Child Safe Environment Policy

Purpose

The purpose of this policy is to establish and maintain a child safe and child friendly environment at Academy IT. It sets out Academy IT’s commitment, expectations, governance arrangements and operating controls to protect children and young people from harm, abuse, neglect and risk of harm while accessing Academy IT training, assessment, support, premises, online systems or related services.

POLICY

Scope

This policy applies to all directors, employees, trainers, assessors, contractors, consultants, volunteers, third-party representatives, students, visitors and any other person engaged by or acting on behalf of Academy IT. It applies to face-to-face, online, blended, workplace, school-based, excursion, work placement and third-party delivery contexts involving children and young people.

Policy Statement

Children and young people have the right to feel safe, be safe, be respected, be listened to and participate in decisions that affect them.
Child safety, wellbeing, cultural safety and inclusion are embedded in Academy IT’s leadership, governance, recruitment, training, supervision, delivery and continuous improvement practices.
Academy IT has zero tolerance for child abuse, grooming, neglect, exploitation, discrimination, harassment, inappropriate conduct or failure to report concerns.
Academy IT will comply with South Australian child safe environment requirements, Working With Children Check obligations, mandatory reporting obligations and Department for Education requirements relevant to VET in Schools delivery.
Academy IT will lodge and maintain a Child Safe Environments Compliance Statement with the South Australian Department of Human Services and will lodge a new statement whenever the child safe policy or procedures are reviewed and updated.

Legislative and Framework References

Children and Young People (Safety) Act 2017 (SA)
Child Safety (Prohibited Persons) Act 2016 (SA)
Child Safety (Prohibited Persons) Regulations 2019 (SA)
National Principles for Child Safe Organisations
South Australian Information Sharing Guidelines for promoting safety and wellbeing, where applicable
Privacy Act 1988 (Cth), including Australian Privacy Principles where applicable
Work Health and Safety Act 2012 (SA), where child safety intersects with health and safety duties

Definitions

Term	Meaning
Child or young person	A person under 18 years of age.
Harm or risk of harm	Includes physical, emotional or psychological harm, sexual abuse, neglect, family violence impacts, grooming, exploitation, cumulative harm and circumstances where wellbeing or development is threatened.
Worker	Any employee, trainer, assessor, contractor, consultant, volunteer, third-party representative or other person engaged by Academy IT.
Mandated notifier	A person required by law to report reasonable suspicion that a child or young person is, or may be, at risk of harm.
WWCC	Working With Children Check issued under the South Australian screening scheme.
RRHAN-EC	Responding to Risks of Harm, Abuse and Neglect – Education and Care mandatory notification training.
Child Safety Officer	The person nominated by Academy IT to coordinate child safety governance, incidents, concerns, records and liaison with authorities.

Alignment with the National Principles for Child Safe Organisations

Principle	Academy IT commitment	Key controls
1. Leadership, governance and culture	Child safety is embedded in governance and leadership decisions.	Policy approval, CEO accountability, staff induction, compliance registers, annual reviews.
2. Children are informed and participate	Children and young people are told about their rights and encouraged to speak up.	Student information, feedback channels, complaints pathways, age-appropriate communication.
3. Families and communities are involved	Parents, carers, schools and communities are informed and included where appropriate.	School liaison, parent/carer information, consent and complaint processes.
4. Equity and diverse needs	Academy IT respects cultural safety, accessibility and diversity.	Inclusive practices for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students, students with disability, CALD students and LGBTQIA+ students.
5. Suitable and supported people	Workers are screened, trained, supervised and supported.	WWCC, reference checks, child-safe recruitment, induction, RRHAN-EC for trainers.
6. Child-focused complaints	Complaints and concerns are safe, accessible and acted on promptly.	Child safety complaint procedure, incident reporting, escalation to CARL/SA Police where required.
7. Education and training	Workers know how to keep children safe and report concerns.	Child safety induction, policy acknowledgement, RRHAN-EC, refresher training.
8. Safe physical and online environments	Physical and online environments are risk assessed and supervised.	Venue controls, Moodle/Teams controls, professional communication rules, online safety procedure.
9. Review and improvement	Child safety practice is reviewed and improved.	Incident review, feedback, annual compliance audit, policy review at least every five years.
10. Policies and procedures	Written policies explain how Academy IT keeps children safe.	Policy suite, Code of Conduct, complaints, reporting, recruitment, WWCC and risk templates.

Governance and Responsibilities

Role	Responsibilities
Directors	Approve this policy, ensure adequate resources and oversight, and confirm organisational legal obligations are met.
Chief Executive Officer	Act as accountable executive; ensure implementation, monitoring, training, incident oversight, reporting, DHS compliance statement lodgement and continuous improvement.
Child Safety Officer	Maintain the child safety register, coordinate complaints and incident records, support mandatory reporting, facilitate risk assessments and liaise with schools, DHS, DfE, CARL or SA Police as required.
Managers	Ensure workers follow this policy, maintain supervision and training, support reporting decisions and address risks promptly.
Trainers/Assessors or other staff in contact with or accessing records of Children	Maintain WWCC and required reporting training, follow the Code of Conduct, supervise students appropriately, use approved communication channels and report concerns immediately.
All Workers	Promote child safety, comply with this policy, complete required checks/training, respond to concerns, and report suspected harm or risk of harm.

Recruitment, Screening and Suitability

All Academy IT staff must hold a current South Australian Working With Children Check before commencing duties.
Trainers, assessors and workers delivering services to school-aged students must maintain current WWCC clearance and provide evidence before allocation to child-related work.
Academy IT will verify WWCC status and maintain a WWCC register recording worker name, role, clearance status, issue/expiry dates and review actions.
Recruitment for roles involving children will include child safety expectations in position descriptions, interview questions and reference checks.
Any contractor or third-party representative who may have contact with children must provide evidence of suitability, WWCC compliance and agreement to Academy IT’s child safe requirements before engagement.
Academy IT will not knowingly engage a prohibited person or permit a person without required clearance to undertake child-related work.

Training and Capability

All workers will receive child safety induction appropriate to their role.
All trainers delivering to school-aged students will complete required reporting training, including RRHAN-EC Fundamentals and Masterclass where required by the Department for Education or the nature of the role.
Training records will be retained, including certificate dates and expiry/retraining requirements.
Workers must refresh child safety knowledge when legislation, departmental requirements, policy changes or risk findings require it.

Behavioural Expectations

All workers must comply with the Academy IT Child Safe Code of Conduct. Workers must behave professionally, maintain appropriate boundaries, use respectful language, avoid favouritism, avoid unnecessary one-to-one unsupervised contact and never engage in grooming, sexualised behaviour, bullying, harassment, private social media contact or conduct that places a child at risk.

Participation, Inclusion and Cultural Safety

Academy IT will provide children and young people with age-appropriate information about their rights, support options and how to raise concerns.
Academy IT will listen to and act on feedback from children, parents/carers, schools and relevant community partners.
Academy IT will uphold equity and respect diverse needs, including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultural safety, disability access, culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds, neurodiversity, gender identity and family circumstances.
Reasonable adjustments and support arrangements will be considered in consultation with students, schools and parents/carers where appropriate.

Physical and Online Safety

Training spaces must be safe, supervised and suitable for school-aged students.
One-to-one meetings with students under 18 should occur in visible, open or otherwise accountable settings unless an approved support arrangement is in place.
Online learning environments, including Moodle, Microsoft Teams, email and virtual classrooms, must be used professionally and only for approved training and support purposes.
Workers must not use private social media, private messaging apps or personal accounts to communicate with children for Academy IT activities.
Online safety incidents, cyberbullying, inappropriate digital contact or exposure to harmful content must be reported and managed as child safety concerns.

Mandatory Reporting and Incident Response

A worker who suspects on reasonable grounds that a child or young person is, or may be, at risk of harm must report the concern in accordance with mandatory reporting obligations.
If a child is in immediate danger, call SA Police or emergency services on 000.
Reports of suspected harm or risk of harm must be made to the Child Abuse Report Line (CARL) on 13 14 78 or via the approved online reporting system where available and appropriate.
Internal reporting to the Child Safety Officer or CEO does not replace a mandated notifier’s legal obligation to report externally.
Academy IT will record, manage and review child safety incidents, concerns and actions while protecting privacy and confidentiality.

Complaints and Concerns

Academy IT will provide child-focused, accessible and safe processes for raising complaints, concerns or feedback. Complaints may be made by students, parents/carers, schools, workers or community members. All complaints involving child safety will be taken seriously, assessed promptly, escalated where required and managed without victimisation. Complaints may be made in the student management system portal.

Risk Management

Academy IT will complete child safety risk assessments for VET in Schools delivery, online delivery to minors, work placements, excursions, third-party venues and new service arrangements involving children.
Risk controls will address supervision, communication, venue safety, online safety, transport, work placement, privacy, emergency response and third-party responsibilities.
Risk assessments will be reviewed following incidents, complaints, delivery changes or at intervals determined by the risk rating.

Privacy, Records and Information Sharing

Child safety records will be handled securely and confidentially. Information will only be shared where authorised, required by law, necessary to protect a child or young person from harm, or required for contractual reporting to schools, regulators or authorities. Records include WWCC evidence, training evidence, incidents, complaints, risk assessments, investigations and actions taken.

Review and Continuous Improvement

Review at least every five years, or earlier following legislative, contractual, operational or risk changes.
The policy will also be reviewed after significant incidents, changes to legislation, changes to Department for Education requirements, changes to delivery arrangements or feedback from children, schools or parents/carers.
Academy IT will lodge a new DHS Child Safe Environments Compliance Statement each time child safe policies or procedures are reviewed and updated.

Approval

Approved by	Chief Executive Officer
Effective date	July 2026
Next scheduled review	July 2031, or earlier if required
Owner	Chief Executive Officer / Child Safety Officer

Child Safe Environment Policy