Our commitment to child safety
Lisa-Marie Parker Vocal Studio is committed to, and takes responsibility for, providing an inclusive, encouraging and safe creative environment for all children and young people. Our classes provide an opportunity to explore their unique creative potential in a fun and safe environment free from bullying, discrimination or hassassment under the guidance of Experienced, appropriately Trained industry professionals who are passionate about teaching children and young people.
We support and respect all children, as well as our staff and volunteers. We want children to be safe, happy and empowered.
We are committed to the emotional, physical and cultural safety of all children and to providing a safe environment for their learning and exploration. Particular attention will be paid to the cultural safety of Aboriginal children and children from culturally and/or linguistically diverse backgrounds, as well as the safety of children with a disability.
Lisa-Marie Parker Vocal Studio actively works to listen to and empower children
Every person involved in Lisa-Marie Parker Vocal Studio has a responsibility to understand the important and specific role he/she/they plays individually and collectively to ensure that the wellbeing and safety of all children and young people is at the forefront of all they do and every decision they make.
We have specific policies, procedures and training in place that support our leadership team, staff and volunteers to achieve these commitments.
The following statement clearly affirms Lisa-Marie Parker Vocal Studio commitment to child safety:
Lisa-Marie Parker Vocal Studio zero tolerance of child abuse and all allegations and safety concerns will be treated very seriously with the studio's policies and procedures.
Scope of Policy
This policy applies to all Leadership, staff, students and the wider studio community including Parents and guardians. All staff are individuals working in our studio Collective directly engaged or employed by Lisa-Marie Parker Vocal Studio, including but not limited to tutors, guest teachers, administration Staff, non-teaching staff and volunteers
Policy
All Lisa-Marie Parker Vocal Studio staff members have a duty, within the reasonable expectation of their role, to ensure that children and young people are received and managed in a physically and emotionally safe environment and those children and young people are treated fairly, justly and with respect whilst engaged in Lisa-Marie Parker Vocal Studio activities. To that end all new staff at Lisa-Marie Parker Vocal Studio are required to have a Working With Children Check (WWCC) completed. Continued employment at Lisa-Marie Parker Vocal Studio is subject to a WWCC being completed.
Parents, guardians, or their representatives also have a duty to ensure that they are respectful, fair and just in their dealings with the children and young people they encounter at Lisa-Marie Parker Vocal Studio.
Lisa-Marie Parker Vocal Studio staff members are required to be active in best practice supervision and management of children and young people and ensure children and young people receive the best possible care and support, whilst undertaking NIDA courses and activities.
Inappropriate conduct towards children or young people at Lisa-Marie Parker Vocal Studio by Lisa-Marie Parker Vocal Studio staff members will result in disciplinary action being taken. Behaviour which appears to be in breach of relevant laws will also be reported to the police and any other relevant statutory bodies as required.
Our children
This Child Safe Policy is intended to empower children who are vital and active participants at Lisa-Marie Parker Vocal Studio. We will provide them with opportunities to give us feedback and ensure that they feel safe and comfortable especially about matters that directly affect them. We listen to their views and respect what they have to say.
We promote diversity and tolerance in our organisation, and people from all walks of life and cultural backgrounds are welcome. In particular we:
• promote the cultural safety, participation and empowerment of Aboriginal children
• promote the cultural safety, participation and empowerment of children from culturally and/or linguistically diverse backgrounds
• ensure that children with a disability are safe and can participate equally.
Our staff and volunteers
This policy guides our staff and volunteers on how to behave with children in our organisation.
All of our staff and volunteers must agree to abide by our Child Safety code of conduct which specifies the standards of conduct required when working with children.
Training and supervision
Training and education is important to ensure that everyone at Lisa-Marie Parker Vocal Studio understands that child safety is everyone’s responsibility.
Our organisational culture aims for all staff and volunteers (in addition to parents/carers and children) to feel confident and comfortable in discussing any allegations of child abuse or child safety concerns.
We also support our staff and volunteers through ongoing supervision to: develop their skills to protect children from abuse; and promote the cultural safety of Aboriginal children, the cultural safety of children from linguistically and/or diverse backgrounds, and the safety of children with a disability.
New employees and volunteers are briefed on commencement and provided with information to ensure they understand our organisation’s commitment to child safety and that everyone has a role to play in protecting children from abuse, as well as checking that their behaviour towards children is safe and appropriate. Any inappropriate behaviour will be reported through appropriate channels, including the Department of Health and Human Services and Victoria Police, depending on the severity and urgency of the matter.
Recruitment
Lisa-Marie Parker Vocal Studio takes all reasonable steps to employ skilled people to work with children. We develop selection criteria and advertisements which clearly demonstrate our commitment to child safety and an awareness of our social and legislative responsibilities. Our organisation understands that when recruiting staff and volunteers we have ethical as well as legislative obligations.
All people engaged in child-related work, including volunteers, are required to hold a Working with Children Check and to provide evidence of this Check.
We carry out reference checks and pre-employment screening to ensure that we are recruiting with child safety in mind.
Fair procedures for personnel
The safety and wellbeing of children is our primary concern. We are also fair and just to personnel. The decisions we make when recruiting, assessing incidents, and undertaking disciplinary action will always be thorough, transparent, and based on evidence.
We record all allegations of abuse and safety concerns using our incident reporting form[1], including investigation updates. All records are securely stored.
If an allegation of abuse or a safety concern is raised, we provide updates to children and families on progress and any actions we as an organisation take.
Responsibilities
Lisa-Marie Parker Vocal Studio staff members, contractors, consultants or contributors
Lisa-Marie Parker Vocal Studio staff members, contractors staff members responsible for courses and activities for children and young people, must clear a Working with Children Check or its equivalent, prior to working with children and young people at Lisa-Marie Parker Vocal Studio
All staff members engaged to work directly with children and young people will also:
have appropriate training and experience in the creation and delivery of such activities, especially around working with children best practice
adhere to the Lisa-Marie Parker Vocal Studio Code of Conduct, which outlines appropriate and expected behaviour when dealing with others
complete the Lisa-Marie Parker Vocal Studio Workplace, Health & Safety induction prior to commencing work at Lisa-Marie Parker Vocal Studio
report to their supervisor any suspicion or knowledge of, unfair or harmful behaviour towards children and young people at Lisa-Marie Parker Vocal Studio
be familiar with Working with Children procedures at Lisa-Marie Parker Vocal Studio relevant to their role.
Students/ Parents and Guardians
Lisa-Marie Parker Vocal Studio Students, Parents and Guardians must:
· abide by the Terms and Conditions of Enrolment
· report any suspicion, or knowledge of, unfair or harmful behaviour to the head of their course or another.
Privacy
All personal information considered or recorded will respect the privacy of the individuals involved, whether they be staff, volunteers, parents or children, unless there is a risk to someone’s safety. We have safeguards and practices in place to ensure any personal information is protected.
Legislative responsibilities
Lisa-Marie Parker Vocal Studio takes our legal responsibilities seriously, including:
• Failure to disclose: Reporting child sexual abuse is a community-wide responsibility. All adults in Victoria who have a reasonable belief that an adult has committed a sexual offence against a child under 16 have an obligation to report that information to the police.
• Failure to protect: People of authority in our organisation will commit an offence if they know of a substantial risk of child sexual abuse and have the power or responsibility to reduce or remove the risk, but negligently fail to do so.
Risk management
In Victoria, organisations are required to protect children when a risk is identified (see information about failure to protect above). In addition to general occupational health and safety risks, we proactively manage risks of abuse to our children.
We have risk management strategies in place to identify, assess, and take steps to minimise child abuse risks, which include risks posed by physical environments (for example, any doors that can lock), and online environments (for example, no staff or volunteer is to have contact with a child in organisations on social media).
Allegations, concerns and complaints
Lisa-Marie Parker Vocal Studio takes all allegations seriously and has practices in place to investigate thoroughly and quickly. Our staff are trained to deal appropriately with allegations.
We have legal and moral obligations to contact authorities when we are worried about a child’s safety, which we follow rigorously.
We work to ensure all children, families, staff and volunteers know what to do and who to tell if they observe abuse or are a victim, and if they notice inappropriate behaviour.
We all have a responsibility to report an allegation of abuse if we have a reasonable belief that an incident took place (see information about failure to disclose above).