5.     HOW TO MAKE A REPORT & OBLIGATIONS

Child safety and wellbeing is everybody’s responsibility at EGFNC and any allegations of child abuse and other inappropriate behaviour in relation to a child or young person should be reported as soon as possible.

Reporting Person’s Obligations

·        If the child or young person is in imminent risk of harm or immediate danger, the reporting person is required to report the situation directly to the police - CALL ‘000’. 

·        Regardless of whether the matter is reported to the police, it is important that the reporting person contacts the EGFNC Child Safeguarding Officer as soon as possible.

·        If the allegation relates to a person whom this policy applies, report the matter to the EGFNC Child Safeguarding Officer.

·        When practical, the reporting person must make a written report to the EGFNC Child Safeguarding Officer.  An incident reporting form can be found at Appendix 1.

·        Any EGFNC member or volunteer retains the right to report directly to authorities, such as police or child protection, any concerns they may have in relation to the safety and welfare of a child or young person, regardless of whether or not they have also reported the matter internally.

6.     WHAT HAPPENS TO A REPORT

The EGFNC Child Safeguarding Officer will:

·        Receive the report and incident form;

·        Contact the reporting person;

·        Conduct an assessment of the disclosed information;

·        Ensure adequate support services are provided to all relevant persons;

·        If allegations relate to a member of EGFNC, that person may be redeployed to a position where there is no unsupervised contact with children or suspended until any investigations have been concluded

·        Notify the Police or Child Protection if criminality has been identified, pursuant to mandatory reporting compliance

Mandatory Reporting Provisions

If you are a mandatory reporter* (see section 9 under the Child, Youth and Families Act 2005, Vic), report matters where you have a reasonable belief* that a child or young person has suffered, or is likely to suffer, significant harm from physical or sexual abuse and their parent/guardian has not protected or is unlikely to protect the child from harm of that type, to Child Protection.

In Victoria, there are also other laws such as Failure to Disclose an Offence* which all adults need to be aware of, should they have a reasonable belief that a child may be a victim or is likely to be a victim of abuse or harm.

7.     CONFIDENTIALITY AND PRIVACY

EGFNC maintains the confidentiality and privacy of all concerned (including the alleged perpetrator), except if doing so would compromise the welfare of the child or young person and/or investigation of the allegation.

The EGFNC President and Child Safeguarding Officer will be responsible for the authorisation of the disclosure and sharing of any information relating to any incident reported as outlines in this procedure.  The EGFNC President is the only person authorised to close a case and will ensure all relevant persons have been informed of the outcome.

8.     MONITORING

All reports recorded and incident data will be reviewed by EGFNC annually as part of the Club’s commitment to continuous improvement in child safety practices.

9.     DEFINITIONS AND CONTACT NUMBERS

*Reasonable belief – a reasonable person in the same position would have formed the same belief on the same grounds.

*Mandatory Reporters under the Child, Youth and Families Act 2005 (Vic) are:

• registered medical practitioners

• nurses

• midwives

• registered teachers and early childhood teachers

• school principals

• school counsellors

• police officers

• out of home care workers (excluding voluntary foster and kinship carers)

• early childhood workers

• youth justice workers

• registered psychologists

• people in religious ministry

Sexual Abuse of persons under 16 years – whilst ‘kids’ or ‘Children and Young People’ are in all other circumstances defined as under 18 years of age in Victoria, this age is different because the legal age of consent to sexual behaviour in Victoria is 16 years of age.

‘Child sexual assault’ in Victoria is therefore a crime against children under 16 years of age and must be reported to POLICE, even if it is not a situation of ‘immediate danger’ or a ‘life threatening situation’.

Failure to Disclose Offence – In Victoria, ALL adults who have a reasonable belief that sexual abuse of a child under 16 years, by an adult, has occurred or is likely to occur MUST report that belief to the police.

How do I make a report?  In Victoria, a report to Child Protection must be made by phone.

To make a report, you should contact the child protection intake service that covers the area in which the child lives.

The West Division Intake (covering Geelong and surrounds) is 1800 075 599 (M-F, 8.45am-5pm).

Outside of these times, call After Hours Child Protection Emergency Service 13 12 78

 Click here to access our CONFIDENTIAL INCIDENT FORM