All employees at Butterflies Childcare & Early Learning Centre are committed to implementing the Child Safe Standards. The safety, health and wellbeing of children is the number one priority of all staff and volunteers who understand children’s safety is a shared responsibility. We have zero tolerance for any form of harm to children and are committed to acting in children’s best interests. Our policies and procedures support and inform this commitment, and our leaders and managers regularly review staff and volunteer practices and understanding, prioritizing training or taking other relevant action if required.
Our policies and procedures also support and comply with the Education and Care National Law and Regulations, and the National Quality (NQS) whose guiding objective and principles outlined in section 3 include ensuring “the safety, health and wellbeing of children attending education and care services”, “the rights and best interest of children are paramount”, “the principles of equity, inclusion and diversity underlie this law”, “that Australias Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures are valued” and “that the role of parents and families is respected and supported.”
All children have the right to feel safe and be safe, but safety does not just happen.
A child safe organisation takes deliberate steps to safeguard children from physical, sexual, emotional and psychological abuse and neglect. It puts children’s safety and wellbeing first and embeds a commitment to child safety in every aspect of the organisation.
Victoria’s mandatory Child Safe Standards (the Standards) have been in effect since 2016. Following the Royal Commission, the Victorian Government reviewed the Standards. The review found strong support for the Standards and recommended a number of changes to better align the Standards with the National Principles for Child Safe Organisations, and to strengthen administration of the Standards. In line with these recommendations, the new Standards were released by the Victorian Government in 2021. They consist of 11 updated Standards and apply from 1 July 2022. In implementing the new Standards, organisations have the opportunity to reflect on their efforts to date and continue to build their capacity to keep children free from harm and abuse.