An Overview for New School Principals

Child Safe Standards

Are you a new school principal? Here’s what you need to know about the child safe standards.

All schools are now expected to be compliant with the seven child safe standards.

Ministerial Order No. 870sets out the specific actions that schools need to take to meet thechild safe standards.In complying with the child safe standards, schools need to be mindful of the diversity of students and school communities and apply the followinginclusion principlesas part of each standard:

  • promoting the cultural safety of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children
  • promoting the cultural safety of children from culturally and/or linguistically diverse backgrounds
  • promoting the safety of children with a disability.

What are my responsibilities under the standards?

The Ministerial Order places accountability for managing the risk of child abuse with the school governing authority. As principal, you are responsible at an operational level for implementing the child safety policies and practices developed by the governing authorityto embedding an organisational culture of child safety.

What has my school already done?

In Terms 2 and 3 of 2016 all registered schools completed the online child safe standards compliance self-assessment and action pro forma, declaring to the VRQA if they were compliant or partially compliant with the standards.

Schools that were partially compliant were expected to address all outstanding actions and be compliant with the standards given by the end of the 2016 school year.

Monitoring compliance with the child safe standards

Commencing in 2017, compliance with the child safe standards will be monitored through the:

  • cyclical school review process, or other VRQA initiated general or specific reviews
  • VRQA child safe standards compliance monitoring survey
  • initial registration process.

What support is available?

The VRQA has produced a number of resources that have helped schools meet the standards:

  • VRQA strategies to embed an organisational culture of child safety - information checklist
  • A child safety policy or statement of commitment to child safety
  • Child safety code of conduct: Acceptable and unacceptable behaviour
  • Staff selection checklist
  • Promoting the safety of children with a disability(Video)

The resources library on the child safe standards website will continue to be updated with news and resources.

Additional material can also be found on the Department of Education and Training’s Protect and the Commission for Children and Young People websites.

To receive the latest child safe standards information, subscribe to the VRQA e-news.

VRQA CSS An overview for new school principals – February 2017