1. Introduction

The Australian Institute of Family Studies (AIFS) is the Australian Government's key research body in family wellbeing. As a result, there is potential for both direct and indirect contact with children by our Staff. AIFS also has an important role in producing research that contributes to developing policies and programs that impact children.

It is therefore important that we play a key role in ensuring that AIFS has an organisational culture that upholds and ensures the safety, welfare, and wellbeing of children. We are committed to ensuring that our work and activities do not expose children to the risk of abuse and harm.

This policy has been developed to give effect to the Commonwealth Child Safe Framework and the National Principles for Child Safe Organisations (National Principles).

AIFS operates in accordance with state and territory legislation to ensure it complies with working with children and vulnerable people legislation and mandatory reporting of suspected cases of child abuse and neglect.

2. Purpose and scope

This policy is designed to inform Institute employees of their obligations in relation to the safety and wellbeing of children and provides both general and specific information on:

• risk assessment requirements when working with children
• legislative requirements including pre-employment screening and mandatory reporting
• employment screening and working with children and young people assessments
• training to support staff to respond effectively to child safety issues, concerns, allegations, and disclosures - this includes at induction and ongoing education, as well as professional development and refresher training
• responsibilities and accountabilities for the Institute's key business areas of research, business administration, human resources, and in the day-to-day conduct of the Institute.

As well as having a general understanding of your obligations under this policy, staff should refer to this document if/when:

• planning or undertaking research that involves children or families (including indirect participation)
• ensuring a proposed project or action meets with the Institute's goal of maintaining a child-focused and child-inclusive organisation
• there are concerns about the interactions of a person connected to AIFS with children
• advised of an allegation of child abuse or neglect about a person under the age of 18 in the course of their work
• procuring an individual or organisation to conduct work on behalf of the Institute
• on any other occasions there could be more than incidental contact with children during one's work.

3. Policy statement

The Institute's policy objective is to ensure children are safe from abuse and harm in their interactions with our agency (and any third-party organisations that we engage the services of) either directly through our research, or incidentally when children are on-site, or Institute staff attend an event where children are present.

In supporting child safety, the Institute is committed to ensuring:

a. risks to children are identified, assessed, avoided or mitigated, and regularly reviewed

b. all staff, including contracted staff, undertaking child-related work are appropriately screened and trained to ensure their suitability to work with children and are aware of their responsibilities.

c. the Institute is a child safe organisation.

The Commonwealth Child Safe Framework includes the following mandatory requirements:

1. Undertake an annual risk assessment to evaluate the risk and harm to children and put in place strategies to manage those risks as well as any further risk assessments as required under this policy.
2. Establish a training and compliance regime to ensure staff are aware of, and comply with, child safety approaches and relevant legislation.
3. Comply with relevant state and territory legislation including working with children or working with vulnerable people assessments and mandatory reporting.
4. Adopt and implement the National Principles endorsed by the Council of Australian Governments.
5. Publish an annual statement of compliance with the Framework including an overview of the entity's child safety risk assessment.

This policy applies to all AIFS staff and all AIFS downstream partners, including contractors/consultants/contracted individuals and organisations that are subcontracted by AIFS (consultants or contractors and their respective personnel).

4. Definitions

For the purposes of this policy:

• 'child' is an individual under the age of 18 years.
• 'child-related work' is defined as work which involves engagement with a child, including but not limited to:
  • physical contact
  • face-to-face contact
  • oral communication
  • written communication, and
  • electronic communication (for example, email, instant messaging, social media and video chats)
  • or research involving material related to children (e.g., material on court files in family law proceedings).
• 'abuse and harm' is defined as any action, or lack of action, or child safety concern that significantly harms the child's physical, psychological or emotional health and development. This includes:
  • an assault, including a sexual assault, of the child; or
  • a person (the first person) involving the child in a sexual activity with the first person or another person in which the child is used, directly or indirectly, as a sexual object by the first person or the other person, and where there is unequal power in the relationship between the child and the first person; or
  • causing the child to suffer serious psychological harm, including (but not limited to) when the harm is cause by the child being subjected to, or exposed to, family violence; or
  • serious neglect of the child.
• 'children's rights' is defined as a child's entitlement to thrive, develop and be safe, participate in decisions that affect them, be free from discrimination and to have their best interests as a primary consideration in all actions concerning them. The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, which Australia ratified in 1990, sets out children's rights in detail.

5. National Principles for Child Safe Organisations

The National Principles for Child Safe Organisations were developed by the Australian Human Rights Commission in consultation with representatives working with children. These principles drive the implementation of a child-safe culture across all sectors working with children and young people to promote the safety and wellbeing of children and young people across Australia, and preventing future abuse of children in institutional environments. The ten National Principles are:

1. Child safety and wellbeing is embedded in organisational leadership, governance, and culture.
2. Children and young people are informed about their rights, participate in decisions affecting them and are taken seriously.
3. Families and communities are informed and involved in promoting child safety and wellbeing.
4. Equity is upheld and diverse needs respected in policy and practice.
5. People working with children and young people are suitable and supported to reflect child safety and wellbeing values in practice.
6. Processes for complaints and concerns are child focused.
7. Staff and volunteers are equipped with the knowledge, skills and awareness to keep children and young people safe through ongoing education and training.
8. Physical and online environments promote safety and wellbeing while minimising the opportunity for children and young people to be harmed.
9. Implementation of the national child safe principles is regularly reviewed and improved.
10. Policies and procedures document how the organisation is safe for children and young people.

Further information on the National Principles, including key action areas and practical examples, is provided on the Australian Human Rights Commission website.

6. Risk management

A risk management approach needs to be taken where a program or activity involves potential contact with, or impacts on, children. Specifically, identification and assessment of child-related risks must be conducted by the relevant project team or operational area. Guidance on how to identify, assess and manage risk is articulated in the Institute's Risk Management Policy and Framework.¹

Risk mitigation

The Institute uses the following strategies to mitigate the risks of harm to children and vulnerable people depending on the level of risk identified:

1. Worker screening including:
   • Standard assessments as part of the National Police History Check - these assessments are part of the entry level check for all staff as outlined in the Public Service Act 1999. Assessments are undertaken by the Australian Federal Police and/or relevant state/territory police forces.
   • Jurisdictional working with children and vulnerable people assessments (as variously described in relevant jurisdictions) - these assessments are conducted by state or territory authorities under the relevant legislation in each jurisdiction.
2. Compliance with relevant Institute policies and Commonwealth, state and territory legislation such as Working with Children Checks, mandatory reporting, and Privacy Act 1988 (Cth).
3. General child safety training for all staff, and additional specialised child safety training for staff engaged in delivering services directly to children.

In consultation with the relevant Project Teams, the AIFS Child Safe Champion will conduct an annual review of the Institute's child safety risks, with the advice of the Chief Risk Officer (Appendix 1).

Each project team or operational area at AIFS has a responsibility to establish, maintain and monitor their child-related risks and put in place effective strategies to minimise risks to children.

The following questions are to assist project teams or operational areas to make a preliminary assessment as to the need to complete a comprehensive child related risk assessment. If the answer to any of these questions is yes, it indicates that a risk assessment is likely to be required. This list should be used as a guide only.

• Does your project team or operational area provide direct services to, or have direct (i.e., face-to-face, online or over the phone) interactions with children, including referrals to other services as appropriate, as part of its regular business or specific research project?
• Does your project team or operational area have indirect interactions with children (i.e., children accompanying adults receiving direct services, access to personal information of children, etc.)?
• Have any child safety incidents occurred within the project team or operational area?
• Would a third party that you are engaging the services of answer yes to any of the above questions?
• Will your work involve access to child related material (e.g., material on court files in family law proceedings)?

When answering these questions, project teams or operational areas should consider any future work, if reforms to business practice or new responsibilities are emerging.

If it is established that a risk assessment is required, project teams or operational areas should undertake a risk assessment, or update an existing risk assessment to include child safety-related risks and management strategies.

For more detailed guidance and examples of managing child safety risk, see these risk management resources from the National Office for Child Safety: Child Safety Risk Management Resources. 

A Child Safe Risk Assessment will also need to be completed at least annually to ensure compliance with the Commonwealth Child Safe Framework (see Appendix 1). For additional advice and assistance with risk mitigation processes, please contact the Child Safe Champion/Chief Risk Officer(s), or the Chief Risk Officer.

7. Compliance with legislative requirements and policies

All staff are required to comply with all relevant Commonwealth, state and territory laws and other regulatory requirements as outlined below. In addition, staff are required to adhere to the APS Code of Conduct and all relevant Institute policies and guidelines when performing their duties.

Legislative context

All employees in the Institute have a responsibility to ensure they adhere to the legislative requirements of Commonwealth, as well as the state and territory they are employed in when working with children. Relevant Commonwealth legislation includes, but is not limited to, Privacy Act 1988 and the Public Service Act 1999.

Pre-employment screening

Working with Children and/or Vulnerable People Checks, and Police Checks are different types of pre-employment screening mechanisms which ensure child-safe working environments in Australia. Pre-employment screening of adults and volunteers who come in contact with children is mandatory and legislated across all states and territories in Australia. However, each state and territory have its own procedures and requirements. For information please refer to Pre-Employment Screening: Working with Children Checks and Police Checks.

Mandatory reporting

Mandatory reporting describes the legislative requirement for selected groups of people to report suspected cases of child abuse and neglect to government authorities. Parliaments in all Australian states and territories have enacted mandatory reporting laws of some description. However, the laws are not the same across all jurisdictions. The Institute's website sets out details in relation to mandatory reporting requirements as requirements vary depending on State/Territory - Mandatory Reporting of Child Abuse and Neglect. Refer to the Incident Reporting section of this Policy for information on mandatory reporting and failure to report.

8. Employment screening and working with children and vulnerable people assessments

All AIFS employees, including contractors and consultants who are engaged by the Institute to have direct access to children or vulnerable people are, under no circumstances, to commence that engagement until they hold the required working with children and vulnerable people suitability assessment in all jurisdictions where they are required to engage with children and vulnerable people.

It is the position of AIFS that no employee, contractor, or consultant engaged by the Institute should have unsupervised or unobserved interactions with children as a matter of principle and certainly not without the consent of the parent or carer or the child or vulnerable person or their guardian.

If a role at AIFS requires interactions with children or young people, then a working with children and vulnerable people assessment must be completed for each relevant jurisdiction. Information on the requirements for each jurisdiction is available on Pre-employment screening: Working With Children Checks and Police Checks.

If a third-party organisation requires working with children and vulnerable people assessments for any reasons not listed in the policy, AIFS staff are to comply with all requests from the third party.

New employees, internal promotions, or transfers

For new employees, or employees undertaking internal promotions or transfers, standard assessments as part of the Nationally Coordinated Criminal History Checks are to be completed as part of the entry level check for all staff as outlined in the Public Service Act.

Where the new employee, internal promotion, or transfer, is hired to work in a business area that works with children (or in some cases, vulnerable people), the relevant working with children and vulnerable people clearance must be completed as part of the mandatory pre-employment checks outlined under the Public Service Act and in keeping with this policy.

In extenuating circumstances, if the Deputy Director of the business area believes that an employee can be engaged in meaningful work, but not working with children until and conditional on them obtaining a working which children and vulnerable people assessment, conditional engagement and guidance can be provided to include in the letter of appointment.

Management of working with children and vulnerable people assessments

Employees who hold relevant working with children and vulnerable people clearances have a responsibility to retain that clearance throughout the entire period they are engaged to have direct access to children or vulnerable people. It is the employee's responsibility to apply for a working with children and vulnerable people clearance within sufficient time to ensure there is no break in clearance.

For APS employees, the Institute will bear the costs of the initial and renewal of any required assessments. If any individual challenges a negative finding from an assessment, any charges incurred as a result of the challenge are the responsibility of the individual making the challenge.

A record must be kept for all positions that have been identified as requiring a working which children and vulnerable people assessment as well as the outcomes of all employees who hold a clearance, including the reference number, clearance type, and expiry date. These records will be maintained by the Institute's Human Resource area.

Project leads are responsible for monitoring the compliance of working with children and vulnerable people assessments for their projects. This includes ensuring that all relevant project employees obtain any required assessments and that they remain valid throughout the duration of the project. Project leads are required to provide a copy of all assessments to Human Resources (who will hold a centralised record) at the commencement of a new project and advise Human Resources of any changes to the records throughout the duration of the project.

Project teams/business areas are responsible for renewing working with children and vulnerable people arrangements and ensuring that employees, contractors, and consultants engaged by their business area always hold a current working with children and vulnerable people clearance. In jurisdictions where it is not possible to register the interest of the Institute against an individual's assessment (which enables notifications of change of circumstance to be sent directly to the Institute), project teams/business areas are required to check that assessments are still valid at least every six months

Adverse findings

Each state and territory have mechanisms in place where a person may request a jurisdiction's delegate to review an adverse finding for working with children or vulnerable people. Once the jurisdictional review process is concluded the delegate's finding is final for that jurisdiction.

If a person is found unsuitable under either a working with children and vulnerable people assessment, in any jurisdiction, or a national police history check, the Institute has a number of remedial options open to it depending on the circumstances. These may include:

• immediately reassigning the employee to a role not involving contact with children or vulnerable people
• referring the matter to Human Resources for any APS Code of Conduct implications or investigations
• withdrawing an offer of employment
• cancelling an internal transfer process
• terminating employment.

For contractors and consultants, options may include:

• non-engagement of contracted services with the institute
• termination of an existing contract.

Some roles may require clearances across multiple jurisdictions. Where an employee, contractor or consultant applies for clearances across multiple jurisdictions and receives a negative assessment in one jurisdiction, that negative assessment will exclude the employee, contractor or consultant from working in any role in the institute that interacts with children and/or vulnerable people in any jurisdiction while the negative assessment stands.

The Institute has a legal obligation to notify specific jurisdictions of a negative assessment in any jurisdiction. To fulfil this obligation, if an employee, contractor or consultant receives a negative assessment in any jurisdiction the business area must notify all jurisdictional authorities of this finding.

Reporting a change of circumstances

Holders of a working with children and vulnerable people clearance must immediately report to their manager or contract manager if:

• their clearance is cancelled
• conditions are imposed upon their clearance.

Managers must take immediate action to:

• cease the employee's, contractor's or consultant's contact with children or vulnerable people in all jurisdictions
• seek advice from Human Resources as to options to shift the employee into a position within the Institute where working with children and vulnerable people checks are not required, or terminate employment or engagement where appropriate.

Managers must also escalate the reporting of all changes to a Deputy Director for incident reporting and inform Human Resources.

9. Training

All staff, regardless of whether their role involves direct contact with children or not, will be encouraged to undertake training on an annual basis, and all new starters will complete mandatory training as part of their induction program. The Institute will ensure it maintains a regime of training that is appropriate for all staff to complete.

Staff who have direct contact with children as part of their role will undertake a greater level of training. Research projects directly engaging with children and vulnerable people, or families with children present will undertake more specific training on a case-by-case basis. If you are in this position, you should consult with the relevant Deputy Director or Child Safe Champion to determine which training would be appropriate.

10. Incident reporting

In the event that an employee, contractor or consultant becomes aware of any abuse or neglect towards a child through their work with the Institute (including disclosures allegations and child safety concerns), they must:

• report the incident to their senior manager, relevant Research Director and the Child Safe Champion for referral to the relevant state or territory authorities, in line with the state, territory and commonwealth legislation
• make an authorised disclosure to the police if there is an immediate threat to the safety, welfare or well-being of a child or vulnerable person.

All staff are required to comply with the legislative mandatory reporting requirements of the jurisdiction in which they are working or visiting.

The Mandatory reporting of child abuse and neglect link provides an overview of the major differences and features of state and territory laws regarding who must report and what must be reported.

If an incident directly involves an employee, contractor or consultant, the project lead must escalate the matter to the Child Safe Champion and, where appropriate, engage with the Human Resources team for follow-up action.

Indirect disclosures

Institute staff may potentially have details about child abuse or suspected child abuse and other safety concerns reported to them by a person external to the Institute. For example an anonymous email may be received via a website, a staff member may receive a telephone call or a risk to a child may be disclosed by a parent, carer, or sibling during a data collection exercise.

If an indirect disclosure occurs, staff must immediately advise their manager, who will escalate the matter to the relevant Deputy Director and the Child Safe Champion. The nature of the concern will need to be raised, and depending on the level of information provided, any necessary plans for promptly addressing the matter will be determined.

When possible, the person making the allegation should be referred to the appropriate child protection agency in their state.

Mandatory reporting - failure to report

All AIFS staff are responsible for reporting incidents or genuine concerns about child maltreatment, child abuse, child neglect and other child safety concerns that arise in connection with the organisation. Concerns must be reported regardless of who the alleged perpetrator is or their role in the organisation or its agents.

Common reasons staff may feel hesitant to report include:

• concern about the reputation of the organisation or the individual
• fear of repercussions if they are wrong
• not wanting to get involved, particularly if there is uncertainty as to what has occurred
• a belief that it is someone else's responsibility
• lack of faith in child protection authorities to deal with concerns sensitively.

The safety and wellbeing of children who come into contact with the Institute must be the primary concern of all staff. Reporting a concern should be viewed as an opportunity to investigate risk of harm to children and young people, to end a child or young person's experience of abuse, to ensure their safety and wellbeing and to facilitate those affected getting help and support. Different situations will require different responses.

If staff are concerned about the safety of a child but are uncertain as to whether that concern is well-founded (and on that basis may be reluctant to report their suspicion), they should seek the support of their manager, the Child Safe Champion, or the relevant Deputy Director. All staff can expect to be supported through this process and all such discussions will be treated as confidential.

11. Sanctions for non-compliance

Employees and managers are required to adhere to their responsibilities regarding the application of this policy. Failure to comply with any aspect of this policy may constitute a breach of the APS Code of Conduct.

Failure to adhere with relevant working with children or vulnerable people assessments and mandatory reporting legislation requirements under state and territory legislation may result in penalties to the Institute and/or the employee.

12. Third party contractors/consultants

The Institute has committed, as part of its response to the Royal Commission and the Commonwealth Child Safe Framework, to require any organisation it engages to undertake child-related work to adopt the National Principles for Child Safe Organisations.

It is important that AIFS staff are aware of the obligations of third-party providers of services whom AIFS engages to ensure they keep children and young people safe. The Institute has a responsibility to ensure that those organisations fulfil their obligations to protect children and young people from harm as well.

To implement this commitment, you need to consider, when entering such an arrangement, either for consultancy or procurement purposes, whether child safety is relevant to the activity being undertaken.

In the first instance, consult with Finance/Procurement to ensure the appropriate clauses are included in any contract involving third party providers.

Working with children and vulnerable people assessments for contractors and consultants

Where specific projects potentially have contact with children and vulnerable people, contracts should not be entered into until evidence is provided that the specified person/people hold the relevant working with children and vulnerable people clearance in addition to pre-employment clearance. Each business area is responsible for this assurance as part of the procurement process.

If the Deputy Director of the business area believes that a contractor or consultant can be engaged in meaningful work, but not working with children or vulnerable people until and conditional on them obtaining a working with children and vulnerable people assessment, the relevant Deputy Director may decide to continue with the procurement. The cost of the check and any follow-on costs are the responsibility of the contractor or consultant.

Training for contractors and consultants

In alignment with the requirements for AIFS staff, in circumstances where fieldwork is outsourced to a third party, child and vulnerable people specific training needs to have been undertaken by all contractors and consultants who will have contact either directly with children and vulnerable people or with their families during the completion of the fieldwork.

13. Responsibilities

Ensuring the safety, welfare and wellbeing of children is the responsibility of all staff, including contractors engaged by the Institute, who have contact with children as part of their work. Staff and contractors are to be made aware of and comply with legislative requirements that support child safety. 

14. Further information

Links from this policy:

• The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse (Royal Commission)
• The Commonwealth Child Safe Framework (CCSF)
• The National Principles for Child Safe Organisations (National Principles)
• The National Office for Child Safety including guidance on the management of child safety risks, and media guidance on reporting on child sexual abuse.
• Australian Human Rights Commission - Child Safety
• Pre-employment checks, mandatory reporting and State/Territory jurisdictions
  • Checks: Pre-employment screening: Working With Children Checks and Police Checks
  • Mandatory Reporting: Mandatory reporting of child abuse and neglect
  • Commonwealth/State/Territory Jurisdictions: Reporting child abuse and neglect

Related AIFS documents and notes:

AIFS and CFCA are referenced in three areas in the Commonwealth Child Safe Framework and related documents regarding: child protection agencies and obtaining Working with Children or Vulnerable People Assessments, trauma-informed training and mandatory reporting including contact details.

• Pre-employment screening: Working with Children Check and Police Checks
• Principles of trauma-informed approaches to child sexual abuse
• Mandatory reporting of child abuse and neglect
• Helplines and telephone counselling services for children, young people and parents

Appendix 1: Child Safe Risk Assessment

All AIFS staff must comply with the Institute's Child Safe Policy, Accountable Authority Instructions, and guidelines and procedures to ensure consistent and logical processes are applied in activities across the Institute.

Each research project and operational area has a responsibility to establish, maintain and monitor their child-related risks and put in place effective management strategies to minimise the risks. It is the responsibility of all staff to actively manage risks as part of their day-to-day work by identifying and responding to risks and reporting risks to the Child Safe Champion.

A risk assessment is conducted annually by the Child Safe Champion to effectively identify and manage risks associated with children and when business area functions change, or new functions are obtained.

Guidance on how to identify, assess and manage risk is articulated in the Institute's Risk Management Policy and Framework.²

Child safety-related risks and management strategies

AIFS Child Safe Risk Assessment