Child Safety Risk Management Plan

INTRODUCTION

As a provider of services and supports to children with disability, we have developed this Child Safety Risk Management plan to demonstrate our commitment to the safety and wellbeing of children in our care. This plan provides our employees, and those associated with our organisation, information about the strategies we plan and implement to prevent or lower the risk of harm to children.

At Australian Disability Care Services (ADCS) we are committed to the safety and wellbeing of children by:

identifying risks to children’s safety in the delivery of to the services and supports, our physical settings and our online spaces and communication
taking action to reduce these risks and children’s exposure to harm.

This Child Safety Risk Management Plan, which is complemented by our Statement of Commitment to Child Safety, outlines the risks we have identifies, assesses the potential impact, details the strategies we implement to prevent or reduce the risks, and keeps track of our progress.

OUR SERVICES AND SUPPORTS

ADCS is a registered NDIS provider and Specialised Substitute Residential Care (SSRC) provider, we support children through a range of services, including:

· Voluntary Out of Home Care
· Social and Community Participation	· Short Term Accommodation and Respite

IDENTIFIED CHILD SAFETY RISKS

Accidental harm

· Poor physical environments

· Poor supervision

· High risk activities

· Unskilled employees

Physical harm

· Physical punishment

· Pushing, shoving, punching, slapping, biting, kicking

Psychological / emotional abuse

· Bullying

· Threatening language

· Shaming

· Ignoring and isolating

Neglect

· Lack of supervision

· Not providing adequate nourishment

· Not providing adequate clothing or shelter

· Not meeting the specific physical or cognitive needs of children

Sexual abuse

· Sexual abuse, assault, and exploitation

· Inappropriate touching

· Inappropriate conversations of a sexual nature

· Crossing professional boundaries

Cultural abuse

· Lack of cultural respect, racial or cultural vilification or discrimination

· Lack of support to enable a child to be aware of and express their cultural identity

· Lack of support to enable a child to be aware of an express their cultural identity

Online abuse

· Abusive texts and emails

· Hurtful messages, images, or videos

· Intimidated others online

· Grooming – sending a child offensive, confronting, or obscene content) or asking for inappropriate photos)

· Singling a child out for a ‘special relationship’

RISK ASSESSMENT MATRIX

This Risk Assessment Matrix is used to assess identified risks.

Likelihood	Insignificant impact	Minor impact	Moderate impact	Major impact	Severe impact
Almost certain	Medium	High	Very high	Very high	Very high
Likely	Medium	High	High	Very high	Very high
Possible	Low	Medium	High	High	Very high
Unlikely	Low	Low	Medium	Medium	High
Rare	Low	Low	Low	Low	Medium

RISK MANAGEMENT PLAN

Overall Risk – Accidental Harm
Risk factors	Risk levels (without controls)	Risk controls	Risk levels (after controls
Poor physical environments Tasks and activities undertaken in risky environments Hazards not identified and managed Safety equipment and PPE not available or not regularly tested	High High Medium	Environmental risk assessments conducted Child safe precautions taken – locked medicine cabinets, locked chemical cupboards, PPE at service locations with instructions Evacuation signs and safety equipment at service locations and regularly tested. Evacuation drills regularly conducted and recorded. First aid supplies stocked and in date. Smoke detectors at service locations and regularly cleaned and tested. Electrical equipment tested and tagged. Sites are regularly cleaned and disinfected.	Low Low Low
High risk activities Child injured Child scared Inappropriate activity based on age or abilities Incidents not reported or mismanaged	Medium Medium Medium	Activity risk assessments conducted for each child, where required. Parent / Guardian consent signed for activity involvement Child trained in use of equipment / activity Employees trained in use of equipment / activity Employees trained in incident management and reporting. Skilled leaders conduct the activities. Activity leaders made aware of special circumstances / any specific risks to a child. Safety equipment available and checked / tested for safety.	Low Low Low
Poor supervision Child injured / lost Child approached by unknown people	Medium	Duty of Care acknowledged and understood by employees Individual protocols for each child regarding level of supervision required during activities / support	Low
Unskilled employees Poor or inadequate processes for the selection of appropriate employees Lack of awareness and knowledge of child safety, leading to child safety risks	Low Low	Robust recruitment and selection processes conducted by skilled hiring managers Inclusion of child safety obligations in position descriptions Hiring managers have training and / or experience in employee recruitment and selection Training and supervision for employees on tasks and activities Training on Code of Conduct and child safe policies and procedures Mandatory and refresher training conducted and recorded	Low Low

Overall risk – Physical harm
Risk factors	Risk levels (without controls)	Risk controls	Risk levels (after controls)
Children may not be aware of their right to be safe and free from harm Children not supported to speak up about their concerns Employees unaware of how to identify or respond appropriately to harmful behaviours displayed by children	High Medium High	Children and their families are informed about child safety and are aware of the Child Safe Standards Information about ADCS’s child safe policies are available on our website Children are informed their feedback is important and supported to express their views and opinions without judgement Complaints, allegations, and incidents are acted upon promptly and managed using our complaints and / or incident management processes Incident reports are reviewed in a timely manner and incidents are investigated and feedback provided to children, parents, and others involved	Medium Low Medium

Overall risk – Psychological / emotional abuse
Risk factors	Risk levels (without controls)	Risk controls	Risk levels (after controls)
Excessive or unreasonable demands are placed on children that are beyond their capabilities Children have been subjected to violence, threatening language, bullying, or threats Children have been ignored or isolated	Medium Medium Medium	Employees understand the capabilities of the children they support and provide age appropriate care and expectations on each child’s involvement and interactions Employees are trained in trauma-informed care and practice trauma-informed care and support Employees understand the meaning and use of restrictive practices and are trained in trauma-informed care and practice trauma-informed care and support	Low Low Low
Overall risk – Neglect
Risk factors	Risk levels (without controls)	Risk controls	Risk levels (after controls)
Lack of supervision Not providing adequate food, shelter, and clothing Not meeting the specific physical or cognitive needs of children	Medium Medium	Employees engage in learning activities with children, reading to them, and helping them with their homework and other developmental activities. Employees understand and implement any plans and strategies developed by allied health professionals that support a child’s physical and / or cognitive development. Children’s health and medical needs are managed under the direction of their doctors and allied health professionals	Low Low
Overall risk – Sexual abuse
Risk factors	Risk levels (without controls)	Risk controls	Risk levels (after controls)
Employees unaware of how to identify or respond appropriately to harmful sexual behaviours displayed by children Sexual abuse, assault, and exploitation Inappropriate conversations of a sexual nature Crossing professional boundaries	High Medium	Employees are trained to identify the signs of child abuse and how to respond and report it. Employees are trained in child safe practices and how to identify and respond appropriately to sexual behaviours displayed by children. Employees understand and implement the Code of Conduct, Duty of Care, and the Professional Boundaries policies and procedures.	Medium Low
Overall risk – Cultural abuse
Risk factors	Risk levels (without controls)	Risk controls	Risk levels (after controls)
Lack of cultural respect, racial, or cultural vilification or discrimination Lack of support to enable a child to be aware of, and express their cultural identity	Medium Low	Children are supported to engage in their cultural and cultural activities through the creation of a child’s Cultural Support Plan, if appropriate. Employees attend cultural awareness training, where relevant to their roles and the children they support.	Low Low
Overall risk – Online abuse
Risk factors	Risk levels (without controls)	Risk controls	Risk levels (after controls)
Children have access to inappropriate online material Children receive or send abusive texts and emails, hurtful messages, images, or videos Intimidating others or being intimidated online Grooming – sending a child offensive, confronting, or obscene content, or asking for inappropriate photos Children are singled out for ‘special relationships’ online	Medium Medium Medium	With the consent of parents / guardians, ADCS places controls on devices and search engines to prevent children from accessing inappropriate websites, communicating with strangers, and limiting on-line timeWith the consent of parents / guardians, ADCS and monitors each child’s use of connected devices, with reports on the sites they visit and the apps they use Where possible and appropriate, employees supervise each child’s use of online activities and teach children on how to report online abuse or harmful content Employees have regular conversations with children about on-line safety and healthy media choices.	Low Low Low

Responsibility for the Child Safety Risk Management Plan

The ADCS Director has overall responsibility for the development, implementation, and review of this Plan. All employees have a role to play in protecting children from harm and abuse and must read and implement this Plan, the Code of Practice, and all ADCS child safe policies and procedures.

Employees are responsible for identifying, responding to, and reporting any incident, allegation, or suspicion of harm to any child supported by ADCS. Failure to do so may result in legal and / or disciplinary action being taken.

This Child Safety Risk Management Plan is available on the ADCS website and can be made available to any person who requests a copy.

This Plan will be reviewed every two years, or earlier if required, with the review date are recorded in the version control table below.

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