Child Safety: New South Wales

This lesson sets the scene for the course. Children and young people with disability often rely on adults for personal care, transport and communication, which gives the people around them a lot of trust and a lot of influence. You will learn why child safety is part of every shift, not only a matter for managers or specialists. Key points: a child safe organisation plans ahead to prevent harm, listens to children and acts quickly on concerns, and every worker plays a part through everyday behaviour, noticing change and speaking up early.

In New South Wales, the Child Safe Scheme under the Children's Guardian Act 2019 sets out ten Child Safe Standards, and the Office of the Children's Guardian regulates them. This lesson walks through all ten in plain language: leadership and culture, children's participation, involving families, equity and diversity, suitable and supported staff, child focused complaints, ongoing training, safe physical and online environments, continuous review and clear policies. Since 1 February 2023 the Office of the Children's Guardian has been able to act to enforce compliance, so the standards are a real obligation, not a wish list.

Standards only work when they shape everyday practice. This lesson translates the NSW Child Safe Standards into things you can do on a shift. Key points: include children in choices and use their preferred way of communicating, work openly and avoid being alone and out of view where there is another option, keep all contact through approved work channels, involve families respectfully, and speak up about anything that worries you. You will also see the kinds of behaviour that cross professional boundaries, such as gifts, secrets and private messaging, and why we treat them seriously.

To protect children you first need to know what harm can look like. This lesson describes the main types of abuse and neglect in plain language: physical abuse, sexual abuse, emotional or psychological harm, neglect, and exposure to domestic and family violence. Key points: harm can come from family members, other children, strangers or workers, including people in our own organisation. Harm often happens in more than one way at once, and it can build up over time through repeated smaller incidents as well as through a single serious event.

Children rarely say outright that they are being harmed, so workers need to notice the signs. This lesson covers physical and behavioural indicators of abuse and neglect, and explains why children and young people with disability face a higher risk of harm. Key points: indicators are clues, not proof, and a change from a child's usual behaviour is often the most important sign. Communication differences, reliance on others for intimate care, many different carers and being less likely to be believed all increase risk, so we must watch closely and take every concern seriously.

Grooming is the deliberate process someone uses to build trust and access so they can sexually abuse a child and avoid being caught. This lesson explains how grooming typically unfolds, who it targets, including the family and the workplace as well as the child, and the warning signs to watch for. Key points: grooming can happen in person or online, it often looks like kindness at first, and people who groom may work inside organisations. You do not need proof to raise a concern. Report worrying patterns of behaviour early to your team leader.

A disclosure is when a child tells someone about harm. This lesson explains why disclosures are often partial, indirect or delayed, and how children with disability may disclose through behaviour, drawings, communication aids or changes in routine. Key points: children may test your reaction with a small piece of information first, they may disclose to the adult they trust most rather than the most senior person, and they may take it back later out of fear. Every disclosure deserves to be taken seriously, and how you react affects whether the child ever tells again.

How you react when a child discloses harm matters a great deal. This lesson gives you a clear, calm approach you can use anywhere. Key points: stay calm and listen, let the child use their own words or communication method, reassure them that telling was the right thing to do, and do not promise to keep it secret. Ask only minimal open questions if you need to understand if the child is safe, and never interview, lead or push for detail. Make sure the child is safe now and call 000 if anyone is in immediate danger.

What you do in the hours after a disclosure is just as important as the conversation itself. This lesson covers the actions to take once the child is safe. Key points: write down what the child said and did in their own words as soon as possible, tell your team leader or manager straight away, and work out with them whether a report to the Child Protection Helpline is needed. Keep the information confidential and share it only with people who need to know. Look after yourself too, because hearing a disclosure can be upsetting, and support is available.

In New South Wales, mandatory reporting is set out in section 27 of the Children and Young Persons (Care and Protection) Act 1998. This lesson explains who is a mandatory reporter and when the duty applies. Key points: people who deliver health care, welfare, education, children's services, residential services or law enforcement to children as part of their paid work, and their managers, must report. Disability support workers who support children are included. The duty applies when you have reasonable grounds to suspect a child is at risk of significant harm, known as ROSH, and the grounds arise from your work.

The Mandatory Reporter Guide, or MRG, is the online decision tool that helps mandatory reporters in New South Wales decide whether a concern should be reported to the Child Protection Helpline or handled another way. This lesson explains when to use it, what you need before you start and how to act on its result. Key points: use the MRG for each concern, answer its questions based on what you know, keep a copy of the result with your records, and use it together with your team leader. The MRG never delays action when a child is in immediate danger.

This lesson explains how to make a report in New South Wales and which pathway to use. Key points: call 000 if a child is in immediate danger. Phone the Department of Communities and Justice Child Protection Helpline on 132 111, which operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week, for imminent or high risk concerns. Use the online eReport, through ChildStory Reporter, for non urgent concerns that meet the risk of significant harm threshold. Report suspected crimes to police. Know what information to have ready, and remember that telling your manager does not replace your own duty to report.

The NSW Reportable Conduct Scheme, under the Children's Guardian Act 2019 and overseen by the Office of the Children's Guardian, covers concerns about the behaviour of employees, volunteers and contractors towards children. This lesson explains the types of reportable conduct, what you must do if you are worried about a colleague, and what our organisation does next. Key points: tell your manager or the head of our organisation immediately and do not investigate. The head of the organisation must notify the Office of the Children's Guardian within 7 business days of becoming aware of a reportable allegation or conviction.

Good records protect children, help authorities act and protect you as a worker. This lesson explains what to record when you have a child safety concern, how to write it and where to store it. Key points: write as soon as possible, use the child's own words and describe what you saw and heard rather than your opinions. Include dates, times, who was present and what you did next. Store records only in our approved system, never on personal devices, and keep them confidential. Records also help reveal patterns of concern over time.

This final lesson brings the course together through our child safety policy. It explains what the policy asks of every worker, how it links to the NSW Child Safe Standards, and where to go for help. Key points: read and follow the policy, keep up your training, follow the child's support plan, raise every concern with your team leader, and meet your mandatory reporting and reportable conduct responsibilities. We support workers who speak up in good faith. The lesson ends with a course summary and asks you to complete the final assessment.