Danceworks114 is committed to ensuring that the people who care for children and young people in Danceworks114 programs or services act in the best interests of the children and young people in their care and take all reasonable steps to ensure their safety. In particular, we are committed to providing an environment where all children and young people are protected from any form of abuse or mistreatment. Danceworks114 has a duty of care to provide services and places that are safe, open and honest environments that protect children and young people; and where the staff and volunteers who work with children and young people, work within our values of Honesty, Caring, Respect and Responsibility.
Danceworks114 is committed to the Safeguarding of Children and Young People (SCYP) and shall embed all relevant aspects of this policy and related policies and procedures into all of the organisation’s operations, and ensure compliance with relevant legislation. Danceworks114 empowers and expects all employees, volunteers and contractors to create and maintain a safe culture for children and young people. Danceworks114 is committed to reducing the risks of abuse and harm to children and young people, and will ensure all staff understand and adhere to the SCYP Policy and Procedure and relevant legislation. Unless otherwise outlined in the procedure, this will be achieved by Danceworks 114 Personnel complying with the following:
All Danceworks114 Personnel will show extended guardianship to children and young people and take all reasonable steps to protect them from the risks associated with the public nature of Danceworks114 facilities, as guided by the procedure and other resources.
Danceworks114 will provide recruitment and screening practices to support Safeguarding of Children and Young People for all appointments. As such, all recruitment must adhere to:
All Danceworks114 Staff and Volunteers must participate in an induction program, and participate in annual SYCP training/education programs using standardised induction and training resources.
Training will be provided in a variety of platforms, including online learning, internal facilitated sessions by Danceworks114 managers, Information videos and other learning resources. Content will be drawn from subject matter experts and be made accessible for all staff/volunteers to access the information.
Danceworks114 is committed to educating children, young people and parents/guardians about self- protection, and the promotion of resilience and empowerment strategies within services and programming. Danceworks114 will ensure parents/guardians, children and young people can access appropriate information, resources and educational initiatives in relation to the safeguarding of children and young people in the community.
Danceworks114 personnel must report all suspected child abuse and allegations, as per the reporting guidelines outlined in the procedure and relevant legislation. All reports and allegations will be managed in line with:
– Safeguarding Children and Young People Procedure
– Legislative requirements and mandatory reporting obligations
Danceworks114 is committed to supporting a child-safe culture, and will ensure adequate resources are allocated to enhancing the Danceworks114 approach to safeguarding children and young people. Specific departments and roles will be allocated accountability for ensuring the policy and procedure are
successfully implemented, that Danceworks114 Personnel understand and comply with their responsibilities, and that Danceworks114 has a child-safe culture
The age of consent for sexual activity is 16 years old.
Concepts to consider when determining if sexual activity between adolescent `peers’ is consensual;
A child or young person means every human being under eighteen (18) years of age. Refer to relevant state legislation for the legal definition of a child in Australian States and Territories.
Child-related work has a specific definition in the WWC legislation. “Work” is child- related if the usual duties of the work involve, or are likely to involve contact with a child in connection with at least one of the 19 categories of child-related work. For the purposes of the WWC legislation volunteers under 18 years of age are exempt from the legislation and not in child-related work.
Abuse is an act by a parent, caregiver, other adult or older adolescent that endangers a child or young person’s physical or emotional health or development. Abuse can be a single incident, but usually takes place over time. Abuse can happen in several different ways, and can be physical, emotional and/or sexual. Abuse can also encompass neglect and harassing behaviour, such as bullying. Refer to the definitions of Neglect, Emotional or Psychological abuse, Physical abuse or Sexual abuse in this policy for more information.
Compliance refers to the acceptance and obedience with organisational policies and procedures. Particularly in the context of Safeguarding Children and Young People, compliance refers to the maintenance of all necessary licenses, records and other requirements as per legislation and policy.
Any external agent engaged by Danceworks114 to provide goods or services to the school who are involved in regular direct contact with a child or young person that is not directly supervised. i.e.: workshop guests, birthday host, event Co- ordinator, agency relief staff.
Emotional or Psychological abuse occurs when a child does not receive the appropriate love, affection or attention they need for healthy, emotional, psychological and social development. Such abuse may involve repeated threats to a child, constant criticism, teasing, ignoring, threatening, yelling, scapegoating, ridicule and rejections or continual coldness. These behaviours continue to an extent that it results in significant damage to the child’s physical, intellectual or emotional wellbeing and development.
Give or enable the authority or power to do something and take action. Danceworks 114 empowers all employees and volunteers to take action to support the Danceworks 114 commitment to Safeguarding Children and Young People.
Extended guardianship is a term that acknowledges that children and young people rely on all adults to create a safe environment and act in an informed and committed way to protect them. It is expected that all Danceworks114 Personnel act as extended guardians of children and young people who take part in a Danceworks114 service or activity.
Grooming is a term used to describe what happens when a perpetrator of abuse builds a relationship and rapport with a child with a view to abusing them at some stage in the future. Grooming can also be used to describe the process that a perpetrator goes through when building rapport and a relationship with guardians of children, or people with the responsibility for the care of children and young people (including Danceworks114 employees and volunteers). Grooming can occur over any length of time, in a variety of settings where a relationship can be formed, such as leisure facilities, childcare, music, religious and sporting activities, internet chatrooms and social media, or by SMS.
An ‘involved person’ includes all individuals with direct contact with children, including their managers and supervisors and/or individuals involved in dealing with reports or allegations of child abuse or with access to children’s or young people’s records.
Neglect is the persistent failure or deliberate denial to provide someone (usually a child or young person) with the basic necessities of life. Such neglect includes failure to provide adequate food, clothing, shelter, supervision, water, medical attention or supervision for the appropriate physical or psychological development.
Physical abuse occurs when a person subjects another to non—accidental acts of physical aggression. The abuse may inflict injury intentionally or inadvertently as a result of physical punishment or aggressive treatment. Physically abusive behaviour includes (but is not limited to) shoving, hitting, slapping, shaking, throwing, punching, biting, burning and kicking. It also includes the provision of harmful substances such as drugs, alcohol or poison.
Contact that is not incidental, but normally part of providing a service or activity for children and young people, that involves physical contact, face to face communication or contact within eyeshot when providing services or activities for children.
That which a rational person having regard for all circumstances would consider appropriate.
The ongoing and genuine provision of organisational beliefs and processes that support Danceworks114 as a workplace and community facility where all people are able to engage freely without the threat or potential threat of physical or psychological harm.
Sexual abuse occurs when someone uses their position of physical or structural power to engage in sexual activity with another person, illegally and/ or without their consent.
This policy applies to all employees, volunteers and relevant contractors of Danceworks114 and Dance Enterprises Pty Ltd. For the purpose of this document, we refer to these companies and entities as the Danceworks114.
Note: This procedure applies to contractors/consultants who will have or are likely to have direct contact with children and young people, or that are unsupervised and in the presence of children or young people, pending a risk assessment.
The Safeguarding Children and Young People Policy will be reviewed every three (3) years in consultation with the Australian Childhood Foundation.