GREEN UMBRELLA OSHC CHILD SAFE POLICY
POLICY STATEMENT:
All children at Green Umbrella OSHC have a right to feel safe, protected and included.
This policy is part of our organisation’s ongoing commitment to protecting the children in our care from harm and abuse. It:
At Green Umbrella OSHC we commit to the safety and wellbeing of every child in our care. Please read our Statement of Commitment to Child Safety, which is available on our website https://www.greenumbrella.nsw.edu.au/ and is displayed at https://www.greenumbrella.nsw.edu.au/#policies
Our organisation ensures services and activities are inclusive of all children, including children with diverse needs.
The policy describes what is required from all staff and volunteers in the organisation when taking part in any activities, services and events that involve children.
Everyone in our organisation is expected to carry out the requirements specific to their role to keep children safe. This includes:
Please contact the Nominated Supervisor with any of your child-safety related questions or concerns.
Psychological abuse (also known as emotional abuse)
This includes bullying, threatening and abusive language, intimidation, shaming and name calling, ignoring and isolating a child, and exposure to domestic and family violence.
Physical abuse
This includes physical punishment, such as pushing, shoving, punching, slapping and kicking, resulting in injury, burns, choking or bruising.
Sexual abuse
This includes the sexual touching of a child, grooming, and production, distribution or possession of child abuse material.
Grooming
This is a process where a person manipulates a child or group of children and sometimes those looking after them, including parents, carers, teachers and leaders. They do this to establish a position of ‘trust’ so they can then later sexually abuse the child.
Misconduct
This is inappropriate behaviour that may not be as severe as abuse but could indicate that abuse is occurring and would often be in breach of an organisation’s Child Safe Staff Code of Conduct. This could include showing a child something inappropriate on a phone, having inappropriate conversations with a child or an adult sitting with a child on their lap.
Lack of appropriate care
This includes not providing adequate and proper supervision, nourishment, clothing, shelter, education or medical care.
PROCEDURE: Reporting requirements for different types of concerns or incidents
Reporting criminal conduct
Contact NSW Police on 131 444 for anything you consider could be a criminal offence. This includes sexual assault, physical assault, grooming offences, and producing, disseminating or possessing child abuse material.
Note: It is a criminal offence for adults not to report to police if they know or believe that a child abuse offence has been committed. In addition, people employed in child-related work may be subject to a criminal offence if they fail to reduce or remove the risk of a child becoming a victim of child abuse.
Reporting risk of significant harm
Any person who has reasonable grounds to believe that a child or young person is at risk of significant harm (ROSH) can report to the Department of Communities and Justice (DCJ) on 132 111 (this is a 24-hour service).
Mandatory reporters must report to the ChildStory Reporter Community if they have reasonable grounds to suspect a child is at ROSH.
Reporting allegations and convictions
Relevant entities must notify the Office of the Children’s Guardian of reportable allegations or convictions (that is, reportable conduct). This includes sexual offences, sexual misconduct, ill-treatment of a child, neglect of a child, an assault against a child, failure to protect a child or failure to report if a child has been harmed, as well as any behaviour that causes significant psychological harm to a child.
Reporting breaches of our Code of Conduct
All complaints must be reported to either the Nominated Supervisor or the Head of School.
HOW TO REPORT
Any allegation of abuse will be treated in a fair, transparent and timely manner. Workers subject to an allegation will be notified when a disciplinary hearing will take place and what will occur at the hearing. We follow the obligations defined under the Privacy Act 1988 (Commonwealth), and relevant reportable conduct investigations are conducted with the OCG’s Reportable Conduct Directorate.
Additionally:
If an incident is found to be substantiated, likely outcomes or responses will be determined by HR or from advice given by relevant authorities (police, DCJ or OCG).
Once a complaint has been made, use this step-by-step process to make sure it’s appropriately followed up:
Review the incident and updating the organisation’s child safe policies, if necessary.
Green Umbrella OSHC has a range of other key documents that relate to child safety. These can be accessed at greenoshc.nsw.edu.au, and include:
Our public commitment to prioritising child safety across our organisation.
Guides the day-to-day behaviours of adults interacting with children at the organisation.
Sets out what is involved in the recruitment process and the procedures to be followed before a person is considered for a role at the organisation. This includes the verification of their Working with Children Check. It also outlines what is involved in the induction process for new recruits and any further training requirements.
Our Child Safe Policy and other child safe documents can be found on our website at greenoshc.nsw.edu.au
CONSIDERATIONS: Green Umbrella OSHC has to understand and comply with a number of NSW child protection laws and schemes. These include:
Education and Care Services National Regulations | National Quality Standard | Other Service policies/documentation | Other |
r84, 85 | Standard 2.1.2, 2.2.2, 2.3 7.1.2,7.1.3, and 7.3 |
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ENDORSEMENT BY THE SERVICE
Approval date: September 2025
Date for Review: November 2026, unless there is a critical incident prior