Child Safe Policy
THE STATIONERY STORE– A CHILD SAFE ORGANISATION
The Stationery Store is committed to the safety and well-being of all children and recognises their role as vital and active participants in the organisation. We involve children when making decisions; as collaborators, instigators and audience. Our work exists to give children the power to be in control. The Stationery Store encourages children to express their views on safety and harm, and in turn we listen and respect what they have to say, especially about matters that directly affect them. The Stationery Store recognises that all children have a right to feel safe and upholds zero tolerance for child abuse.
The Stationery Store is committed to:
- Promoting the safety, participation and empowerment of all children. We believe in the power of the arts to transform children’s lives, fueling imagination, ambition, and creativity in a safe and supportive environment.
- Creating an organisational culture of child safety by ensuring robust practices and policies that support our leadership team, staff and volunteers in keeping children safe.
- Ensuring all safety concerns and allegations of suspected child abuse are treated seriously and are guided by our legal and moral obligations.
- Welcoming all children, their families and support persons. We are committed to the cultural safety of Aboriginal children and children from culturally and/or linguistically diverse backgrounds, and we provide a safe and secure environment for children with disabilities.
- Recruitment
- The Stationery Store will maintain a rigorous and consistent recruitment, screening, and selection process.
- Practice - The Stationery store will use interviews, reference checks and working with children checks to ensure a suitable selection process is adhered too.
The Stationery Store will not hesitate to take action to protect children from physical, sexual, emotional, psychological, and cultural harm. We also support the rights and well-being of staff, contractors and volunteers and encourage their active participation in building and maintaining a secure environment for all children involved in The Stationery Store ’s activities.
There is various Australian child protection legislation. A full list can be seen at the Australian Governments Child Family Community Australia website. https://aifs.gov.au/cfca/publications/australian-child-protection-legislation There are various agencies and contacts in Australia and NSW that work to protect children and young people from abuse and neglect. These include: • NSW Government Department of Family and Community Services https://www.facs.nsw.gov.au/ • Child Protection Helpline (Established to report suspected child abuse or neglect) Phone: 132 111 (24 hours/7 days) • Keep Them Safe: www.keepthemsafe.nsw.gov.au • The Office of the Children’s Guardian http://www.kidsguardian.nsw.gov.au/ • NSW Ombudsman www.ombo.nsw.gov.au • Community Child Care Co-operative http://ccccnsw.org.au/
The policy and guidelines will be reviewed every two years and incorporate comments and suggestions from our range of stakeholders (including workers, children, and families)