Child Safety

Purpose

All children at Gumaraa 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:

outlines the child safe practices our organisation has put in place to minimise the risks to child safety
sets out what is required from staff, including volunteers and others who interact with our organisation, so they know what is expected from them to keep children safe.

Our commitment to child safety

At Gumaraa 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://gumaraa.com.au and is displayed under the policies menu.

Our organisation ensures services and activities are inclusive of all children, including children with diverse needs.

Scope and audience for this policy

This policy applies to all staff and volunteers within the organisation who engage in activities, services, and events that involve children. It outlines the responsibilities and expectations for ensuring the safety, well-being, and protection of children in all interactions and settings.

All individuals covered by this policy are required to adhere to its guidelines to maintain a secure and supportive environment for children.

Responsibilities for children’s safety

Everyone in our organisation is expected to carry out the requirements specific to their role to keep children safe. This includes:

upholding our organisation’s commitment to child safety
reading and upholding the behaviours set out in our Child Safe Code of Conduct
meeting requirements across all other child safe policies and procedures, including child safe recruitment practices and risk management
taking part in our regular reviews of our child safe documents
reporting all breaches of our policies or any allegations of child harm or abuse, and meeting all external reporting obligations
completing all child safe training.

Please contact Lisa Bazzano at info@gumaraa.com.au with any of your child-safety related questions or concerns.

Active participation of children, families and communities

All our child-related policies and procedures are available for everyone who accesses our services and events, including children, parents, carers and community members.
Children, parents and carers from diverse backgrounds and circumstances are encouraged to provide feedback on our child-related policies and procedures, including our Child Safe Code of Conduct that describes acceptable and non-acceptable behaviours and our Child Safe Risk Management Plan.
We provide opportunities for children to provide feedback to our management, board or committee on what makes them feel safe, supported and included.

Definitions of harm and abuse

General definitions

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 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.

What the policy covers

Transporting children

Best practice is to always have two adults travelling with children. If this is not possible, a suitable arrangement must be made between the organisation and the parents of the children. If a child is alone with an adult in a car they must sit on the back seat. Every child should be accounted for at the end of a journey.

Social media use and online communication

Staff and volunteers must never communicate privately with children online or on social media. Any necessary online communication should include the child’s parent or carer in the correspondence.

Photography and the use of images

Photos and videos of children can only be taken with the permission of parents or carers. Parents and carers must also approve any images used on our social media channels. It is unacceptable for staff or volunteers to take photos or videos of children, other than their own, on personal devices, or to share images without permission.

Physical contact

Physical contact with children should be kept to a minimum. Everyone involved in the organisation is expected to have healthy physical boundaries with children.

Gifts and benefits

Staff and volunteers must never give gifts to children, or bestow benefits of any kind to a child, unless they have direct permission from the child’s parents or carers.

Secondary employment

Staff members must declare any secondary employment and make sure there are no conflicts of interest associated with the employment.

Staff and volunteers are not allowed to babysit children in our care unless they know the family or carer outside the organisation. It this is the case; they must let the organisation know that this arrangement is in place so it can be documented.

Out of hours contact with children

Staff and volunteers must let us know about any out-of-hours contact they have with children in our care. It is unacceptable for staff or volunteers to participate in the lives of children outside the organisation without a valid reason. Professional boundaries with the children in our care must be maintained at all times.

Illness and injury management

Injuries must be reported to the first aid officer on duty and first aid administered in a safe space within lines of sight of other adults.

Reporting requirements for different types of concerns or incidents

Child Safe Reporting Policy

Our Child Safe Reporting Policy sets out requirements and procedures for complaints, allegations, disclosures and reports, and external reporting obligations. It can be accessed by emailing info@gumaraa.com.au

Publication, communication and engagement

Our Child Safe Policy and other child safe documents can be found on our website at https://gumaraa.com.au. Anyone involved in our community can request a copy via email at any time. We send out regular email reminders to our community about our child safe documents and invite feedback whenever one of our organisation’s child safe documents is up for review.

Related legislation, regulations and standards

Gumaraa has to understand and comply with a number of NSW child protection laws and schemes. These include:

NSW Child Safe Scheme
Children’s Guardian Act 2019
Child Protection (Working with Children) Act 2012
Child Protection (Working with Children) Regulation 2013
Children and Young Persons (Care and Protection) Act 1998

Statement of Commitment

At Gumaraa every child has the right to be safe and feel safe. We commit to the safety and wellbeing of every child in our care.

To keep children safe, we commit to:

• implementing the 10 Child Safe Standards

• providing a safe and supportive environment for all children

• making sure that children are not exposed to any form of harmful conduct or abuse

• empowering children to participate in decisions that affect them and share any concerns they may have

• making sure children know who to approach if they feel unsafe or have any child safety concerns.

As a child safe organisation, we commit to:

• educating everyone involved in our organisation about what it means to be a child safe organisation, so that we can prevent, detect and effectively respond to child abuse

• making sure everyone involved in our organisation knows how to appropriately respond to complaints, allegations, disclosures and breaches to our Child Safe Code of Conduct

• welcoming feedback to continuously improve our child safe policies, procedures and practices

• making sure that when family and community members interact with our organisation, they are aware that child safety is everyone’s responsibility, and their behaviour aligns with our child safe practices.

If you have any queries about our child safety policies or if you would like to unsubscribe from our mailing/marketing lists at any time, please contact us directly at info@gumaraa.com.au

Code of Conduct

Commitment to child safety

At Gumaraa, we are committed to supporting the safety of all children, with a zero-tolerance approach to abuse. This includes a culture where preventing and reporting abuse is encouraged and supported.

All staff and volunteers are responsible for promoting the safety, wellbeing and empowerment of children. This includes understanding and responding to children’s diverse needs and cultural considerations.

Our Child Safe Code of Conduct sets out how we expect adults in our organisation to behave around children to help prevent harm and abuse in our physical spaces and online. Our Child Safe Code of Conduct identifies:

• ‘I will’ child safe behaviours that we consider acceptable

• ‘I won’t’ behaviours that we consider unacceptable.

Engaging in unacceptable behaviour is a breach of our Child Safe Code of Conduct and may result in disciplinary action.

Different types of child harm and abuse

Child abuse takes many forms. It can include psychological, physical and sexual abuse, grooming, misconduct and lack of appropriate care as defined below.

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

Misconduct

Lack of appropriate careThis includes not providing adequate and proper supervision, nourishment, clothing, shelter, education or medical care.

Acceptable and unacceptable behaviours in our organisation

The list of acceptable and unacceptable behaviours below are in relation to interactions of staff and volunteers with children who interact with our organisation’s services, locations or activities.

I will:

treat all children with respect
uphold the rights of the child and always prioritise their needs
make sure the needs of all children remain the paramount focus of any decision-making
listen to and value the ideas and opinions of all children, and respond to them appropriately
welcome all children and their families and carers, and ask them to participate in decisions around child safety
actively promote safe and inclusive practices for all children, including those with diverse needs, circumstances and backgrounds, including children with disability
adhere to the organisation’s child safe policies, procedures and practices
participate in all compulsory child safe training
include a child’s parent or carer in any direct online communication or correspondence.
when transporting a child at work, take all reasonable steps to ensure at least two adults are travelling with the child at all times or put in place a suitable arrangement between my organisation and the parents or carers of the child. If the child is alone, they must sit in the back seat of the vehicle.
let the organisation know about any out-of-hours contact with any children in the care of our organisation or who interact with our services, and make sure there is a valid reason for this contact and parents or carers are also aware of this contact.
take all reasonable steps to protect children from harm and abuse, and report and act on any concerns or allegations (see reporting obligations below)
report any conflicts of interest such as a relationship with a child that is outside the organisation
raise concerns with the leadership team if risks to child safety are identified
take a child seriously if they disclose harm or abuse and follow the correct procedures for responding to a disclosure
make sure breaches of the Child Safe Code of Conduct and any instances of concerning behaviour from adults are reported immediately
respect the privacy of children, and their families, and keep all information about child protection concerns confidential.

I won’t:

condone or participate in unsafe, harmful or abusive behaviour towards children, including psychological, physical and sexual abuse, grooming, misconduct or lack of appropriate care
ignore or disregard any concerns, suspicions or disclosures of child abuse
exaggerate or trivialise child abuse issues
persistently criticise or denigrate a child
use hurtful, discriminatory or offensive behaviour or language with children
verbally assault a child, or create a climate of fear
deliberately prevent a child from forming friendships
engage in unwarranted and inappropriate touching involving a child
be alone with a child without supervision or adequate risk management in place
have contact after hours with children
encourage a child to communicate with me in a private setting, including online or on social media
give personal gifts or benefits of any kind to a child unless direct permission has been given from the parent or carer
share details of sexual experiences with a child
use sexual language or gestures in the presence of children
show sexual, violent or other inappropriate images to a child
take videos or images of children interacting with the organisation or under the care of the organisation on a personal device without permission from the organisation
share videos or images of children on social media without consent
fail to report information to police or other relevant authorities if I know a child has been harmed or abused (see reporting obligations below).

Concerning behaviours

Concerning behaviours are behaviours that on their own may not constitute a breach of our Child Safe Code of Conduct but when viewed together may indicate grooming behaviour.

These include:

Showing favour to one child over others
Babysitting children without prior consent from the organisation (babysitting outside the organisation is only allowed in exceptional circumstances when the child and their family or carer is known has a pre-existing relationship with the staff member or volunteer outside the organisation)
Participating in the lives of children outside the service without a valid reason
Crossing professional boundaries with the children in our care
Spending time alone with children
Being ‘child centric’, which means showing a preference for hanging out with children rather than adults.

Internal and external reporting obligations

You must follow all internal and external reporting obligations set out in our organisation’s Child Safe Reporting Policy.

Criminal offences for not acting to protect children

Some breaches of this code of conduct may need to be reported to NSW Police, the Office of the Children’s Guardian or the Department of Communities and Justice.

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.

The adult concerned should reach out to a leader/ child safety officer within the organisation if they are unsure of what may need to be reported externally.

Penalties for staff or volunteers who breach our Child Safe Code of Conduct

Staff or volunteers who breach our Child Safe Code of Conduct but do not commit a criminal offence may still be subject to disciplinary action. This can include increased supervision, appointment to a different role, additional training, suspension or termination from the service.

Concerning behaviours

If a staff member or volunteer shows patterns of concerning behaviour but do not commit a criminal offence, this may result in increased supervision and/ or additional training. If these behaviours of concern continue, the staff member or volunteer may be subject to disciplinary action, including appointment to a different role, suspension or termination from the service.

Recruitment policy

Recruitment, Induction and Training Policy

Purpose of this policy

The aim of this policy is to make sure that staff responsible for recruitment, induction and training of staff and volunteers at Gumaraa uphold our child safe recruitment, induction and training practices.

The policy sets out the processes for child safe recruitment of staff and volunteers for any child-related roles. The policy also includes the induction process for new recruits and volunteers, and further training that may be required at times for all staff, including volunteers. This is to make sure they continue to have the required skills to prevent risk of harm to children.

Who the policy is for

This policy is for staff undertaking recruitment of staff or volunteers for child-related roles.

The child safe recruitment and induction processes set out in this policy must be applied to anyone we are considering for a child-related role at Gumaraa.

This includes roles that involve any of the following:

supervising children
being alone with children or engaging with them in a way that is not observed or monitored
taking part in activities with children away from the organisation’s usual location
having access (online or paper based) to a child’s or children’s personal and/or confidential information
transporting children
having any other type of unmonitored contact with children.

Processes for child safe recruitment for staff and volunteers

Employees

1. Include our commitment to child safety in our advertising

Our job advertisements include details about our organisation’s commitment to being child safe. We let potential staff members know at the outset that we uphold children’s rights and take implementation of the Child Safe Standards seriously, and that everyone who works with children must have a cleared Working with Children Check.

2. Conduct a robust interview process for new employees

At Gumaraa we conduct a robust interview process. This involves:

Setting up an interview panel: we decide who will take part in the selection process to help pre-assess the applicants and conduct the interviews
Short-listing: we pre-assess applicants’ suitability to work with children and develop a short list
Having the interview: we decide on the questions we want to ask. For child-related roles, questions will generally focus on the applicants’ experience working in previous child-related roles
Assessing candidates and making the final selection: the panel discuss the interviews and make notes on strengths and weaknesses to help them decide on the best candidate.

3. Check references

Each candidate must provide the details of referees.

At least one of the referees should be someone from their most recent role.

Referees should have directly supervised or managed the applicant in a professional capacity.

If the applicant has never worked before or has just left school, character references may be acceptable However, these should not be from family members or be given as much weight as professional references.

We ask each referee whether they see any issues with the applicant working with children.

4. Screen and verify applicant’s Working with Children Check

In NSW all adult workers in child-related work, whether paid or unpaid, must hold a WWCC clearance or a current application for a Working with Children Check (WWCC) clearance (unless they are subject to an exemption).

Employers have legal obligations around working with children. It is against the law to engage anyone in child-related work without a WWCC. If a worker or volunteer requires a WWCC, there are actions our organisation must take.

Before commencing employment, we make sure the applicant has a cleared WWCC and we verify it on the OCG’s website.

We keep records for each verified worker, including:

Full name
Date of birth
WWCC number
Verification date
Verification outcome
Expiry date of WWCC
Whether the worker is in paid or volunteer work.

We continue to monitor and act to:

keep all workers and volunteers’ WWCC details up to date
remind employees to renew which they can do up to 3 months before their WWCC expires, and
remove anyone whose WWCC status is barred, interim barred, whose WWCC cannot be found or has expired from child-related work. We can only employ people who have an Application number or WWCC clearance in child-related work.

5. Undertake a broader national criminal history check or other checks for specific roles or circumstances

A police check (broader national criminal history check) may also be required for some applicants. This includes applicants who have spent more than 6 months overseas in their previous role or are applying for the following roles:

Mentor
Cultural Practitioner

An NDIS Worker Check may also be required for some applicants. This includes:

Mentor

Volunteer screening

Before commencing, volunteers working or interacting directly with children in our organisation must also have a cleared and verified Working with Children Check, unless they are exempted. This should follow the processes set out above for new employees.

Where possible, we undertake an informal interview with new volunteers, as part of our screening process. This should follow the general principles outlined above for employees.

What to do if our organisation is notified that someone is barred from working with children

It is an offence to allow a barred person to work with children and they must be removed from child-related work.

A person is barred from working with children if the Office of the Children’s Guardian (OCG) has determined that the person is a risk to working with children.

When the OCG bars a person in our organisation from working with children, they will contact the person registered as our ‘contact person’ when we initially registered as an employer in the WWCC system. The purpose of the initial contact is to determine whether the worker is currently working in our organisation, and whether they are working with children.

It is important that we respond to this request promptly and accurately.

If we have confirmed that the worker is working with children in our organisation, the OCG will issue a formal written notification advising us to remove the worker from working with children.

Once this has been received, we need to take immediate action and respond to the OCG in writing, confirming that the worker has been removed from working with children.

A record must be kept of our actions. This information should be treated confidentially and only the people in the organisation who need to know this should be advised.

More information on how to manage a barred worker can be found in the OCG’s Child Safe Recruitment and Working with Children Check handbook and on the OCG website.

Child safe induction

At Gumaraa we recognise that making sure a staff member or volunteer is safe and suitable to work with children is an ongoing process. Inductions for staff and volunteers include:

an overview of all our child safe documents, including our Child Safe Code of Conduct (to be read and signed), the Child Safe Risk Management Plan and our Child Safe Reporting Policy, ensuring that new staff and volunteers are advised of their reporting obligations and how to identify and raise a child safety concern
a tour of our premises explaining any physical risks new recruits should be aware of (which are included in our Risk Assessments) and relevant behaviours on site as set out in our Code of Conduct, including the use of personal devices
ensuring new recruits complete required child safe training (see below), and
monitoring and supervision.

We support new recruits and volunteers with appropriate instruction and feedback when needed, including regular oversight as they become familiar with the new role.

There is also a 3-month probationary for all workers to make sure they are a good fit with our organisation.

Child safe training

New staff and volunteers should complete required child safe training. We encourage everyone to do introductory child safe training through the OCG.

Risk Management statement

Risk Management Statement

Purpose

Creating a child safe environment includes:

identifying environmental risks to children’s safety in relation to the activities and services we provide, our physical settings and our online spaces and communication
taking action to reduce these risks and children’s exposure to harm or abuse.

These risks can change over time if our physical and online spaces change, or different activities or services are provided by our organisation. This may also include unique events, excursions or travel involving children. Our plan will be regularly reviewed and updated to reflect any changes.

Our Risk Management Plan in the table below sets out these risks, assesses their potential impact, the strategies to help prevent or reduce them, and keeps track of our progress.

Nature of our settings and services provided

Gumaraa provides a multitude of service to children.

These activities and services take place in the following locations:

Gumaraa HQ
Various schools (incursions)
On Country locations such as;
- Killalea
- Bundeena Royal National Park
- Carss Park
- Minnamurra River
- Minnamurra Rainforest

Responsibility for Risk Management

Gumaraa Management are responsible for making sure that the strategies to manage risks are implemented and monitored.

Everyone in our organisation should be alert to any risks to children’s safety and draw attention to any concerns that may arise, as set out in our Child Safe Policy.

Location Specific

For location specific Risk Assessments, please email Gumaraa Management at info@gumaraa.com.au with your desired location/s

Next review date

The plan will be reviewed and updated immediately if there are:

any incidents involving children
any changes to our physical or online spaces or online communications

any changes to the types of activities and services involving children that we deliver, including unique events on or off-site

Reporting Policy

Purpose of the policy

This policy sets out our organisation’s policy on child safe reporting and complaint handling.

Everyone in our organisation must:

know what to report, who to report to and how to report
report any concerns about the safety or welfare of a child or young person immediately
ensure the safety and wellbeing of the child is paramount when responding to a disclosure or allegation about a child being harmed or at risk.

Our reporting practices will be regularly reviewed and updated to make sure they remain effective and comply with legislation.

Definitions of harm and abuse

General definitions

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 behaviours such as pushing, shoving, punching, slapping, kicking and unauthorised use of restraint.

Sexual abuse
This includes the sexual touching or sexual assault 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 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.

Reportable conduct definitions

Children’s Guardian Act 2019 defines reportable conduct as:

a sexual offence
sexual misconduct
ill-treatment of a child
neglect of a child
an assault against a child
an offence under s 43B (failure to protect) or s 316A (failure to report) of the Crimes Act 1900
behaviour that causes significant emotional or psychological harm to a child.

The definitions of harm and abuse listed below are based on those in part 4, section 20 of the Children’s Guardian Act 2019.

Sexual offence

A sexual offence is an offence of a sexual nature under a law of NSW, another state/territory, or the Commonwealth committed against, with or in the presence of a child, such as:

sexual touching of a child
a child grooming offence
production, dissemination or possession of child abuse material.

An alleged sexual offence does not have to be the subject of criminal investigation or charges for it to be categorised as a reportable allegation of a sexual offence.

Sexual misconduct

Sexual misconduct of a child means any conduct with, towards or in the presence of a child that is sexual in nature (but is not a sexual offence). The following are examples of sexual misconduct:

descriptions of sexual acts without a legitimate reason to provide the descriptions
sexual comments, conversations or communications
comments to a child that express a desire to act in a sexual manner towards the child, or another child.

Ill-treatment

Ill treatment of a child means conduct towards a child that is:

unreasonable, and
seriously inappropriate, improper, inhumane or cruel.

Ill-treatment can include a range of conduct such as making excessive or degrading demands of a child; a pattern of hostile or degrading comments or behaviour towards a child; and using inappropriate forms of behaviour management towards a child.

Neglect

Neglect of a child means a significant failure to provide adequate and proper food, supervision, nursing, clothing, medical aid or lodging for the child that causes or is likely to cause harm to the child, by:

a person with parental responsibility for the child
an authorised carer or an employee if the child is in the employee’s care.

Neglect can be an ongoing situation of repeated failure by a caregiver to meet a child’s physical or psychological needs, or a single significant incident where a caregiver fails to fulfil a duty or obligation, resulting in actual harm to a child or where there is the potential for significant harm to a child.

Examples of neglect include failing to protect a child from abuse or exposing a child to a harmful environment.

Assault

An assault can occur when a person intentionally or recklessly:

applies physical force against a child without lawful justification or excuse – such as hitting, striking, kicking, punching or dragging a child, or
causes a child to apprehend the immediate and unlawful use of physical force against them, such as threatening to physically harm a child through words and/or gestures.

Behaviour that causes emotional or psychological harm to a child

Behaviour that causes significant psychological or emotional harm is conduct that is intentional or reckless (without reasonable excuse), obviously or very clearly unreasonable and which results in significant emotional harm or trauma to a child.

For a reportable allegation involving psychological harm, the following elements must be present:

an obviously or very clearly unreasonable or serious act or series of acts that the employee knew or ought to have known was unacceptable, and
evidence of psychological harm to the child that is more than transient, including displaying patterns of ‘out of character behaviour’, regression in behaviour, distress, anxiety, physical symptoms or self-harm, and
an alleged causal link between the employee’s conduct and the significant emotional or psychological harm to the child.

Unacceptable behaviours under our Code of Conduct

Our Child Safe Code of Conduct provides a list of unacceptable behaviours around children and young people that breach our Child Safe Code of Conduct.

Types of complaints (what to report)

All complaints should be reported. This includes:

criminal conduct
disclosures or reports of abuse
risk of significant harm (ROSH)
reportable allegations (an allegation that an employee has engaged in conduct that may be reportable conduct) *
unacceptable behaviour around children and young people that breaches our Child Safe Code of Conduct.

Making an external complaint/ report

Who must make an external report

It can be a criminal offence for adults not to report to police if they know, believe or ought reasonably believe that a child abuse offence has been committed against another person. In addition, it can be a criminal offence for people employed in an organisation that provides child-related services if they fail to reduce or remove the risk of a child becoming a victim of child abuse.

Mandatory Reporting

Mandatory reporting is the requirement by law for selected classes of people to report suspected child abuse and neglect to government authorities. In NSW, mandatory reporting is regulated by the Children and Young Persons (Care and Protection) Act 1998 (the Care Act).

Mandatory reporters are people who deliver the following services, wholly or partly, to children as part of their paid or professional work:

Health care (e.g. registered medical practitioners, specialists, general practice nurses, midwives, occupational therapists, speech therapists, psychologists, dentists and other allied health professionals working in sole practice or in public or private health practices)
Welfare (e.g. psychologists, social workers, caseworkers and youth workers)
Education (e.g. teachers, counsellors, principals)
Children’s services (e.g. childcare workers, family day carers and home-based carers)
Residential services (e.g. refuge workers)
Law enforcement (e.g. police)

The NSW Mandatory Reporter Guide lists concerns that are reportable for Mandatory Reporters.

The NSW Mandatory Reporter Guide (MRG) is designed to guide you through the process of mandatory reporting.

Sector-specific reporting obligations

In addition, children and young people, their families or advocates and members of the community who may interact with our services are encouraged to disclose and report to our organisation and will be supported when doing so.

How to make an external complaint/report

Reporting criminal conduct to the police

It is of the utmost importance that criminal allegations be reported to police at the earliest opportunity and that entities obtain guidance from police before taking any action that could compromise a criminal response.

Sometimes, it will be very clear that a report to police is required. For example, if you receive a report about sexual assault of a child, or a serious physical assault. At other times, it may be less clear. The NSWPF encourages all matters to be reported. It is critical that criminal allegations be reported immediately to police, as taking risk management action or commencing investigative steps before consulting with police may jeopardise a police investigation.

It is important to note that some failures to report criminal allegations to police will constitute a criminal offence. For example, s316A of the Crimes Act 1900 sets out an offence for concealing child abuse in relation to a failure to report a child abuse offence to Police. A failure to report allegations of criminal abuse of a child may also constitute reportable conduct in some circumstances.

Contact NSW Police 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.

For general enquiries, please contact NSW Police on 131 444.

For more information on concurrent investigations, consult the OCG website for our resource, ‘Reportable conduct investigations and the NSW Police Force’.

Reporting risk of significant harm (ROSH)

Any person in the community 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).

Definitions of ROSH are set out in the legislation or on p.46 of the OCG’s Reporting Obligations and Processes handbook.

Mandatory reporters can also make an eReport through the ChildStory Reporter Community if they have reasonable grounds to suspect ROSH for a child.

Making an internal complaint/ report

Who must make an internal report

Everyone engaged to work or volunteer at Gumaraa must make an internal report about any child abuse or misconduct concerns they either observe or are told about.

The person making the internal report will not be penalised. A failure to report, or preventing another person from reporting, will be considered misconduct.

How to make an internal report

All reports/breaches must be reported to Gumaraa Directors at info@gumaraa.com.au

How complaints should be handled

Overview of the complaint-handling process

Once an allegation or complaint has been made, use this step-by-step process to make sure it is appropriately followed up:

steps are taken to identify and address any risks
the incident is recorded
reporting obligations are met, if necessary
an investigation is conducted, keeping everyone involved up to date with what is happening
ongoing support is offered to the child or young person as needed
the incident is reviewed, and our child safe documents are updated, if necessary. This includes reviewing our Risk Management.

Risk management on receiving an allegation or disclosure

It is the responsibility of the Gumaraa Management to conduct a risk assessment after receiving an allegation, to ensure the safety of all people involved and maintain the integrity of any potential investigation.

Procedural fairness, including privacy and confidentiality

Any allegation of abuse must be treated in a fair, transparent and timely manner.

Workers subject to an allegation will be notified when a disciplinary hearing is to take place and what will occur at the hearing. We follow the obligations defined under the Privacy Act 1988 (Commonwealth).

Any relevant reportable conduct investigations are conducted with the OCG’s Reportable Conduct Directorate.

Additionally:

all information is recorded on our reporting form for complaints and allegations
all reporting forms for complaints and allegations are stored securely and only accessed by those in the organisation with responsibility for oversight of the investigation
information may be exchanged under Chapter 16A of the Child and Young Persons (Care and Protection) Act 1998, with other agencies who have responsibilities relating to the safety, welfare or wellbeing of children or young people
our organisation maintains the privacy of those involved in accordance with our obligations under the Privacy and Personal Information Protection Act 1998
if an incident is found to be substantiated, likely outcomes or responses will be determined from advice given by relevant authorities (police, DCJ or OCG).

Relevant legislation

Crimes Act 1900
Child and Young Persons (Care and Protection) Act 1998
Children’s Guardian Act 2019
Privacy Act 1988 (Commonwealth)
Privacy and Personal Information Protection Act 1998.
Education and Care Services Nation Regulations (2011)

How we publicise and support our Child Safe Reporting Policy

To make sure everyone in our organisation is aware of our Child Safe Reporting Policy and their reporting obligations, we:

create and display important information from our Child Safe Reporting Policy that describes what to report, who to report to and how to report on our website (visit https://gumaraa.com.au )
share links to the Office of the Children’s Guardian’s Reporting Processes and Obligations handbook
create and promote age- and ability-appropriate communications for children that explain what do if they feel sad, angry or concerned.

Copyright Statement for Gumaraa Aboriginal Experience Pty Ltd

Gumaraa Aboriginal Experience Pty Ltd (‘Gumaraa’ or ‘We’ or ‘Us’ or ‘Our’) hereby reserve all rights and privilege in relation to the program, material and contents of these documents and artworks in part or in whole (‘Our Material’). No part of Our Material may be reproduced in part or in whole without the prior written express consent from the copyright holders Gumaraa Aboriginal Experience Pty Ltd. All and any rights, ownership and opportunity to Our Material is hereby reserved and for Our sole benefit including but not limited to all rights it holds in relation to and she went to the Copyright Act 1968 (CTH). We do not accept any responsibility whatsoever for any damage, directly or indirectly, or loss of freelance materials submitted for reproduction in relation to this material or artwork. The information contained in Our Material are true and correct to the best of our knowledge and beliefs, all recommendations are made without any guarantee on the part of Gumaraa.