To create a child safe culture you need to ensure your organisation has the right people on board. Drawing on lessons from the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse (Royal Commission), we know that organisations that failed to undertake careful pre-employment screening and reference checks, failed to act on red flags or allowed staff to work with children without a Working with Children Check (WWCC), ultimately failed to protect children.
To address these risks, the Royal Commission included in its recommended National Child Safe Standards that organisations should ensure that people working with children are suitable and supported. This has been adopted in several states including Victoria where organisations must screen, supervise, train and have in place other human resources practices that reduce the risk of child abuse by new and existing personnel. Ensuring that only suitable individuals are hired (or recruited as volunteers) to work with children also accords with an organisation’s overarching duty of care.
This article will set out safeguards and practices that organisation should have in place along the recruitment process.
Advertising the role
Child safety should be a consideration from the very beginning.
Consider:
- How much contact with children does the role involve?
- Will the successful candidate be alone with children?
- Will they be alone with children in a high risk situation (e.g. camps, excursions)?
- Will they be alone with vulnerable children such as those with disabilities or from a CALD background?
These considerations will help you to determine the requirements you might need to put in place. For example, a WWCC may be needed, multiple reference checks or a police check.
We recommend that job advertisements clearly state that the organisation’s commitment to child safety and zero tolerance for child abuse.
Selection for interviews
Before an interview even takes place, consider an application through a child safety lens. Be alert to potential red flags in a person’s resume or cover letter.
Examples include:
- Lots of movement between different states or countries – this could indicate being asked to move on from roles or moving between states or countries to avoid criminal records being picked up by checks;
- Lack of progression in roles – this could indicate that a person has had issues in the workplace;
- Being over-qualified for the role – a person may be choosing to take a demotion to be around children;
- Unexplained gaps in employment – this could indicate an unwillingness to list some past employers or a prior prison sentence; and
- Prior history of violence – an individual may disclose that they have a past history of violence or a criminal record. Even if this is not child related, it presents a potential risk and may also void your insurance coverage.
While the examples above may be innocent and may not be indicative of anything sinister, it is worth noting them in your consideration of the applicant and asking further questions in any interviews and reference checks.
Interviews
The first tip for running interviews is to ensure that they are face-to-face wherever possible. Telephone interviews or even Skype can make it difficult to read a person’s body language.
Interviews should be conducted by a diverse mix of individuals, particularly in gender and age. The interview should also include questions about child safety, such as behaviour and scenario-based questions. For example, “Please provide me with examples of how you have responded to a child safety issue” or “How would you respond to a child who does not listen to your instructions?”
Asking child safe questions also emphasises to the applicant that your organisation takes child safety seriously.
Screening
Before an offer is made to an applicant, there should be a screening process. If an offer is made before screening, it should be made clear to the applicant that this is conditional on them passing screening.
Subject to the requirements of the role, screening should include a WWCC and/or police check. If the applicant has spent a significant amount of time overseas or interstate, you should consider asking for a police check in their countries of residence, noting that a WWCC is only state based.
You should also conduct careful reference checks with at least two previous employers or organisations where the applicant has volunteered, particularly where the applicant has interacted with children. Often, organisations will ask questions to merely confirm the details on the applicant’s resume. However, a child safe approach would include questions regarding the applicant’s work with children, any concerns they might have had or were raised about the applicant, and how children perceived them.
You may also wish to do your own research into the applicant. This could include searching their name on Google and ensuring that their LinkedIn is consistent with their resume.
Offer
Once you are satisfied about the applicant’s suitability to work with children and you make an offer that is accepted, the process continues. It is important that provisions are placed in your contacts of employment such as requiring employees to notify you of any child related charges and offences, maintaining a valid WWCC, and the right to dismiss them for any breach of your child safety policies and codes of conduct.
During induction, the child safety policies should be provided to the individual (if they have not already been) and if possible, an assessment of whether they have read and understood it should occur.
You should also introduce a probationary period during which the applicant will be supervised with children. This should be carefully monitored and feedback should be invited from children and / or their parents about the employee or volunteer.
Record
Organisations should clearly record the steps they take to recruit and retain the right people. Following the Wrongs Amendment (Organisational Child Abuse) Act 2016 (Vic), if an abuse occurs, there will be a presumption that the organisation failed in its duty of care unless it can prove that reasonable precautions were taken to prevent the abuse. The changes reverse the onus of proof to help reduce the barriers in legal proceedings for survivors. Insurers may also require these records as a condition of cover.
Next steps
Ensuring the individuals you engage are suited to work with children is an ongoing process that involves continuous monitoring, training and evaluation.
Some recommended next steps are:
- Review your recruitment processes to ensure that child safety is a focus throughout.
- Train your HR staff and management regarding red flags to look out for when recruiting and interview techniques.
- Update your induction pack for volunteers and staff to embed child safety training.
- Implement processes for monitoring WWCCs and promoting ongoing refresher training for staff members on child safety.
Moores has experience working with organisations to create child safe practices. If you would like to discuss this article with us further, or learn more about our child safety services, please don’t hesitate to contact our Practice Leader, Skye Rose, on (03) 9843 2100.