New Victorian Child Safe Standards came into effect on 1 July 2022 in all Victorian schools. An important inclusion in the 11 standards is Standard 3: Child and student empowerment – Children and young people are empowered about their rights, participate in decisions affecting them and are taken seriously.
Valuing young people and their rights is a fundamental aspect of this Standard, and aligns with Clonard’s vision for student participation which focuses on student voice, agency and leadership as the key elements which empower students.
To achieve this we commit to:
Empowering children and young people improves child safety. Student voice has been an important addition to the documents outlined below, in the knowledge that policies and practices that are shaped by children’s and young people’s views can better prevent the risk of harm.
The Child Safeguarding Program at Clonard is made up of work systems, practices, policies and procedures designed to maintain a child safe environment and to embed an organisational culture of child safety within the College community. The Program deals specifically with child protection issues and is designed to ensure compliance with the Victorian Child Safe Standards and related child protection laws. Broader child safety issues arising from our common law duty of care are dealt with through our Student Duty of Care Program.
On July 1 2021 the Government announced 11 new Child Safe Standards in Victoria to bring about greater national consistency in relation to child safety. Ministerial Order No. 1359 – Implementing the Child Safe Standards – managing the risk of child abuse in schools and school boarding premises (MO 1359) was released in February 2022.
The Child Safe Standards outlined in MO 1359 come into effect on July 1 2022 in all Victorian schools.
The new Child Safe Standards as set out in MO 1359 are as follows:
225 Church Street,
Herne Hill 3218 Victoria, Australia
E. office@clonard.vic.edu.au
T. (03) 5278 2155
F. (03) 5278 9909
ABN: 34 169 198 421