Child safe commitment
- Home
- Child safe commitment
Child safety & wellbeing commitment
Bass Coast Leisure engages with children and young people (under 18 years) (Children & Young People) through a wide variety of sporting, cultural and educational activities, events, services, and programs. This includes any service or activity sanctioned by Bass Coast Leisure in which Children and Young Persons participate.
We have a zero-tolerance approach to any form of child abuse, harm, mistreatment or exploitation by adults or other Children & Young People (Child Abuse or Harm). We are committed to providing an environment (both physical and online) and culture that is caring and safe for all Children & Young People within our care. In line with our purpose of “Connecting to Thrive and Win”, we want Children & Young People to feel safe, supported, respected, and encouraged to reach their full potential.
Together with our Board, players, staff, contractors, and volunteers (people), we have the responsibility to:
- protect Children & Young People in our care from all forms of Child Abuse or Harm; and
- create and maintain a child safe culture that is clearly understood, communicated, supported, and enacted.
Our commitment
As part of our protection of the Children & Young People that we work with, we will maintain a child safe and inclusive culture by:
- ensuring that child safety and wellbeing is reflected in our Child Safety & Wellbeing Code of Conduct, Child Safety & Wellbeing Policy and broader Human Resources policies and procedures (Children & Young People Safety Policies) which are accessible and communicated to our people;
- enforcing the Children & Young People Safety Policies, which includes setting clear standards of behaviour for our people and holding them to account if they fail to adhere to those standards;
- considering and respecting the diversity of Children & Young People’s circumstances and backgrounds including the differing needs of:
- Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander Children & Young People;
- Children & Young People from cultural linguistic and religious backgrounds;
- Children & Young People who have a disability; and/or
- Children & Young People with diverse sexuality and/or genders;
- making Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander Children & Young People and their families feel included and welcome and support them to express their culture and enjoy their cultural rights;
- not tolerating racism or discrimination of any Children & Young People and ensuring that measures are in place to identify, report and address any instances of racism or discrimination;
- maintaining robust human resources, recruitment and screening practices when appointing new people to ensure safety and wellbeing of Children & Young People is the paramount consideration;
- training and educating our people on keeping Children & Young People safe, how to identify Child Abuse or Harm risks and our reporting procedures;
- taking proactive steps to prevent Child Abuse or Harm by identifying risks early so that they can be removed or reduced;
- ensuring Children & Young People feel empowered to act and respond if they feel unsafe or concerned about their wellbeing;
- fostering a culture of openness that supports all people to safely disclose risks of Child Abuse or Harm to Children & Young People to appropriate managers, including the General Manager – Human Resources (or their delegate);
- establishing a clear “child friendly” procedure that provides for Children & Young People and our people to know who to, and how to, report any incident affecting the safety or wellbeing of Children & Young People;
- treating each allegation and safety concern very seriously, and dealing with it fairly, appropriately, and confidentially in accordance with our Children & Young People Safety Policies;
- contacting authorities in accordance with applicable laws when we are concerned about a Child or Young Person’s safety;
- sharing information appropriately and lawfully with other organisations where the safety and wellbeing of Children & Young People is at risk;
- actively involving Children & Young People in decisions about their participation in activities and then seeking and responding to feedback of Children & Young People and their families/guardian(s); and
- regularly reviewing our Children & Young People Safety Policies and communicate any changes to our people.
If you have any questions or concerns about this Commitment, please contact Aligned Leisure at [email protected].