Child Safe Standards
Victorian organisations that provide services or facilities to children, such as City of Whittlesea, are legally required to implement Child Safe Standards to protect children from harm and ensure safety in all settings.
The standards were established by the Child Wellbeing and Safety Act 2005. They address sexual, physical, emotional and psychological abuse, as well as serious neglect of children under the age of 18 years.
The Child Safe Standards set out 11 standards that aim to create and maintain child safe environments. We are required to implement and comply with these standards.
Child Safe Standards aims
The Child Safe Standards aim to:
- promote the safety of children
- prevent child abuse
- ensure organisations and businesses have effective processes in place to respond to and report all allegations of child abuse.
How the Child Safe Standards work
The Child Safe Standards work by:
- driving changes in organisational culture and embedding child safety in everyday thinking and practice
- providing a minimum standard of child safety across all organisations
- highlighting that we all have a role to keep children safe from abuse.
Vulnerable communities
Although all children are vulnerable, some children face greater risk.
The standards provide three overarching principles that organisations must consider. These are:
- the cultural safety of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children
- the cultural safety of children from culturally and/or linguistically diverse backgrounds
- the safety of children with disability.
Child Safe Standards information sheets
Here are a range of Child Safe Standards resources for you to download:
Victoria's Child Safe Standards - plain language summary of changes
Victoria's Child Safe Standards - plain language guide
Victoria's Child Safe Standards - plain language poster
Access translated resources about the Child Safe Standards in your language