Child Safety Statement of Commitment

We are committed to provide an environment where students are safe, happy and empowered. 

We support and respect all children, as well as our staff and volunteers. 

We are committed to the safety, participation and empowerment of all children.

We have a zero tolerance policy toward child abuse, and all allegations and safety concerns will be treated very seriously and consistently with our robust policies and procedures.

We have legal and moral obligations to contact authorities when we are worried about a child’s safety, which we follow rigorously. 

Muhammadiyah Australia College is committed to preventing child abuse and identifying risks early, and removing and reducing these risks. 

Muhammadiyah Australia College has robust human resources and recruitment practices to reduce the risk of child abuse by new and existing board members, staff and volunteers.

Muhammadiyah Australia College is committed to regularly training and educating our board members, staff and volunteers on child abuse risks. 

We are committed to the cultural safety of Aboriginal children, the cultural safety of children from culturally and/or linguistically diverse backgrounds, and to providing a safe environment for children with a disability.

This document is one of a suite of policy documents in place to support our board members, staff and volunteers to achieve these commitments.

The Board of Directors and the Principal of Muhammadiyah Australia College will support implementation and monitoring of the Code of Conduct, and will plan, implement and monitor arrangements to provide inclusive, safe and orderly schools and other learning environments. The Board and the principal will also provide information and support to enable the Code of Conduct to operate effectively.

All staff, contractors, volunteers and any other member of the school community involved in child related work are required to comply with the Code of Conduct by observing expectations for appropriate behaviour below. The Code of Conduct applies in all school situations, including school camps and in the use of digital technology and social media.

Acceptable behaviours

As staff, volunteers, contractors, and any other member of the school community involved in child related work individually, we are responsible for supporting and promoting the safety of children by:

· upholding the College’s child safe policy and statement of commitment to child safety at all times 

· treating students and families in the school community with respect both within the school environment and outside the school environment as part of normal social and community activities.

· listening and responding to the views and concerns of students, particularly if they are telling you that they or another child has been abused or that they are worried about their safety/the safety of another child

· promoting the cultural safety, participation and empowerment of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students

· promoting the cultural safety, participation and empowerment of students with culturally and/or linguistically diverse backgrounds

· promoting the safety, participation and empowerment of students with a disability

· reporting any allegations of child abuse or other child safety concerns to the Principal or any person in the Board of Directors of the College.

· understanding and complying with all reporting or disclosure obligations (including mandatory reporting) as they relate to protecting children from harm or abuse.

· if child abuse is suspected, ensuring as quickly as possible that the student(s) are safe and protected from harm.

Unacceptable behaviours

As staff, volunteers, contractors, and any other member of the school community involved in child related work we must not:

· ignore or disregard any concerns, suspicions or disclosures of child abuse

· develop a relationship with any student that could be seen as favouritism or amount to ‘grooming’ behaviour (for example, offering gifts)

· exhibit behaviours or engage in activities with students which may be interpreted as abusive and not justified by the educational, therapeutic, or service delivery context

· ignore behaviours by other adults towards students when they appear to be overly familiar or inappropriate

· discuss content of an intimate nature or use sexual innuendo with students, except where it occurs relevantly in the context of parental guidance, delivering the education curriculum or a therapeutic setting

· treat a child unfavourably because of their disability, age, gender, race, culture, vulnerability, sexuality or ethnicity.

· communicate directly with a student through personal or private contact channels (including by social media, email, instant messaging, texting etc) except where that communication is reasonable in all the circumstances, related to school work or extra-curricular activities or where there is a safety concern or other urgent matter

· photograph or video a child in a school environment except in accordance with school policy or where required for duty of care purposes 

· in the school environment or at other school events where students are present, consume alcohol or take illicit drugs under any circumstances.

Muhammadiyah Australia College takes its legal responsibilities seriously, including:

1) Failure to disclose: All adults in Victoria who have a reasonable belief that an adult has committed a sexual offence against a child under 16 have an obligation to report that information to Victoria Police or 000.

2) Mandatory reporting: Any board members, staff or volunteers who are mandatory reporters must comply with their duties

3) Failure to protect: People of authority in our organisation will commit an offence if they know of a substantial risk of child sexual abuse and have the power or responsibility to reduce or remove the risk, but negligently fail to do so.

4) Reportable conduct: The Board of Directors and the Principal of the College must be made aware of any allegations of physical and sexual abuse, sexual misconduct, significant emotional or psychological harm or significant neglect by an employee or volunteer towards a child. We are also legally required to notify the Commission for Children and Young People of the allegation.

5) Duty of care: the College takes all ‘reasonable precautions’ within its power to prevent the abuse in question. 

Please refer to our Human Resources Policy for details on how we consider and embed child safety into:

● staff recruitment and selection

● staff induction

● day-to-day management of staff

● staff professional development

● staff performance management

Muhammadiyah Australia College takes all allegations seriously and has practices in place to investigate thoroughly and quickly. Our board members, staff and volunteers are trained to deal with allegations appropriately. 

We work to ensure all students, parents, board members, staff and volunteers know what to do and who to tell if they observe abuse or are a victim, and if they notice inappropriate behaviour. 

We all have a responsibility to report an allegation of abuse if we have a reasonable belief that an incident took place. If an adult has a reasonable belief that an incident has occurred then they must report the incident. Factors contributing to reasonable belief may include:

• a child states they or someone they know has been abused (noting that sometimes the child may in fact be referring to themselves)

• behaviour consistent with that of an abuse victim is observed 

• someone else has raised a suspicion of abuse but is unwilling to report it 

• observing suspicious behaviour.

In case of emergency or if a child is in immediate danger contact Triple Zero (000) or the local police station. 

To report concerns about the immediate safety of a child within their family unit to DHHS Child Protection, call the Child Protection Crisis Line on 13 12 78 (24 hours 7 days, toll free) and notify the School Principal

Please contact the School Principal for any concern about child safety risks and situations.