The new Ministerial Order 1359, effective on 1 July 2022, provides guidance to schools and school boarding premises governing authorities in relation to how to reduce or eliminate the risk of child abuse occurring. Processes to identify and mitigate risk are covered in various clauses in MO 1359 (see clauses 6.2c, 6.2d, 6.2e, 10.2e, 11.3g, 12.2a and 13.2a).
By way of reminder, some of the key changes introduced by the 11 new Child Safe Standards, to take effect on 1 July 2022 include:
- involving families and communities in organisations’ efforts to keep children and young people safe;
- a greater focus on safety for Aboriginal children and young people; and
- to manage the risk of child abuse in online environments,
with greater clarity on the governance, systems and processes needed to keep children and young people safe, as identified by the Commission for Children and Young People in 2021. More detail about the new 2022 Child Safe Standards is here.
School Environment
MO 1359 offers a broader definition of school environment, clarifying the physical, online and virtual places included.
Risk responses (clause 6, 2022 CSS 2)
Schools are familiar with risk registers as a tool to record risks of child abuse in the school environment. MO 1359 goes further and requires schools to:
- outline the actions taken to ensure a child safe culture is championed and modelled at all levels; and
- develop and implement risk management strategies that:
- focus on preventing, identifying and mitigating risks related to child safety and wellbeing; and
- take into account the nature of the school environment or school boarding environment, the activities expected to be conducted in those environments (including the provision of services by contractors or outside organisations), and the characteristics and needs of all children and students expected to be present in those environments.
What if a risk of child abuse is identified?
Not only are schools and boarding premises required to make a record of those risks, but also of the:
- risk controls: actions that are taken to remove the risks; or
- risk treatments: actions that will be taken to reduce or remove the risks.
Note that simply relying on supervision policies as a sufficient measure may not be sufficient, given recent case law.
How we can help
Moores can:
- provide training for child safety committees;
- update your policies and procedures; and
- assist you in ensuring you have sufficient risk controls and risk treatments in place.
Contact us
Please contact us for more detailed and tailored help.
Subscribe to our email updates and receive our articles directly in your inbox.