Child protection and mandatory reporting procedure

Purpose

To protect children in our care by making sure every educator recognises the signs of harm, responds safely to a disclosure, records concerns accurately, and reports them to the right authority without delay.

Scope

Every educator, staff member, student, volunteer and contractor at the service. It covers concerns about harm at home or anywhere else, and allegations about anyone working at the service.

Responsibilities

Definitions

Child abuse and neglect

Physical, sexual or emotional abuse, neglect, or exposure to family violence that harms a child or puts them at risk.

Mandatory reporter

A person whom the law requires to report a belief that a child is being harmed. Who is a mandatory reporter, and what must be reported, differs by country and state.

Disclosure

When a child, or someone else, tells you that a child has been or is being harmed.

What you need

• The contact details for your local child protection authority, the police and your regulator
• The service's child protection concern form

Procedure

1. Know the signs

   Watch for unexplained injuries, changes in behaviour, fear of going home or of a person, poor hygiene or hunger, and sexual knowledge or behaviour unusual for the child's age.

2. Make the child safe

   If a child is in immediate danger, call the police or emergency services first, then tell the nominated supervisor.

   Caution: Don't release a child to anyone you believe is a danger to them. Call the police if they try to collect the child.

3. Respond calmly to a disclosure

   Listen, stay calm, and tell the child they did the right thing by telling you. Don't ask leading questions, promise to keep it secret, or investigate yourself.

   • Use the child's own words when you repeat back
   • Tell the child what you'll do next in words they understand

4. Record the facts the same day

   Write what you saw and heard, with the date and time, the child's exact words, and any injuries, on the concern form. Record facts, not opinions, and sign and date it.

5. Report it

   Report to the child protection authority as your local law requires, and tell the nominated supervisor. If you're a mandatory reporter, you must make the report yourself, even if a manager disagrees.

   Caution: The law sets who must report, what must be reported and how quickly. Check the rules for your country and state and put them in this step.

6. Notify the regulator where required

   The nominated supervisor checks whether the incident or allegation must also be notified to the childcare regulator, and does so within the required time.

7. Handle allegations about staff

   If the concern is about someone working at the service, the approved provider manages it, keeps the child away from that person, and reports it as the law requires, without warning the person first.

8. Keep it confidential

   Share information only with the people who need it to protect the child, and store records securely, separate from the child's general file.

9. Support the child and the staff

   Keep the child's routine as normal as you can, and offer the educator who reported support, such as debriefing or an employee assistance program.

Records

• The child protection concern form, signed and dated.
• A record of each report, who it was made to, when and the reference number.
• Regulator notifications, kept for the period your rules require.

Related documents

• Incident, injury, trauma and illness procedure
• Arrival and departure procedure
• Code of conduct
• Speak-up and whistleblowing procedure

Revision history