Child Safe Organisation Framework

UnitingCare’s principles of child safe, child friendly practice are aligned with the UnitingCare’s values of compassion, respect, justice, working together and leading through learning.

All UnitingCare Board members, Executives, staff, volunteers, carers, contractors, consultants and researchers have a responsibility – individually and collectively – for ensuring the safety and well being of every child associated with our organisation.

UnitingCare upholds this responsibility by placing the safety of any child above all individual and organisational interests, reporting our concerns and recognising that regardless of role or work place, it is critical that we all understand our role in safety.

UnitingCare’s Child Safe Child Friendly Risk Management Framework (‘Framework’) guides practices across our services, which means we:

• Provide welcoming, safe and nurturing services for children
• Implement measures to prevent child abuse and neglect within our services
• Appropriately and immediately address child abuse and neglect if it does occur

The Framework addresses:

1. Our culture – embedding an approach of individual and collective responsibility for the safety of children across our organisation and that standards of behaviour are clear and upheld
2. Our people – ensuring our people are suitable for working with children and are supported to make good decisions in the interests of children
3. Our risk environment – assessing and mitigating risk of harm to children
4. Our response – ensuring that if there are concerns about the safety of a child, we respond quickly and appropriately to hold people and systems to account and to protect any child at risk

Since the implementation of the Child Safe Child Friendly Risk Management Framework, UnitingCare has further increased and strengthened child safe practices in line with the National Principles for Child Safe Organisations and the Uniting Church National Child Safe Policy Framework 2022.

Read the full UnitingCare Child Safe Child Friendly Risk Management Framework, and Child Safe Child Friendly Factsheet below.