What are my responsibilities as a staff member or volunteer within the Scheme?

Codes, Standards ETC.

You are responsible for following all professional standards, codes of conduct, child safe policies and systems as well as reporting policies within your organisation;

Policies, Procedures ETC

You are responsible for knowing the policy, procedure, systems and rules that are in place in relation to the way you work with children in your organisation;

Reporting Concerns

You are responsible for reporting any concerns you have about breaches of rules or codes of conduct whether or not they are reportable conduct, to your supervisor as well as through the reporting process that your organisation has in place.

Timeframes

You need to understand your organisations and your own requirements to report promptly to your manager or supervisor so that your organisation can comply with the timeframes set out by the Reportable Conduct Scheme.

Primary Responsibility

The primary responsibility to ensure that your organisation abides by the Reportable Conduct Scheme sits with the head of your organisation, or their delegated personnel.

The Head of my Organisation

While heads of organisations are responsible for ensuring their organisations comply with the Scheme, the Commission does not expect heads to carry out their responsibilities alone. Heads of organisations can get help from other people within their organisation to fulfil their obligations under the Scheme. This may include creating and developing systems, sending approved notifications to the Commission, and conducting investigations on their behalf. 

While heads of organisations can seek internal support and assistance from within their organisations, it is ultimately their responsibility to ensure the Commission is notified of any reportable allegations they become aware of.

What does the head of an organisation need to have in place?

Section 16K of the Children Wellbeing and Safety Act 2005 requires the head of an organisation to do the following things

Take a preventative approach to keeping children safe

This includes acknowledging children are vulnerable to abuse and taking steps to reduce this risk in their organisation. An organisation’s response to meeting their obligations under Child Safe Standards will help the organisation take a preventative approach to child safety

Have systems in place to enable anyone to notify their concern or allegation that conduct in line with reportable conduct may have occurred

This includes having clear and well communicated systems to facilitate and support the reporting of concerns. Your organisation’s work to meet Child Safe Standard 7 – Processes for complaints and concerns are child-focused will mean you will have internal reporting processes in place to notify allegations. 

Have systems in place to allow other people to report to the Commission if the reportable allegation concerns the head of the organisation

As there may be instances in which the actions of concern are alleged to have been taken by the head of your organisation, organisations must have policies and systems that enable other people in your organisation to notify the Commission of alleged reportable conduct.

Have investigation processes clearly defined and developed

Once an allegation has been made, organisations must have processes in place to investigate the matter. In meeting Child Safe Standard 7, your organisation should have developed systems and processes to respond to allegations and report the matter internally, to Victoria Police and other relevant authorities as required.