Understanding Our Child Safety Framework
Every child deserves to be supported by an organisation where their safety and wellbeing are considered in every decision that is made. Our Child Safety Framework provides an overview of how TeamKids approaches this responsibility, bringing together the systems, people and practices that help create child safe environments across our organisation.At the centre of our Child Safety Framework is the child. Every decision we make, every system we develop and every expectation we set has the same purpose: supporting children’s safety, wellbeing and sense of belonging.
The surrounding layers show how different parts of our organisation work together to support children, from the Educators and teams in our services to the systems and leadership that guide and strengthen our practices behind the scenes.
Policies & Procedures
Our Policies and Procedures provide clear expectations for how our teams work, supporting consistent and safe practices across every TeamKids service. They are developed in alignment with the National Child Safe Principles and the child safe requirements within each state and territory in which we operate, helping ensure our practices reflect current legislation and best practice.
Recruitment & Screening
The people who work with children have a significant influence on their safety, wellbeing and sense of belonging. Our recruitment and screening processes are designed to assess more than qualifications and mandatory child safety checks. Through interviews, reference checks and our selection processes, we look for people whose values, judgement, interactions and commitment to child safety align with the expectations of TeamKids.
Training & Development
Our Educators are supported through induction, professional learning and ongoing development that continually builds their knowledge and skills. We believe investing in our people helps ensure they remain equipped to provide safe, high-quality care for children.
Effective Supervision
Effective supervision is a key expectation across TeamKids. Our Educators receive dedicated training and ongoing support to understand how to actively supervise children, position themselves effectively, remain engaged and respond to changing environments, helping create safe and well-supported experiences for every child.
Communication
Communication is an important way we continue to strengthen child safety across TeamKids. Open and respectful communication between children, families, Educators and leaders helps ensure important information is shared, concerns are acted upon, and children are consistently supported.
Responding to Feedback, Concerns & Complaints
We have clear reporting processes that help support children, families and Educators to speak up, making sure that all concerns are heard, carefully considered and responded to appropriately, with children’s safety and wellbeing guiding every decision.
Governance & Reporting
Keeping children safe requires ongoing attention. Our Leadership Teams regularly review information from across the organisation to monitor how our services are operating, strengthen our practices and ensure child safety remains a priority in every decision we make.
Surrounding these elements is the outer layer of our framework: Leadership Support, Awareness, Engagement and Continuous Improvement.
These elements work across every part of the framework, supporting our teams, informing our decisions and driving the ongoing review and improvement of our child safe practices.
- Leadership Support is demonstrated through leaders who actively guide our teams, provide resources and reinforce child safe practices across the organisation.
- Awareness is built by ensuring our people understand their responsibilities and stay informed about child safety expectations, legislation and best practice.
- Engagement encourages children, families and Educators to share their ideas, feedback and concerns, recognising that these voices help strengthen the environments we create.
- Continuous Improvement reflects our commitment to regularly reviewing the way we operate and identifying opportunities to further strengthen our child safe practices.
Together, these layers create a framework where every element works towards the same outcome: ensuring children remain at the centre of everything we do.