Re-iterating the Importance of Protecting Children from Abuse

February 24, 2016 - 6 minutes read

kids-playing1Some time ago we published an article on the necessity of making your organisation as safe a place as possible for children. We consider this issue to be pertinent enough for a re-visit – particularly in light of some of the alarming cases that have been emerging from the Royal Commission. Statistics also indicate that as many as 59,000 children in Australia per year suffer sexual abuse before reaching the age of 18.

In this article we will again summarise some of the steps that need to be taken to keep your church and ministry as safe as possible for children and young people. We also outline what to do if you discover abuse has or may have taken place. In addition, we have highlighted the changes to Victorian legislation regarding the mandatory reporting of child abuse.

Prevention and risk management

Prevention is of course paramount to maintain safety and well-being of children. At a minimum this should include conducting WWC (Working With Children) and Police checks for people that work with children. This includes volunteers, contractors, and unpaid workers.

However prevention really needs to go beyond legal obligations to include Common Law and Duty of Care principles. This involves ensuring you have taken all reasonable steps to create a safe environment for children and any vulnerable people in your care. Not only that, if child sex abuse is discovered to have occurred in an organisation it is an extremely distressing matter to be confronted with, so it’s only natural you would want to put procedures in place to prevent it from occurring from that standpoint.

In addition, while church organisations are not currently directly liable for acts of abuse committed by individual perpetrators, they may be sued if it can be shown that they were negligent and / or they could have prevented the abuse from occurring but failed to do so.

Preventative steps include:

  • Being aware of the laws in your state regarding child abuse and mandatory reporting – see below for more information.
  • Developing a policy statement for client protection. This should include a Code of Conduct that is communicated to all staff and volunteers.
  • Revising how you select employees. Needs to include police and WWC checks, and other procedures such as checking a prospective employee’s employment record, and contacting referees personally for information.
  • Development of clear guidelines and procedures regarding supervisor practices and accountability – including leadership training, and establishment of clear boundaries.

Reporting abuse

Developing and implementing a response plan also forms part of a prevention and risk management plan. Without a response plan you might not know what to do or who to turn to if abuse is suspected or reported to you. Actions in this regard include assigning a trusted senior member of staff to handle allegations, collecting information, and determining whether it needs to be handed on to the police. Our article on responding to historical allegations provides more detail on this.

Mandatory reporting requirements

Legislation has been passed in Victoria making it a legal obligation for all adults to who suspect child sex abuse to report it to the authorities, and not just those who work with children. This applies to any adult who has a ‘reasonable belief’ that child sex abuse has occurred. For example where a child says he or she has been abused, or from observing injuries or behavioural changes. There are some exceptions to this rule. This includes safety fears, where the information has already been reported, or where the alleged victim has requested confidentiality.

Legislation is also being continually updated, and minimum child safety standards are being phased in over the next 12 months. See the state government human services site for more information.

The links below provide detailed information for all states and territories:

Childsafe membership

Lastly, you may want to consider joining the ChildSafe program. ChildSafe membership provides access to some great resources. This includes training materials, support for the safety and welfare of children and for developing a child safe church. The program’s materials apply not only to protecting children from abuse. They also apply to child and youth events and activities, transportation, food, and emergency response procedures. You can find out more on this here.

Get in contact with our office for more details on this or any other matter relating to risk management and insurance for your church or non-profit organisation.

Also feel free to browse our other articles on child and youth safety.

Written by Tess Oliver

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