New South Wales

Child Safe Scheme

Any sporting organisation that provides services to children must, by law, comply with the Child Safe Standards. This includes any Club, Association or Discover Sailing Centre running programs or racing for children.

There are 10 Child Safe Standards, which you can view on the website of the Office of the Children’s Guardian (OCG), as well as a guide to implementing the Standards. When considering the Standards, it’s important to remember that they’re not meant to be a set of rules or checkboxes; rather, they are overarching guidelines to help you assess your current practices and find areas you can improve. It’s best to frequently re-visit the Standards to consider how you can improve child safety in your Club.

Some other helpful resources include:

If you have any questions about the 10 Standards or how to implement them in your Club, you can contact the Office of the Children’s Guardian by email at childsafe@ocg.nsw.gov.au.

Working with Children Checks

For Volunteers and Staff

Anyone working or volunteering in a “child-related role” at a Club, Association or Discover Sailing Centre is legally required to hold a current Working with Children Check (WWCC). A “child-related role” is any role in which you provide services for children (such as delivering a course) and have direct contact with children.

There are two types of WWCC: volunteer and employee. A volunteer check is free and allows you to work as a volunteer only. An employee check has a fee, but allows you to work as a volunteer, employee or self-employed. You must have the correct type of WWCC.

For more information about obtaining a WWCC, contact your local Club Support Officer or the Office of the Children’s Guardian.

For Clubs, Associations and Discover Sailing Centres

If you run any courses for children, anyone from your organisation who has direct contact with children must have a valid Working with Children Check (WWCC) of the correct type. The Office of the Children’s Guardian (OCG) has published a guide to help you determine whether someone needs a WWCC; click here to access it.

As an organisation that has employees or volunteers providing services to children, you are legally required to:

Register with the OCG as an employer, which lets you verify WWCCs and be notified if a WWCC is cancelled;
Determine which of your staff and volunteers need a WWCC;
Verify the WWCC number of anyone who needs a WWCC (this is done online; see here for instructions); and
For everyone who needs a WWCC, record the name, date of birth, WWCC number and expiry date, and the date and status of the verification check; and maintain these records for at least 7 years.

For Border Communities

Regardless of the State in which they reside, staff and volunteers must have a valid WWCC for each State in which they engage in child-related work. This may mean that two WWCCs are required. Note that there is no requirement to live in NSW or Victoria to obtain a NSW or Victorian WWCC.

Mandatory reporting of suspected child abuse

All adults in NSW are required to report information to Police if they:

know, believe or reasonably ought to know that a child has been abused, or
know, believe, or reasonably ought to know that they have information that might materially assist in securing the apprehension, prosecution or conviction of the offender.

This offence covers sexual abuse, serious physical abuse and extreme neglect of a child.

Additionally, an adult working in an organisation that engages workers in child-related work commits an offence if:

they know that an adult worker engaged by the organisation in child related work poses a serious risk of abusing a child, and
they have the power or responsibility to reduce or remove the risk, and
they negligently fail to reduce or remove that risk.

The offence covers failures to protect against sexual or serious physical abuse.

Contacts

If you believe a child is in immediate danger, call 000. Otherwise, to make a report to police, call 131 444.

To report suspected child abuse or neglect, call the Child Protection Helpline on 132 111.