City of Stonnington Child Safety Commitment Statement
The City of Stonnington has a zero tolerance to child abuse and is committed to the safeguarding of all children and young people.
Our commitment statement encompasses the duties of all council officers, employees, contractors, volunteers and Councillors. The City of Stonnington recognises their legal and moral obligation to promote the safety, wellbeing and empowerment of children and young people at all times.
The right to be protected from harm and to be treated with dignity, respect and integrity applies to all children and young people. This includes indigenous children, those from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds, those from the LGBTQIA+ communities and children and adults with disability. Furthermore, the right to protection is irrespective of age, gender identity, sexual orientation, ethnicity, religious beliefs, ability and family background.
As a child-safe organisation we are committed to providing welcoming, safe and accessible environments where children feel valued, listened to and considered in decisions that affect their lives. The need to remove or reduce the risk of child abuse informs our decision making concerning children in our care.
We will champion a culture of safety and utilise our specific policies, procedures and practices to support our people and community.
The City of Stonnington supports the National Redress Scheme. The National Redress Scheme is an initiative to support survivors of institutional child abuse. To access counselling and other services provided by the National Redress Scheme, use this link.
Criminal offenses
Criminal offences have been introduced in Victoria to improve responses to child sexual abuse within organisations and the community. They impose a clear legal duty upon all adults to protect children from sexual abuse and to report their concerns to Victoria police:
Victorian Child Safe Standards and Reportable Conduct Scheme
The Victorian Government has introduced minimum Child Safe Standards and a Reportable Conduct Scheme for organisations regulated or funded by government.
The standards and scheme were established by the Child Wellbeing and Safety Act 2005, and are administered by the Commission for Children and Young People who oversee and monitor compliance with the standards and scheme. Both take into account sexual, physical, emotional, and psychological abuse, as well as serious neglect of children under the age of 18 years.
The Child Safe Standards is a set of eleven standards that aim to create and maintain child safe environments. Council is required to implement and comply with these standards.
The Reportable Conduct Scheme aims to improve organisations’ responses to allegations of certain types of misconduct involving children committed by their workers and volunteers. It imposes legal obligations on heads of organisations to have systems in place to prevent child abuse, and if child abuse is alleged, to ensure allegations are brought to the attention of appropriate persons for investigation and response.
Council strongly supports this reform, which serves to reinforce our responsibility and commitment to creating and maintaining child safe environments.
For child safety enquiries call 03 8290 1333 and ask to be put through to one of our child safety advisors.