Child Safe Awareness

Child Safe Awareness Course

The SLSNSW Board has determined that all members holding one or more of the following positions are required to complete SLSA’s online Child Safe Awareness course to continue to carry out their SLS activities:

• Officers on club and branch Executive Committees
• Patrol Captains and Patrol Members
• Junior Activity Chairs and Age Managers
• Surf Sports Coaches and Officials
• Trainers, Assessors and Facilitators
• MPIOs and Complaints Managers
• Club Child Safe Officers

The SLS Child Safe Awareness course is in the eLearning section of the SLS Hub, under the SLS – Safety and Wellbeing section and takes 15-20 minutes to complete. This module provides information specific to SLS child safe policies and procedures, an introduction to child safety, including the types and signs of abuse, creating a safe environment and when and how to report.

How to Report Child Safe Concerns

All SLS members play a crucial role in protecting children and young people and have a responsibility to speak up if they observe, or are made aware of, a risk to child safety.

If you observe a risk to child safety or someone discloses behaviours that may be of concern, you must document and report your concerns.

Reporting options

1. If you believe on reasonable grounds a child or young person has been abused or is at risk of abuse and/or requires medical help

• Call 000 for medical help and/or the Police
• Report the concerns immediately through the SLS Complaints Online Reporting System.
  

2. If you are unsure who to report your concerns to, your contact options include;

• A club MPIO – for information on policies and options for reporting the concerns.
• A SLS MPIO outside your club – if you believe there is a risk to confidentiality within your club
• Your club Child Safe Officer
• SLSNSW Member Services
  

Responding to Child Safe disclosures

A child or young person may trust you and choose to deliberately or inadvertently disclose situations where they or someone they know may be abused or neglected.

If a child or young person discloses abuse or neglect to you – your response is vital and can;

• Help reassure and support that child or young person that it is ok to speak up about concerns.
• Be a first step towards stopping the abuse and protecting the child from further harm.
• Impact the potential investigation of the allegations by SLS, the Police or other reporting organisations.
  

Tips for responding to a disclosure can be found in the Child Safe Guideline and on the Play by the Rules website

Responses to a disclosure may vary, depending on the circumstances, however, these tips may help provide a basis for your response.

• Listen – Remain calm and patient, move to a suitable location for the person, listen actively. Avoid asking leading questions – let the person use their own words.
• Reassure – Thank them and reassure them it’s not their fault and it’s ok to speak about it.
• Respect – Acknowledge its ok if they don’t want to share all the details. Don’t make promises you can’t keep. e.g Don’t promise not to tell anyone.
• Refer – Explain your next steps and that you will only share the information with persons who are essential to help keep the child or other people safe. Consider immediate risks to the child’s safe e.g calling 000 for medical help or the Police

After a disclosure;

• Ensure immediate safety of the person and yourself – e.g. call 000 for medical help
• Report – e.g to the Police, child protection services and report through the SLS Complaints Online Reporting System,
• Document – what has been said or observed and what you have said
• Debrief – utilise the SLSNSW MAP Converge International to access confidential, free of charge support