Dear All,

Many of you will be aware of the Child Safe Standards (the Standards).

These provide compulsory minimum standards for all organizations that provide services to children, including Victorian table tennis Affiliates. The aim of the Standards is to ensure organizations are well prepared to protect children from abuse and neglect. It is recognized that many Affiliates will have existing policies and procedures that aim to keep children safe, and we congratulate these Affiliates for their proactive approach.

As the governing body for the sport in this State, Table Tennis Victoria (TTV) has responsibility for ensuring compliance with the Child Safe Standards by its Affiliates.

To assist with this, we have worked in conjunction with VicSport to develop a template for Affiliates’ own use.

Please find attached the following documents:

1. A Briefing Note outlining the importance of an effective Child Safe Policy, and some background to the development of the initiative;
2. A template Child Safe Policy for your Affiliate to consider implementing.

It is important to understand that this initiative forms part of TTV’s Club Enhancement Initiative which will see all Affiliates receive a ‘Club Health Check’ during the life cycle of the current TTV Strategic Plan, ‘Our Future Together’.

Please note the following actions points and time-frames contained within the Briefing Note:

• Appoint Child Safety contact person at Affiliate, and notify Marie Karekla (State Development Officer at TTV) no later than 31 August 2019;
• Confirm adoption of a Child Safety Policy within Affiliate – no later than 30 September 2019;
• Provide TTV (Marie Karekla) with copy of agreed Affiliate policy, including date of adoption no later than 30 November 2019.

If you have any questions arising from this email, please contact Marie Karekla on the email address contained above, or at the TTV office on 03 9682 2011.

We look forward to working with you all to ensure all children are safe and happy in our table tennis environments.

Kind Regards,

Ritchie Hinton

Chief Executive Officer

ceo@tabletennisvic.org.au

P) 03 9682 2011 M) 0405 401 600