What do I need to know?
The Child Safe Standards, the reportable conduct scheme and changes to the Working with Children Check are separate, but related reforms, aimed at preventing and responding to child abuse.
- The Child Safe Standards provide a framework to ensure child safety is everyone’s responsibility.
- The reportable conduct scheme, which commenced on 1 July 2017, aims to ensure appropriate reporting and investigation of allegations of child abuse and child-related misconduct against workers and volunteers.
- Since 1 May 2017, all new kinship carers are required to apply for a Working with Children Check within 21 days of being approved as a carer. Current approved kinship carers, who already have a child placed with them by child protection, need to apply for a Working with Children Check by 22 August 2017.
- More information about the Child Safe Standards or reportable conduct scheme is available from the websites of the Department of Health and Human Services and the Commission for Children and Young People or by or
- Information about the Working with Children Check changes is available on the Kinship care page of the Services website <
Improving child safety in organisations
Prevention of child abuse / Response to child abuse
Child Safe Standards (1, 2, 3, 4 and 7)
Working with Children Check reforms / Child Safe Standards (5 and 6)
Reportable Conduct Scheme
Child Safe Standards
Victoria has introduced compulsory minimum standards for organisations that provide services for children to better protect children from abuse.
Since 1 January 2017, theCommission for Children and Young People(the Commission) is the oversight body for the Standards. The Department is a co-regulator for organisations it funds and regulates, enabling existing regulatory and funding mechanisms to be used to drive continuous improvement.
The Standards are:
- Strategies to embed an organisational culture of child safety, including through effective leadership arrangements
- A Child Safe Policy or Statement of Commitment to Child Safety
- A Code of Conduct that establishes clear expectations for appropriate behaviour with children
- Screening, supervision, training and other human resources practices that reduce the risk of child abuse by new and existing personnel
- Processes for responding to and reporting suspected child abuse
- Strategies to identify and reduce or remove risks of child abuse
- Strategies to promote the participation and empowerment of children.
In applying each Standard organisations must embed the following three key principles in their approach:
- Promoting the cultural safety of Aboriginal children
- Promoting the cultural safety of children from culturally and/or linguistically diverse backgrounds
- Promoting the safety of children with a disability.
Reportable Conduct Scheme
The reportable conduct scheme aims to improve oversight of how organisations respond to allegations of child abuse and child-related misconduct (‘reportable conduct’). The scheme commenced on 1 July 2017.
The reportable conduct scheme requires allegations of suspected criminal conduct to be reported to Victoria Police as the first priority and maintains the primacy of an investigation by Victoria Police of any allegations of criminal misconduct.
TheCommission is the oversight body for the scheme. Allegations of reportable conduct must be notified to the Commission.
The scheme requires in scope organisations to:
- Ensure that the head of the organisation (such as the Chief Executive Officer) is made aware of and reports any allegation of reportable conduct made against a worker or volunteer to the Commission.
- Ensure appropriate investigation of the allegation. Depending on the circumstances and the entity involved, the investigation may be undertaken by the organisation itself, a relevant government department or professional registration body. An investigation should be in accordance with existing workplace investigation practices used to determine a worker’s suitability for employment at the organisation.
- Report any findings and the reasons for the outcome of an investigation to the Commission.
To the extent possible, the reportable conduct scheme leverages existing reporting, investigation and responses processes, such as professional misconduct and incident reporting processes.
The Commission is able to refer certain findings of reportable conduct to:
- the Working with Children Check Unit, enabling assessment or reassessment of a person’s eligibility to hold a Working with Children Check
- relevant professional bodies, enabling this information to be considered in deciding a person’s suitability to hold professional registration.
Working with Children Check
The Working with Children Check is a screening tool used to assess a person’s eligibility to work with children. The Child Safe Standards do not alter any obligation to hold a Working with Children Check. Rather the Child Safe Standards require organisations to have in place appropriate screening and human resources procedures and practices to reduce the risk of child abuse by new and existing personnel (Standard 4), including Working with Children or Police Checks, as appropriate.
In response to recommendations of the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, the following changes to the Working with Children Act 2005will strengthen the protection children receive through Working with Children Checks:
- Expand the definition of ‘direct contact’ to include oral, written or electronic communication as well as face-to-face and physical contact.
- Remove references to ‘supervision’. This means that any person engaged in children related work, even if their contact with children is supervised by another person, will be required to apply for a Working with Children Check.
- Require family members or other persons of significance caring for a child placed by Child Protection under theChildren, Youth and Families Act 2005(‘kinship carers’) to obtain a Working with Children Check.
If a kinship carer already holds a current Working with Children Check, they must update it to reflect their status as a kinship carer. The Working with Children Check is free for kinship carers and must be renewed every five years.
Kinship carers have been subject to the reportable conduct scheme since 1 July 2017. Allegations of reportable conduct against kinship carers will be investigated by the Department of Health and Human Services in accordance with existing processes.
To receive this publication in an accessible format (for example if you have a disability) phone (03) 9096 6160 using the National Relay Service 13 36 77 if required, or email .Allegations of reportable conduct cannot be notified via this email and should be notified directly to the Commission, using theironline form. Departmental staff should refer to internal processes for notifying reportable conduct allegations.
Authorised and published by the Victorian Government, 1 Treasury Place, Melbourne.
© State of Victoria, Department of Health andHuman Services July, 2017.
Available at Creating child safe organisations page on the Service Providers website <
Child Safe Standards, Reportable Conduct Scheme and the Working with Children Check1