CREATING CHILD SAFE ENVIRONMENTS IN SPORT A national approach to defining, developing and implementing child safe environments throughout an organisation. Our Journey The YMCA and ACF partnership Melinda Crole, Executive Manager, Development, YMCA Australia

Every YMCA branch had a commitment but policies varied greatly Understanding of staff and board members varied There was no national support People felt uncomfortable talking about child protection issues Designed a template Safeguarding Children and young people policy Encouraged a whole of organisation approach to protecting children and young people Identified key strategies for building a safer organisation Built knowledge about abuse and how to respond to incidents, disclosures and allegations The Australian Childhood Foundation had developed what we were looking for We invested in a partnership and voluntary external accreditation with the ACF Reviewed all our current policies Implemented standards and an education process Searched for help How

Supporting a child safe culture Personnel induction and training Personnel roles and conduct Commitment to Safeguarding Children Recruitment & Screening practices Child abuse reports and allegations Safeguarding Children Program Involving children and parents

Community attitudes towards child abuse are reflected in organisational cultures and attitudes Lack of awareness and knowledge Lack of confidence Lack of knowing how and when to act Community and organisational understandings of child abuse

Safeguarding Children Program addresses organisational culture through Commitment Policies and Procedures Training and awareness Responsiveness Achieved through compliance with 7 standards and independent review Safeguarding Children Program

It doesn't matter how big or small your organisation, a Safeguarding culture and practice is achievable Small community-based organisations and clubs with large volunteer base Eg Little Athletics Large not-for-profit organisations Eg UnitingCare Large federated national bodies Eg YMCA Internationally Eg AusAID Volunteer Program Safeguarding Children in organisations is achievable

Research shows organisational abuse takes a range of forms Safeguarding organisations make a commitment to the protection of children from all forms of harm Framework builds on existing strategies they already use to achieve the safe of children. Eg. Policies about bullying or internet communication, codes of conduct, recruitment processes Organisational abuse is preventable

Experience of the organisation/sport is more positive Increased rates of participation Increased parental confidence Increased likelihood of being believed and responded to appropriately Benefits are multiple and measurable - Children

Reduced insurance premiums and excess Decreased claims Increased confidence of management to ensure sound processes and procedures More than satisfies the test of 'reasonableness' re duty of care Sense of security that organisation is a safe place Benefits are measurable and multiple - Organisations

Critical incident management procedures are in place to provide immediate and ongoing support to the child, other children, families and staff Gives a framework for communicating with and engaging key stakeholders about an incident and the response plan - children, parents, police, media, funding bodies Platform for debriefing and support for all impacted by the incident Critical incident analysis - quality improvement cycle Benefits are measurable and multiple - Organisations

Because there is a risk of those smiles being less bright if you don't Thank you