Commitment to Child Safety
Collingwood is committed to promoting and protecting the safety and wellbeing of children and young people in our care who access activities, programs, services, or facilities for which Collingwood is responsible for.
Collingwood’s Safeguarding Policy and Procedures seek to promote and protect the rights of all children in our care and prevent abuse from occurring by fostering a child safe culture. In the event a concern or allegation is raised in relation to child abuse that has occurred under Collingwood’s care, Collingwood will ensure it is treated seriously, in a culturally sensitive manner and fully investigated in accordance with relevant legislation and Collingwood’s Policy and Procedures.
Child safety and wellbeing is a key priority of the Collingwood Football Club and we hereby declare our commitment to creating an environment that is safe and welcoming for all children and young people to participate in Australian Football.
To achieve this, our Club is committed to implementing the Victorian Child Safe Standards through our Commitment Statement on Child Safety, the Club’s Child Safety & Wellbeing Policy, Code of Conduct, Complaints and Reporting Procedure policies.
These policies and procedures when applied in practise at our Club will help meet the requirements of the Victorian Child Safe Standards and will:
- Establish a culturally safe environment in which diverse and unique identities and experiences of Aboriginal children and young people are respected
- Embed child safety and wellbeing in organisational leadership, governance and culture
- Empower children and young people so they know their rights, participate in decisions affecting them and are taken seriously
- Inform and engage families in respect to child safety and wellbeing
- Ensure that equity and diversity is upheld through our policies and practices
- Engage volunteers and officials to ensure that they are suitable to work with children and young people
- Respond to complaints and concerns promptly, thoroughly and with a child focused approach
- Educate staff, game day personnel and volunteers to provide them with knowledge and skills how to create a safe and welcoming environment for children and young people at our Club
- Understand and mitigate the risks to children and young people in physical and online environments
- Review and improve our child safe policies, procedures and practices regularly
- Role model behaviour and actions documented in policies, procedures and practices guiding how our Club is safe for Children and Young People
Our Club has zero tolerance to any form of child abuse or harm and will act quickly and in the best interest of the child or young person should an allegation of harm or abuse occur.
To meet the above expectations, our Club will:
Commit to:
- Promote this declaration and our commitment to creating a safe and welcoming environment for all children and young people through our Club network (Club notice board, social media pages, email and newsletter correspondence)
Implement:
- Regular discussion occurs at Club meetings to action the Child Safe Standards
Learn and embed a culture of child safety in our Club through:
- Discussion with children, young people and their families – everyone can “have a say”
- Education through awareness workshops and safeguarding resources
- Regular review of safeguarding policies and procedures with our Club committee
