AFL Safeguarding Children and Young People Complaints & Reporting Procedure
1.PURPOSE
This Safeguarding Children and Young People Complaints and Reporting Procedure (Complaints and Reporting Procedure) sets out the steps that all PJFC members must follow to meet their responsibilities in relation to identifying, reporting, and responding to any concerns about, or incidents of, child abuse or other inappropriate behaviour towards children or young people in our sport.
The Complaints and Reporting Procedure was issued in connection with the Child Safeguarding and Wellbeing Policy (Policy). The definitions set out in the Policy apply to this Complaints and Reporting Procedure.
2.IMMEDIATE RESPONSE
If a child or young person is at imminent risk of harm or in immediate danger, report the situation directly to the Police - CALL ‘000’ (within Australia)
3.WHAT IS TO BE REPORTED
The following types of behaviours, including observed or suspected abuse, in relation to any child or young person involved in AFL activities, programs or services must be reported in the manner described in this Complaints and Reporting Procedure:
• child abuse, harm, neglect or any other form of inappropriate behaviour such as grooming or bullying to a child or young person (emotional or psychological, physical or sexual, racial or religious)
• any breaches of the Policy or Code of Conduct
4. MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS WHEN RESPONDING TO DISCLOSURES OF CHILD ABUSE
When a disclosure of (suspected) child abuse or harm is made, the following points should be considered and utilised.
5.HOW TO MAKE A REPORT & OBLIGATIONS
Child safety and wellbeing is everybody’s responsibility at PJFC and any allegations of child abuse and other inappropriate behaviour in relation to a child or young person should be reported as soon as possible.
Reporting Person’s Obligations
1. If the child or young person is in imminent risk of harm or immediate danger, the reporting person is required to report the situation directly to the police - CALL ‘000’
2. If it is suspected that a child or young person may be abused, harmed or neglected, contact Child Protection directly for further advice.
3. Regardless of whether the matter is reported to the police, it is important that the reporting person contacts the PJFC Child Safety Officer as soon as possible.
4. When practical, the reporting person must make a report to the PJFC Child Safety Officer or PJFC President. This can be done through email (welfare@pjfc.com.au) president@pjfc.com.au) or by contacting the Child Safety Officer or President directly.
5. PJFC is required to escalate the report via AFL integrity using this link:
https://eafl.austfoot.com.au/afl-makeareport/en/#/home
This report is assessed by the AFL integrity and is communicated to the YJFL for their information. The YJFL will assist in managing the reporting process and will provide support where required. The YJFL has processes in place to ensure confidentiality at all times.
6. Any PJFC member or volunteer retains the right to report directly to relevant authorities, such as police or child protection, any concerns they may have in relation to the safety and welfare of a child or young person, regardless of whether they have also reported the matter internally.
WHAT HAPPENS TO A REPORT
The PJFC Child Safety Officer will:
- receive the report and escalate to the PJFC President. Only the Child Safety Officer and President will be aware of the report received.
- contact the reporting person;
- conduct an assessment of the disclosed information to gather facts and assess for risk to the child or young person;
- ensure adequate support services are provided to all relevant persons;
- if allegations relate to a member of PJFC, that person may be redeployed to a position where there is no unsupervised contact with children or suspended until any investigations have been concluded.
- notify the Police or Child Protection if criminality has been identified, pursuant to mandatory reporting compliance.
Mandatory Reporting Provisions
In Victoria, there are certain professions that are mandated to report acts of child abuse or neglect. If you are a mandatory reporter under the Children, Youth and Families Act 2005 (Vic), report matters where you have a reasonable belief that a child or young person has suffered, or is likely to suffer, significant harm from physical or sexual abuse and their parent/guardian has not protected, or is unlikely to protect the child from harm of that type to the Department of Family, Fairness & Housing (DFFH).
Mandatory Reporters under the Children, Youth and Families Act 2005 (Vic) include:
- registered medical practitioners
- nurses
- midwives
- registered teachers and early childhood teachers
- school principals
- school counsellors
- police officers
- out of home care workers (excluding voluntary foster and kinship carers)
- early childhood workers
- youth justice workers
- registered psychologists
- people in religious ministry
For further information, please see attached link.
https://aifs.gov.au/resources/...
In Victoria, there are also other laws such as Failure to Disclose an Offence which all adults need to be aware of should they have a reasonable belief that a child may be a victim or is likely to be a victim of abuse or harm.
7. CONFIDENTIALITY & PRIVACY
PJFC maintains the confidentiality and privacy of all concerned (including the alleged perpetrator), except if doing so would compromise the welfare of the child or young person and/or investigation of the allegation.
The PJFC President and Child Safety Officer will be responsible for the authorisation of the disclosure and sharing of any information relating to any incident reported as outlined in this procedure. The PJFC President is the only person authorised to close a case and will ensure all relevant persons have been informed of the outcome
8. MONITORING
All reports recorded and incident data will be reviewed by PJFC annually as part of the Club’s commitment to continuous improvement in child safety practices.
9. DEFINTIONS AND CONTACT NUMBERS
Sexual Abuse of persons under 16 years – whilst “kids” or “Children and Young People” are in all other circumstances defined as under 18 years of age in Victoria, this age is different because the legal age of consent to sexual behaviour in Victoria is 16 years of age. Whilst noting the legal age of consent, it is an offence for a person in a position of power including a sporting coach to engage in a sexual relationship with a young person. PJFC does not condone or encourage any such relationships and Immediate action will be enforced if such behaviour occurs.
“Child sexual assault” in Victoria is therefore a crime against children under the age of 16 years of age and must be reported to POLICE, even if it is not a situation of “immediate danger” or a “life threatening situation”.
Failure to Disclose Offence - In Victoria, ALL adults who have a reasonable belief that child sexual abuse of a child under 16 years, by an adult, has occurred or is likely to occur MUST report that belief to police.
How do I make a report? In Victoria, reports to child protection must be made by phone.
To make a report, you should contact the child protection intake service covering the local government area (LGA) where the child normally resides.
Telephone numbers to make a report to DFFH during business hours (8.45am -5.00pm), Monday to Friday, are listed below.
North Division intake: 1300 664 977
South Division intake: 1300 655 795
East Division intake: 1300 360 391
West Division intake - metropolitan: 1300 664 977
West Division intake - rural and regional: 1800 075 599
To report concerns about the immediate safety of a child outside of normal business hours, you should contact the After-Hours Child Protection Emergency Service on 13 12 78.