Safeguarding children and young people at the Y
We have worked hard to ensure that our policies, procedures and practices enable us to provide the safest environment possible for children and young people.
We have a strong commitment to our Safeguarding Children and Young People policy. Our commitment also extends to providing developmentally appropriate and meaningful programs to the community, as well as working with children and their parents to help everyone become healthy and happy.
We recruit, train and support our staff and volunteers to care for the children and young people in our programs and services. We ensure that our staff and volunteers always act in the best interests of children and young people, take all reasonable steps to keep them safe, and to promptly respond to any concern regarding the safety or development of children in our care.
To report a safeguarding concern, please complete the form on this page.
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About our safeguarding
Our Safeguarding Children and Young People (SCYP) policy applies to every staff member and volunteer at the Y. It has been endorsed by the National Council of YMCAs and applies to every YMCA in Australia, and includes the following key elements:
- all employees and volunteers must maintain a valid Working With Children Check;
- we do not appoint employees or volunteers until a satisfactory police check has been completed;
- our staff and volunteers must comply with the Y Victoria Code of Conduct, which provides guidelines for appropriate behaviour when working with children and young people;
- all staff and volunteers must complete the National Feel Safe Be Safe training;
- our staff and volunteers must comply with external mandatory reporting requirements and with our incident management and reporting procedures;
- each of our centres and services participate in annual auditing and monitoring processes, to ensure compliance with the SCYP Policy and Procedure.
We know that it takes more than great policies and procedures to keep children safe.
At the Y, we believe in the power of inspired young people. For young people to be inspired, we know they need to feel safe and be safe. That is why the Y is independently reviewed by the Australian Childhood Foundation to ensure our services are safe for all children and young people.
The Australian Childhood Foundation ‘Independently reviewed’ stamp is a sign of assurance that the Y is a safe place for your children and young people.
The Australian Childhood Foundation ‘Independently reviewed’ stamp