Child Safe Policy

This Child Safe Policy was approved by the Committee of Management on 10^th August 2016. It is due to be reviewed every two years.

This policy was written to demonstrate the strong commitment of the management, staff and volunteers to child safety and to provide an outline of the policies and practices we have developed to keep everyone safe from any harm, including abuse.

Commitment to child safety

All children who come to Endeavour United Soccer Club have a right to feel and be safe. The welfare of the children in our care will always be our first priority and we have a zero tolerance to child abuse. We aim to create a child safe and child friendly environment where children feel safe and have fun. This policy was developed in collaboration with all our staff, volunteers and the children who use our services and their parents. It applies to all staff, volunteers, children and individuals involved in our organisation.

Children’s rights to safety and participation

Endeavour United Soccer Club staff and volunteers encourage children to express their views. We listen to their suggestions, especially on matters that directly affect them. We actively encourage all children who use our services to ‘have a say’ about things that are important to them. We teach children about what they can do if they feel unsafe. We listen to and act on any concerns children, or their parents, raise with us. Children are encouraged to meet with any of our child safety persons, in the company of their parents. Parents are encouraged to report any concerns their child(ren) raise(s) to our child safety persons. Any concern is treated in the strictest confidence. The club will also advertise our Child Safe Policy permanently on the club website, throughout the clubrooms, with reminders periodically on our electronic media, throughout the season.

Valuing diversity

We value diversity and do not tolerate any discriminatory practices. To achieve this we:

■ promote the cultural safety, participation and empowerment of Aboriginal children and their families

■ promote the cultural safety, participation and empowerment of children from culturally and/or linguistically diverse backgrounds and their families

■ welcome children with a disability and their families and act to promote their participation

■ seek appropriate staff from diverse cultural backgrounds.

Recruiting staff and volunteers

Endeavour United Soccer Club applies the best practice standards in the recruitment and screening of staff and volunteers. We interview and conduct referee checks on all staff and volunteers and require Working with Children Checks for relevant positions. Our commitment to Child Safety and our screening requirements are included in all advertisements.

Supporting staff and volunteers

Endeavour United Soccer Club seeks to attract and retain the best staff and volunteers. We provide support and supervision so people feel valued, respected and fairly treated. We have developed a Code of Conduct to provide guidance to our staff, volunteers, parents, players and all club members. We also adopt the FFV codes of conducts. Our codes are displayed on the club website.

Reporting a child safety concern or complaint

Our Junior co-ordinator, Club Secretary and Club President, have been appointed as Child Safety Persons with the specific responsibility for responding to any complaints made by staff, volunteers, parents or children. All committee members are able to receive complaints, which will be passed onto our Child Safety Person(s) for action. Our complaints processes are outlined on the attached diagram. 

Risk Management

We recognise the importance of a risk management approach to minimising the potential for child abuse or harm to occur and use this to inform our policy, procedures and activity planning. In addition to general occupational health and safety risks, we proactively manage risks of abuse to our children.

Reviewing this policy

This policy will be reviewed every two years and we undertake to seek views, comments and suggestions from children, parents, carers, staff and volunteers

You can lodge a complaint with us in one of the following ways:

• By telephoning any of our Child Safety Persons

• By writing to us, The Secretary, PO Box 18, Endeavour Hills Vic 3802

 • By emailing us endeavourunitedsc@gmail.com

• In person by speaking to any of our Child Safety Persons.

If we receive your complaint verbally and we consider it appropriate, we may ask you to put your complaint in writing.

When we are investigating your complaint we will be relying on information provided by you and information we may already be holding. We may need to contact you to clarify details or request additional information where necessary. To help us investigate your complaint quickly and efficiently we will ask you for the following information:

• Your name and contact details,

 • The name of the person you have been dealing,

• The nature of the complaint,

• Details of conversations you may have had with us that may be relevant to your complaint,

• Copies of any documentation which supports your complaint