Frequently asked questions

My organisation provides services to children but their parents/carers are always present. Do I still have to take action to comply with the Child Safe Standards?

Yes. If your organisation is included as the kind of organisation that has to comply with the Child Safe Standards (the Standards) under the Child Wellbeing and Safety Act 2005, then the presence of parents/carers when you provide services or facilities to children does not remove the requirement for your organisation to comply with the Standards.

This is because the presence of parents/carers does not eliminate the risk of child abuse occurring in organisations, although it may reduce the risk.

For more information, see Who do the Standards apply to?

My organisation provides services mainly to adults and only a small part involves children’s services and activities. Do the Standards apply to my organisation?

Yes. Organisations that provide services specifically for children are required to meet the Standards, even if those services are only a small part of their overall services offering. This is because the risk of child abuse is present whenever children engage with the services or activities provided by an organisation.

The Standards are not prescriptive. Organisations vary in size and structure and provide an array of different services and activities to children. The standards encourage organisations to develop an approach to child safety that works for them and is commensurate with the risks associated with the work they do with children.

For more information, see Who do the Standards apply to?

My organisation is small and made up mainly of volunteers. How can we meet the Standards?

For small organisations with limited access to resources, implementing the Standards may appear challenging. The standards are not intended to be onerous; they are designed to keep children safe from child abuse. They are also flexible, allowing you to tailor them to your organisation’s specific circumstances and the risks of abuse present.

Building a culture of child safety in your organisation will not happen overnight – this is the case for all organisations, regardless of their size. Keeping children safe from abuse requires long-term, genuine dedication, along with a commitment to continuous learning and improvement.

Can the Commission for Children and Young People provide feedback or approve my organisation’s Child Safety and Wellbeing Policy?

The Commission does not regularly conduct reviews or approve Child Safety and Wellbeing Policies or other documents implementing the Child Safe Standards at the request of the organisation. We can help answer any questions you have about the Standards and provide advice on how they apply in your organisational context.

That said, in undertaking our role to monitor and enforce compliance with the Standards, the Commission may decide to assess your organisation’s implementation of the Standards, which may include reviewing policies, procedures and systems or conducting inspections which may result in the Commission providing feedback, recommendations for improvement or taking compliance action.

For more information, see Our regulatory approach.

Does the Commission for Children and Young People provide organisations with Child Safe Standards accreditation?

No. The Standards are not an accreditation-based system and the Commission does not conduct audits of organisations upon their request. We don't issue certificates to organisations of their compliance with the Standards.

There may be commercial or not-for-profit providers that offer accreditation programs incorporating consideration of the Standards, however the Commission does not review or approve those accreditation programs. Consequently, receiving accreditation under a quality assurance program does not necessarily guarantee that your organisation is compliant with the Standards.

If you are wanting to assess your organisation’s implementation of the Standards, the Commission has developed guidance materials, tools and templates that may assist with this process.

Can I work with another organisation to develop child safe policies?

Yes. The Commission encourages similar organisations to work together to develop their child safe policies and procedures. This allows knowledge and experience to be shared, and also avoids unnecessary duplication of work.

However, it is important that your child safe policies and procedures reflect the specific circumstances and risks of abuse present in your organisation. Policies and procedures developed by or with other organisations may need to be adapted to ensure this.

Should the Code of Conduct apply to contractors and volunteers engaged by my organisation?

Yes. The Code of Conduct should apply to all adults engaged as employees, contractors or volunteers, and should apply to their behaviour towards and in the presence of children. It should take into account all of the activities and services you provide for children.

In my organisation, we require staff and volunteers to pass a Working with Children Check. Does this mean we meet the Standards?

No, more is needed than Working with Children Checks. While the Working with Children Check is a useful tool for keeping children safe from child abuse, it is just a starting point. Screening and other human resources practices that reduce the risk of child abuse are just one part of the Standards.

A Working with Children Check is a screening process for assessing or reassessing people who work with or care for children in Victoria. It assesses the criminal history and relevant disciplinary or regulatory findings of applications to assess suitability. The check aims to prevent people from working or volunteering with children if an assessment of their records signals they may pose an unjustifiable risk to children.

It does not show that a person is appropriate or has the right personal qualities, skills and experience to provide high-quality services or care to children.

For this reason, organisations need to implement additional human resource practices that ensure only suitable people are recruited to work with children. They also need to implement all of the requirements of the Standards.

For more information, see Standard 6: People working with children and young people are suitable and supported to reflect child safety and wellbeing values in practice.

Does requiring my staff to undergo a police check mean I have met the Standards?

No, more is needed than a police check. While a police check may provide useful and relevant information, it is just a starting point. Screening and other human resources practices that reduce the risk of child abuse are just one part of the Standards.

Police checks detail criminal offences a potential candidate has against their name at the point in time at which the check is made. The Working with Children Check will only detail offences relevant to the safety of children, such as sexual, violent or drug offences.

For this reason, organisations need to implement additional human resource practices that ensure only suitable people are recruited to work with children. They also need to implement all of the requirements of the Standards.

For more information:

• about the differences between the Working with Children Check and the Police Check, see How is a police check different? on the Working with Children Check website
• about screening, supervision, training and other human resources practices that reduce the risk of child abuse by new and existing personnel, see: Child Safe Standard 6.

Are Working with Children Checks and Police Checks the same?

No. The Working with Children Check screens for sexual, violent and drug offences and relevant disciplinary regulatory findings made by the certain agencies. The Police Check lists offences at a given point in time. The Working with Children Check monitors a cardholder’s criminal and relevant disciplinary regulatory findings for the life of their card. The Police Check does not. As the checks are quite different, some organisations may need to require both checks.

I employ children and young people in my organisation. Do the Standards apply to my organisation?

It depends on your organisation’s specific circumstances. If your organisation must hold a Child Employment Licence, the Standards will apply.

If your organisation is not required to hold a Child Employment Licence, the Standards may still apply. Whether the Standards will apply may depend on the nature of the services and facilities your organisation provides. More information about the organisations to which the Standards apply is available here. For example, a charity that engages children as volunteers but is not required to hold a Child Employment Licence may still be required to comply with the Safe Standards.

Young people are vulnerable in the workplace and deserve particular protection. Where the Standards do not apply to a business or organisation that employs children and young people, we encourage them to voluntarily adopt child safe practices to keep their young employees safe from abuse.

Useful resources to support employers who engage young workers can be found at:

• The Fair Work Ombudsman 
• Child employment licence information from the Victorian Wage Inspectorate.

What does my organisation do if it suspects a child is at risk of harm within their family?

If your concern is that abuse is occurring within the family or the family is unwilling or unable to protect their child, you can make a report to Child Protection or Victoria Police. They will be able to provide the child and their family with professional support services, or if required a police response.

If you are concerned that abuse within the family may be perpetrated by someone working or volunteering with your organisation, this may fall under the Reportable Conduct Scheme. You can contact the Commission to find out more.

When should I contact police?

If you are concerned that a child or young person is at immediate risk of harm, call police on 000.

Physical or sexual abuse, including grooming, of children is a crime and should be reported to the Victoria Police.

Family violence, whether or not a child has been physically or sexually abused, is serious, affects children in the family and often involves criminal behaviour. If a concern relates to family violence it should be reported to the police. If anyone is in imminent or immediate danger, call 000 immediately.

If an adult reasonably believes a sexual offence has been committed by an adult against a child under the age of 16, they must report it to Victoria Police. Failure to disclose the information may be a criminal offence. The offence applies to all adults in Victoria, not just professionals who work with children, unless they have a reasonable excuse. For more information refer to the Failure to disclose offence fact sheet.

A police investigation should take priority over any internal investigation. If a matter is reported to police, you must liaise with them about how to proceed to make sure you do not compromise their investigation.

If a staff member or volunteer engages in behaviour that is inappropriate towards or in the presence of children, your organisation must take it seriously, investigate it, respond appropriately and keep accurate records of how you handled it.

Does the Commission recommend any fee for service providers that can review an organisation’s compliance with Standards?

The Commission recognises that there are fee for service providers that can provide meaningful assistance to some organisations who want to review or improve their child safe frameworks.

A range of fee for service providers undertake organisational reviews, help prepare policies and provide professional development and training in relation to child safety and abuse prevention.

It is however not a requirement of the Child Standards that organisations access this type of support. Many organisations take action to comply with the Standards without the use of fee for service providers.

We do not review the services offered by fee for service providers and therefore cannot recommend any particular providers. If you are wanting to assess whether a provider is right for you, you can ask them to provide:

• referees you can speak with
• information about their skills and experience, in particular their experience helping organisations comply with Victoria’s Child Safe Standards
• information about how they will ensure their advice is tailored to the particular risks of child abuse in your organisation and the particular services or facilities you provide.

If you are wanting to undertake a self-assessment of your organisation’s implementation of the Child Safe Standards, we suggest you take a closer look at the compliance indicators the Commission has developed for each of the 11 Standards. Organisations will generally comply with the Standards if they produce the listed documents and complete the actions set out in the compliance indicators for each Standard. More information about the compliance indicators can be found here.

Have a question that is not on the list?

• Send an email to contact@ccyp.vic.gov.au or call 1300 78 29 78.
  If you need an interpreter, please call the Translating and Interpreting Service on 13 14 50 and ask them to contact the Commission for Children and Young People on (03) 8601 5281
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