Basketball Victoria is committed to the safety and wellbeing of all children and young people. We support the rights of the child and will act without hesitation to ensure a child safe environment is maintained at all times.
The new Victorian Child Safety Standards (Victorian Government legislation as of January 1, 2017) now applies to sporting organisations that operate and provide sporting services to children within Victoria (including National Sporting Organisations). There are several different requirements which make up the standards, and which sports will be required to comply.
The Standards apply to organisations as a whole, not only the areas that work with children. This includes:
- Board of management/committee members
- All paid staff (CEO, Executive, employees)
- All volunteers (coaches, officials, administrators, scorers etc)
- All students on placement
- Any contractors that are engaged.
The Standards also contain new requirements regarding the Working with Children Check from 1 January 2017. For further information regarding the new Working with Children Check requirements go to: http://www.workingwithchildren.vic.gov.au/
Remember: Child safety is not an add-on or one-off exercise. Having policies and procedures in place is not enough. It’s about creating a culture and environment within sport that is supportive and protective of children.
For further information or help, contact
Basketball Victoria
Gerry Glennen
Governance and Operations Manager/Solicitor
(03) 9837 8000
The Department of Health & Human Services
(03) 9096 0000
childsafestandards@dhhs.vic.gov.au
www.dhs.vic.gov.au
The Commission for Children and Young People
(03) 8601 5281
childsafestandards@ccyp.vic.gov.au
www.ccyp.vic.gov.au
Vicsport
(03) 9698 8109
tomd@vicsport.com.au