Child Safety

Our Child Safe reporting process

Who can report child safety concerns?

• parent or carer
• child
• community member
• Ballina Shire Council employees including volunteers and councillors.

What you can report

Any child safety concerns, including:

• disclosure of abuse or harm
• allegation, suspicion or observation
• breach of the child safe code of conduct
• general safety or environmental concerns that affect child safety.

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Call 000 (triple zero) if a child is in immediate danger

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How to report any child safety concerns

Parents, carers, children and community members can make a verbal report face-to-face, by letter, email, telephone call or meeting.

Call 000 (triple zero) if a child is in immediate danger.

Report your concerns to

Any Ballina Shire Council employee.

• Ballina Shire Council
  PO Box 450
  BALLINA  NSW  2478
  phone 1300 864 444
  email council@ballina.nsw.gov.au

What happens next?

Incident involves a child

• Concerns about or disclosures from anyone about a child must be reported immediately by Ballina Shire Council employees to their direct supervisor.
• All instances of suspected or known child abuse must be reported to the NSW Police Force.
• Where a report concerns a risk of significant harm, a report will be made to the Child Protection Helpline on 13 21 11.
• Support will be offered to the child, parent/carer, or the person who made the report and any involved/affected Ballina Shire Council employees.

Incident also involves inappropriate behaviour or poses a serious risk by a Ballina Shire Council employee

Any concerns about or disclosures relating to inappropriate behaviour, or serious risk of abuse must be reported immediately by Ballina Shire Council employees to their direct supervisor, or to the supervisor’s manager if the concerns relate to the employee’s direct supervisor.

• Where the incident involves a serious risk of abuse of a child by a Ballina Shire Council employee, protective measures will be put in place by the relevant manager, in consultation with the Child Safety Officer.
• The Child Safety Officer will initiate internal processes to clarify the nature of the complaint and disciplinary processes will be commenced, if required.
• The Child Safety Officer in consultation with relevant managers will decide, under legal requirements and duty of care provisions, if the matter should or must be reported to the NSW Police Force and/or the Child Protection Helpline and will make a report as soon as possible, if required.
• The Child Safety Officer or an independent third party investigator conducts a full investigation.
• The Child Safety Officer/ General Manager will assess if the behaviour is reportable conduct, and where appropriate will notify the Office of the Children’s Guardian within 7 days.

Outcome

Investigation completed and outcome decided

• Relevant Ballina Shire Council employees, parent/child or community member will be notified of the investigation’s outcome.
• Disciplinary action taken (where required) and Ballina Shire Council policies, procedures and risk management plans will be reviewed and updated.

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Our Child Safety Code of Conduct

Commitment statement

Ballina Shire Council is a child safe organisation that supports and promotes the safety, wellbeing and empowerment of children and young people.

Everyone in our community has a role to play in keeping children and young people safe.

Council has a responsibility to ensure our activities and services are carried out in a manner that provides appropriate child safe environments for children and young people. We will educate our staff, raise awareness in our community and consult with children and young people on matters relating to them.

Council has zero tolerance of abuse towards children and young people and supports measures that reduce opportunities for harm as outlined in the Child Safe Standards.

Scope

This child safety code of conduct applies to all Council staff and representatives including:

• council employees (full-time, part-time, casual, temporary and fixed term)
• labour hire employees
• councillors (elected members)
• contractors
• sub-contractors
• volunteers
• work experience participants and
• student placements.

All Ballina Shire Council staff and representatives MUST:

• act as positive role models in their conduct with children and young people.
• ensure the safety of children who access and engage with Ballina Shire Council services.
• ensure the voice of children and young people are heard on community decision matters affecting young people.
• report any allegations of misconduct or concerning behaviour by other Council employees to their supervisor or the Child Safety Officer.
• contact the police if a child is at immediate risk of abuse by calling 000.
• report any suspicions based on reasonable grounds that a child is at risk if significant harm to their supervisor or the Child Protection Helpline on 132 111.
• ensure a parent or carer of a child is copied into any correspondence they may have with a child or young person.
• seek permission from a parent or carer to post any online content regarding the child or young person.

All Ballina Shire Council staff and representatives MUST NOT:

• engage in behaviours that are a risk to the safety of children.
• photograph or video a child or young person without the consent of the child and their parent/s or guardian/s.
• shame, humiliate, oppress, belittle or degrade children or young people.
• engage in any activity with a child or young person that is likely to physically or emotionally harm them.  
• initiate unnecessary physical contact with a child or young person or do things of a personal nature for them that they can do for themselves.
• be alone with a child or young person unnecessarily and for more than a very short time.
• work with children or young people while under the influence of alcohol or illegal drugs.

Actions we will take in response to a breach of the child safe code of conduct:

• breaches of the Child Safe Code of Conduct by staff will be dealt with as per the Child Safe Reporting Procedure, Code of Conduct or other relevant Council Procedure and it may give rise to disciplinary action up to and including termination of employment.
• failure by a councillor to comply with the standards of conduct prescribed under this code may constitute misconduct for the purposes of the Local Government Act and will be dealt with under the same provisions as the Code of Conduct.
• failure by any other Council representative will be dealt with using the appropriate Council procedure.

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Resources

• Child Safety Policy (pdf)
• Child Safe Commitment Statement (pdf)
• Child Safe Code of Conduct (pdf)
• Child Safe Standards poster (pdf)
• Child Safe Scheme - Office of the Children's Guardian website