The ASC is strongly committed to Australian sport environments that are safe, supportive and friendly for children. We are committed to working with all involved in sport so that children can enjoy sport and feel safe, valued and encouraged to reach their full potential.

Child safety must be embedded in every Australian sporting organisation’s culture, reflected in their policies and procedures, and understood and practiced at all levels of the sport. This includes within our own organisation and facilities where children come to practice, play, learn and excel.

The ASC takes seriously our responsibility to provide an environment that is caring, nurturing and safe.

We are committed to keeping children safe

• Through our Child Safe Policy, we document our clear commitment to keeping children safe from abuse and neglect.
• We communicate our commitment to all stakeholders and provide them access to this commitment statement.

We promote equity and respect diversity

• We actively anticipate children’s diverse circumstances and respond effectively to those with additional vulnerabilities.
• We give all children access to information, support and complaints processes.
• We consider the needs of all children, particularly Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children, children with a disability, LGBTQI children and children from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds.

Our employees, contractors and site users know the behaviour we require

• We ensure that each person involved in our delivery of services to children understands their role and the behaviour we require in relation to keeping children safe from abuse and neglect through application of our Child Safe Policy.
• Our position descriptions clearly state relevant child safe requirements.
• We have Child Safe Practices and Child Safe Professional Behaviours that outlines our expectations for behaviour towards children.

We minimise the likelihood of recruiting a person who is unsuitable

• We have appropriate measures in place to minimise the likelihood that we will recruit employees or contractors who are unsuitable to work with children.
• We will meet the requirements of the relevant Australian Child Protection Legislation.

Induction and training is part of our commitment

• We provide all new employees and contractors with information about our commitment to Child Safety including our Child Safe Policy, Child Safe Practices, Child Safe Professional Behaviours and Responding to Child Abuse Allegations.
• We support ongoing education and training for our employees to ensure child safe information is provided and updated as required.
• We ensure that our employees have up-to-date information relevant to specific legislation applying in the state or territory they are based in or where they may travel to as a part of their duties.

We encourage the involvement of children and their families

• We involve and communicate with children and their families in developing a safe, inclusive and supportive environment.
• We provide information to children and their families about:
  • our commitment to keeping children safe and communicating their rights.
  • the behaviour we expect of our employees, contractors and of themselves.
  • our policy about responding to child abuse.
• We have processes for encouraging two-way communication with children and families
• We seek their feedback and have a process for responding.
• We respect diversity and seek to facilitate effective communication and involvement.

Our employees and contractors understand their responsibility for reporting child abuse

• Our Child Safe Policy requires employees and contractors to:
  • report any allegation, disclosure or concern regarding Child abuse or neglect
  • meet any legislated mandatory or other jurisdictional or industry reporting requirements
  • follow a specified process when reporting abuse or neglect.
• We document any allegation, disclosure or concern regarding Child abuse and monitor responses to all allegations, disclosures or concerns.

We maintain and improve our policies and practices

• We are committed to maintaining and improving our policies, procedures and practices to keep children safe from abuse or neglect.
• We have assigned responsibility for maintaining and improving our policies and procedures to our Child Safe Champion, Athlete and Child Safe Committee and the Child Safe Team.
• We monitor our employees and contractors to ensure appropriate practice, behaviour and policies are followed.
• We require our employees and contractors to disclose investigations, convictions or charges affecting their suitability to work with children and we review police records and Working with Children Checks periodically.
• We have formally reviewed our service delivery to identify and document potential risks to Children.
• We undertake formal reviews, at least annually, to identify and document potential risks to Children associated with our service delivery.