Child Safety Wellbeing Policy

Child Safety & Wellbeing Policy in child appropriate language

Our Commitment to Children and Young People

We promise to keep you safe, happy, and strong. At Twelve & Thirteen, we follow special rules called the Victorian Child Safe Standards. These rules make sure we do our best to protect you and stop anything bad from happening to you. If anything goes wrong we will always listen to you, be honest with you, and fix it. Your safety and happiness are very important to us.

You have the right to feel safe and to be safe

Rights are things that help you have a safe, happy, and healthy life. Children have special rights to be safe and well cared for.

Being safe means no one hurts you.
Feeling safe means you feel comfortable and trust the adults looking after you.

Being safe and feeling safe is one of your rights!

When you are doing volunteering activities, the adults looking after you have to follow the rules and keep you safe.

What are the rules for adults when you are away from your parents?

Adults are not allowed to:

say or do anything that makes you feel unsafe or uncomfortable;
touch you in any way that you don’t like or that makes you feel uncomfortable;
hit or hurt your body.

There are special rules called the child safe standards

Adults in charge at many of the places children go must:

choose safe people to look after you;
listen to you if you feel unsafe or worried;
make things safer for you and stop you from being hurt;
tell you who to talk to if you feel unsafe or worried.

The Child Safe Standards are:

Twelve & Thirteen respects and values Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and culture. We support Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children to express their culture and to enjoy their rights. We don’t allow racism.
Child safety is important to everyone at all levels at Twelve & Thirteen. We keep a list and record how we find, avoid, and stop risks of abuse or harm.
Twelve & Thirteen supports you to know your rights to be safe from abuse, know what is going on, and be involved. We help you to talk openly and take part in decisions that affect you.
Twelve & Thirteen tells families and the community about what we do and how we keep children safe from harm and abuse. We encourage families to have a say and to take part in decisions that affect you.
Twelve & Thirteen understands that every child is different and has different needs. We will make sure that every child can get the information and help they need.
Our staff and volunteers know what they must do to keep children safe from abuse and harm. They will record, report, and share information about child safety when they should. Staff who work with children have had the right background checks.
Children and their families know how to make a complaint and what happens when a complaint is made. Our staff know how to respond properly to complaints.
Twelve & Thirteen trains staff to keep children safe from abuse and harm. Our staff know the signs of child abuse and harm and what to do if there are issues of abuse and harm.
Twelve & Thirteen makes sure children are safe when they use our services, settings and activities. This includes when children are online.
Twelve & Thirteen checks and improves the ways to keep you safe from abuse and harm.
Twelve & Thirteen has written policies about how to keep children safe from abuse and harm. The policies are easy to understand, and all staff follow them.

What if an adult breaks the rules?

If there is an emergency, or you or someone else is in danger, call police on Triple Zero (000) immediately.

Or, tell an adult you trust.

This might be a parent, carer, another adult in your family, a teacher, coach or any other adult that you trust. They can get help so that you can stay safe.

If they don’t help you, tell another adult you trust or you can contact us on hello@twelvethirteen.org.

You can also call the Kids Helpline on 1800 551 800 at any time for any reason.

What will happen if you tell us you have been harmed, or think you might be abused.

We will listen to you.
We will believe you and take you seriously.
You won’t get into trouble.
We won’t force you to do or say anything you do not want to do or say.
We will take actions to protect you and stop any abuse from occurring. This may include contact the police or Child Protection.
You will have a say in decisions that affect you.
We will provide you with support to help you feel safe. If you tell us what you think will help you to feel better, we will listen and assist you as much as we can.
We will keep records of what you tell us, and what we do in response to what you tell us. These records are private, and we will act in accordance with the law in protecting your privacy.

What is the Commission for Children and Young People?

The Commission for Children and Young People is a group of people whose job it is to help make sure that children and young people are kept safe. They do their best to make sure that adults follow the rules.

You can contact the Commission for information and advice on:

Call 1300 728 978 (freecall)

Email at contact@ccyp.vic.gov.au

Website at ccyp.vic.gov.au