AUSTRALIA
Newcastle Herald
Helen Gregory
@HGregory_Herald
15 Aug 2016
THE chair of the royal commission into child sexual abuse believes institutions should have to adopt a 10-point checklist of national standards to be classified as “child safe” – and monitored for compliance.
Justice Peter McClellan discussed implications of findings from the royal commission in a key note address to be given on Monday at the Association of Children’s Welfare Agencies National Conference.
Justice McClellan said the commission had identified a preliminary list of 10 “elements” it considered “fundamental to a child-safe institution”.
The list included that children participate in decisions affecting them and are taken seriously; families and communities are informed and involved; staff are equipped to keep children safe through continual education and training; and physical and online environments minimise the opportunity for abuse to occur.
“Child safe standards should be nationally consistent and there should be some form of compliance mechanism,” Justice McClellan said.
Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.