The National Office for Child Safety (NOCS) has made use of National Child Protection Week this week, to draw attention to a complaint handling guide it produced for institutions and organisations dealing with complaints of child sexual abuse and a special framework it developed for Commonwealth Agencies.
Promoting National Child Protection Week, the Office said that all children deserved to be heard and to feel safe.
“National Child Protection Week is a time to reflect on the role we can all play in ensuring children feel safe and have a sense of well-being,” the Office said.
“Families, friendship groups, communities can support one another to promote the safety and wellbeing of Australian children.”
It said its complaint handling guide Upholding the rights of children and young people was a recent initiative informed by the findings of the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse.
It said the Royal Commission highlighted the systemic failings of institutions and organisations in dealing with complaints of child sexual abuse and NOCS’ Guide was released to help them implement complaint handling systems that prioritised child safety while ensuring young children had a voice in the decisions which affected them.
“In addition to the Guide, the Commonwealth Child Safety Framework has recently been published,” the Office said.
“The Framework sets minimum standards for creating and embedding child safe culture and practices across Commonwealth entities.”
NOCS said it worked across Government to deliver policies and strategies to enhance children’s safety.
It said a range of materials had been published, as well as the Framework, to guide and support Commonwealth entities in meeting their obligations.
The NOCS Commonwealth Child Safety Framework can be accessed at this PS News link.
