Child Safe Standards

TTV Child Safe Commitment Statement

Table Tennis Victoria is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children in table tennis by providing a safe and inclusive environment and by ensuring that everyone involved in table tennis is educated and informed of their responsibilities to protect and look after children.

All Children have the right to feel safe and protected from all forms of abuse, harm, and neglect. Children have the right to take part in sport in a safe, positive, and enjoyable environment.

TTV aims to create and maintain an inclusive, child-safe environment that is understood, endorsed, implemented, and adhered to by everyone involved in table tennis.

TTV Child Safeguarding Policy

Information about the National Integrity Framework including the Child Safeguarding Policy can be found here.

To ensure compliance with the Victorian Child Safe Standards, Table Tennis Victoria has developed a "TTV Child Safeguarding Checklist and Action Plan" based on the Commission for Children and Young People (CCYP) Compliance Indicators.

The 2023 TTV Child Safeguarding Checklist and Action Plan can be found here.

A template of this document for affiliates to complete can be found here.

TTV Child Safe Inquiries

Incident Reporting: https://www.tabletennisvic.org.au/incident/

About the Victorian Child Safety Standards

Why Do We Have the Standards? In April 2012, the Victorian government initiated an inquiry into the handling of child abuse allegations within religious and other non-government organisations. The inquiry’s final report, Betrayal of Trust, made a number of recommendations that have been acted on by the Victorian Government. The creation of Child Safe Standards (the Standards) was one of the key recommendations.

From 1 January 2017, the Child Safe Standards will apply to sporting organisations that operate and provide sporting services to children within Victoria (including National Sporting Organisations). The Standards apply to organisations as a whole, not only the areas that work with children. The Standards apply to all personnel in your organisation. This includes:

Board of Management / Committee Members
All paid staff (CEO, Executive, Employees)
All Volunteers (Coaches, officials, administrators, referees, etc)
All students on placement
Any contractors you engage.

What Do I Need To Know? The Standards are flexible and principle-based. The Standards apply to the safety of all children who are involved in our sport. Research shows that children from some population groups are at a higher risk of abuse than others. As such, each of the Standards must also be understood and applied in the context of:

The cultural safety of Aboriginal children
The cultural safety of children from a culturally and/or linguistically diverse background
The safety of children with a disability.

For the purpose of these Standards, a child is defined as a person under the age of 18 years.

Victorian Child Safe Standards from 1 July 2022

New Victorian Child Safe Standards commenced on 1 July 2022 to better protect children and young people from abuse.

Key changes include new requirements:

To involve families and communities in organisations’ efforts to keep children and young people safe
For a greater focus on safety for Aboriginal children and young people
To manage the risk of child abuse in online environments
For greater clarity on the governance, systems and processes to keep children and young people safe.

Changes have been made to support greater national consistency, reflecting the National Principles for a Child Safe Organisation developed following the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse.

An overview of the new Standards is provided below:

Organisations establish a culturally safe environment in which the diverse and unique identities and experiences of Aboriginal children and young people are respected and valued
Child safety and wellbeing is embedded in organisational leadership, governance and culture
Children and young people are empowered about their rights, participate in decisions affecting them and are taken seriously
Families and communities are informed, and involved in promoting child safety and wellbeing
Equity is upheld and diverse needs respected in policy and practice
People working with children and young people are suitable and supported to reflect child safety and wellbeing values in practice
Processes for complaints and concerns are child focused
Staff and volunteers are equipped with the knowledge, skills and awareness to keep children and young people safe through ongoing education and training
Physical and online environments promote safety and wellbeing while minimising the opportunity for children and young people to be harmed
Implementation of the Child Safe Standards is regularly reviewed and improved
Policies and procedures document how the organisation is safe for children and young people.

National Integrity Framework

To streamline integrity policies across sports, the National Integrity Framework has been developed by Sports Integrity Australia.

On Wednesday 16 November 2022, Table Tennis Victoria adopted the Table Tennis Australia National Integrity Framework which includes a Child Safeguarding Policy.

Further information on the National Integrity Framework and the Child Safeguarding Policy can be found here.

What Steps Does Our Club Need to Take?

STEP 1: Develop a working group or sub-committee.

STEP 2: Undertake a child safety review.

STEP 3: Understand your level of risk.

STEP 4: Identify any further information, advice or support needed.

STEP 5: Develop and implement an action plan.

Resources

The Department of Health & Human Services

(03) 9096 000

childsafestandards@dhhs.vic.gov.au

www.dhs.vic.gov.au