THE ACT CHILD SAFEGUARDING POLICY REQUIRES ACT MEMBERS TO:
Take a zero tolerance approach to child abuse, respect children’s right to participate, and ensure priority is always given to the best interests of the child
Adhere to all child protection laws
Adopt a Board-approved Child Safeguarding policy
Ensure child-safe program design
Ensure child-safe recruitment of staff
Ensure development of a child safeguarding Code of Conduct
Ensure procedures exist for reporting and investigating child protection concerns
Ensure training is provided for all staff
Ensure that children, communities, partners, and others are informed of the policy and reporting procedures
These are the Principles underpinning the ACT Alliance Child Safeguarding policy.
They are drawn from international human rights principles such as the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child as well as humanitarian principles of ‘do no harm’.
These principles will help ACT member agencies ensure that child safeguarding is fully implemented throughout the organisation.
Developing and adopting a policy is not enough.
There is a saying that, “A policy isn’t worth the paper it’s written on” - Unless a policy is fully implemented it might as well not exist.
A piece of paper alone will not protect children from abuse by staff and others.
Implementing and monitoring best practice will, however, ensure that every possible step has been taken to protect children from abuse by staff and through any association with the agency.
The ACT Alliance Child Safeguarding Policy was developed using global best practices in the field, including years of learning and development about what makes a robust, actionable child safeguarding policy… and what will protect children from all forms of abuse.
