreation and community organisations.
Self-assessment and review tools
- Self-assessment and review tool - Commissioner for Children and Young People
- Introductory self-assessment tool – National Office for Child Safety – available in multiple languages
- Child safeguarding self-assessment tool – Department of Local Government, Sport and Cultural Industries
National Principle 1: Child safe governance and culture
- Charter of commitment to children and young people – Australian Human Rights Commission
- Child safe code of conduct generic guide – Department of Communities
- Child safe code of conduct generic template – Department of Communities
- Child safe code of conduct standards and obligations agreement – Department of Communities
- Child safe code of conduct – Australian Human Rights Commission
- Applying a safeguarding code of conduct video – Australian Childhood Foundation
- Establishing a safeguarding perimeter video – Australian Childhood Foundation
National Principle 2: Rights and participation of children and young people
- Action Feedback with Children: Ideas and Tools to Listen Better Online Course – Australian Childhood Foundation – a paid on-demand course that introduces and explores core concepts of engaging children in feedback and evaluation processes.
- Research on children’s views of safety – Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse – children and young people have identified what institutions should do to help them feel safe and be safe.
- Talking with young people about the National Framework – Australian Government Department of Social Services
- Feeling safe and respected wherever you are guide – Commissioner for Children and Young People – what children and young people should expect from an organisation working with them.
- A3 worksheets – National Office for Child Safety – tools to help children and young people understand their rights and how to use them.
- Translated National Principles resources – National Office for Child Safety – information about the National Principles is available in a range of languages.
- Youth Participation Kit for Organisations (2021) – Department of Communities – A series of publications for organisations which provide advice on how to maximise young people’s input and contributions to community life (please note that elements of this toolkit may be outdated and will be updated in due course with relevant information).
National Principle 3: Informing and involving families and communities
- Parent resources – WA Child Safety Services – support for parents to teach children skills and strategies to identify and respond to a range of unsafe situations.
- Guide for parents and carers – Australian Human Rights Commission – how to choose safe and suitable organisations for your child.
- Parent checklist – Commissioner for Children and Young People – how to decide whether an organisation is safe and suitable for your child.
- Understanding the National Principles (plain English) – Australian Human Rights Commission – understanding and talking about the National Principles with children and organisations.
- Having conversations – National Office for Child Safety – a toolkit to help adults have preventative conversations about child sexual abuse with children and young people, other adults and organisations.
- Translated National Principles resources – National Office for Child Safety – information about the National Principles is available in a range of languages.
National Principle 4: Upholding equity and respecting diverse needs
- Cultural safety in organisations guide – National Office for Child Safety – implementing the National Principles with a lens of cultural safety for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children.
- Cultural safety in organisations video – National Office for Child Safety – understanding the National Principles through an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander lens.
- Children and young people with disability consultation report – National Office for Child Safety – a report to inform child safe organisations’ development of resources and practices which maximise the safety of children and young people with disability.
National Principle 5: Suitability and support of people working with children and young people
- Volunteers and staff checklist – Commissioner for Children and Young People
- Child safe recruitment and staff management brochure – Department of Communities – guides organisations to adopt child safe practices in recruitment, staff induction and training, and supervision and management.
National Principle 6: Child focussed complaints processes
- Complaint handling guide – National Office for Child Safety – information for organisations about how to develop, implement and maintain a complaint-handling system that prioritises child safety and promotes the rights of children and young people to have a voice in decisions that affect them.
- Complaints resources for children and young people – National Office for Child Safety – resources developed specifically for children and young people to promote their awareness of how to make complaints about organisations.
National Principle 7: Education and training of staff and volunteers
- What to do when you are concerned a child is being abused or neglected poster – Department of Communities
- Child Safe Organisations eLearning Modules – Australian Human Rights Commission – free online training to increase organisational knowledge and understanding of the National Principles and identify the steps needed to implement them.
- Safeguarding Children in Organisations Online Training – Australian Childhood Foundation – a paid on-demand course to train personnel on best practice in keeping children and young people safe in all settings.
National Principle 8: Identifying and reducing risk of harm in physical and online environments
- Child safety risk management guide and checklist – National Office for Child Safety – support for organisations to understand how to appropriately manage child safety risks.
- Checklist for online safety – Australian Human Rights Commission
- Social media practice guide – Australian Childhood Foundation
- Framework for Understanding and Guiding Responses to Harmful Sexual Behaviours in Children and Young People – WA Government with the Australian Centre for Child Protection WA
National Principle 9: Review and improvement of implementing the National Principles
- Self-assessment and review tool - Commissioner for Children and Young People
- Introductory self-assessment tool – National Office for Child Safety – available in multiple languages
- Child safeguarding self-assessment tool – Department of Local Government, Sport and Cultural Industries
National Principle 10: Policies and procedures document how the organisation is child safe
- Child safe awareness policy template – Department of Local Government, Sport and Cultural Industries
- Child safety and wellbeing policy template – Australian Human Rights Commission
Other resources
- Understanding the social impact of safeguarding services research – Centre for Social Impact
- Practice guide for understanding and responding to children and young people affected by family violence – Australian Childhood Foundation
- Harmful sexual behaviour by children and young people video – Australian Childhood Foundation
- Framework for Understanding and Guiding Responses to Harmful Sexual Behaviours in Children and Young People – WA Government with the Australian Centre for Child Protection WA
