WING CHUN KUNG FU BENDIGO

OUR CHILD SAFETY POLICY
Children have the right to feel safe and be safe from sexual, physical and emotional abuse. 

Wing Chun Kung Fu Bendigo is committed to Child Safety and has a ZERO tolerance of child abuse. We support and respect all children, as well as our staff. In accordance with our commitment to the safety, participation and empowerment of all children, all staff are obligated to actively support child safe standards. 

A means of affirming commitment is by the endorsement of this Code of Conduct which conveys appropriate standards of behaviour by adults towards children.

All instructors and volunteers of Wing Chun Kung Fu Bendigo are required to observe child safe principles and expectations for appropriate behaviour towards and in the company of children.

All instructors and volunteers of Wing Chun Kung Fu Bendigo have current Provide First Aid certification and Working with Children Check.

Specifically, all Wing Chun Kung Fu Bendigo personnel are responsible for supporting the safety, participation, wellbeing and empowerment of children and must adhere to this Code of Conduct to help protect children from abuse by:

 

• Taking all reasonable steps to protect children from abuse or mistreatment;

• Treating everyone with respect;

• Listening and responding to the views and concerns of children, particularly if they are telling you that they or another child has been abused/mistreated and/or are worried about their safety or the safety of another;

• Promoting the cultural safety, participation and empowerment of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children (for example, by never questioning an Aboriginal child’s self-identification);

• Promoting the cultural safety, participation and empowerment of children with culturally and/or linguistically diverse backgrounds (for example, by having a zero tolerance of discrimination);

• Promoting the safety, participation and empowerment of children with a disability;

• Ensuring as far as practicable that adults are not left alone with a child, this includes but is not limited to providing first aid and providing access to toilet facilities;

• Reporting any child safety concerns to the principal instructor, Paul McCarthy.

 

if an allegation of child abuse is made, the first priority is to ensure as quickly as possible that the child(ren) are safe. It is also important to respect the privacy of children and their families, and only disclose information to people who have a need to know.

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The Principal Instructor Paul McCarthy of Wing Chun Kung Fu Bendigo, will report any allegation of sexual or physical abuse to Child Protection.

Staff and volunteers of Wing Chun Kung Fu Bendigo must not:

• Conduct 'one to one' training sessions with a child, unless a guardian or parent is present;

• Accompany a child to a toilet, change room or private area unless at all times in the presence of other students, parents or guardians;

• Do things of a personal nature that a child can do for themselves, such as toileting or changing clothes;

• Develop any ‘special’ relationships with children that could be seen as favouritism;

• The offering of gifts or special treatment for specific children;

• Exhibit behaviours with children which may be construed as unnecessarily physical;

• Inappropriate sitting on laps or sitting alongside a child with an arm around them.

• Use any physical contact when interacting with or disciplining a child that is inappropriate or unacceptable for the duty being performed or the circumstances;

• Put children at risk of abuse;

• Engage in open discussions of a mature or adult nature in the presence of children;

• Use or allow inappropriate language in the presence of children

• Express or condone derogatory personal views on cultures, race or sexuality in the presence of children

• Discriminate against any child, including because of culture, race, ethnicity or disability

• Have contact with a child or their family outside of the designated classes; (Incidental contact, such as seeing people in the street or in a restaurant, is acceptable)

• Have any online contact with a child through social media;

• Ignore or disregard any suspected or disclosed child abuse.

 

PROCEDURE IF THIS POLICY IS BREACHED
If any instructor, volunteer, student or parent believes that our Child Safety Policy has been breached, it is your responsibility to immediately report the breach to Paul McCarthy, Principal Instructor of Wing Chun Kung Fu Bendigo who will investigate the report.

Any breach of our Child Safety policy which may also be a breach of the law, should be reported to Paul McCarthy, Principal Instructor of Wing Chun Kung Fu Bendigo and also reported to Victoria Police. (For example sexual misconduct or abuse, physical assault or abuse etc)

Any process in relation to a breach of the Code will be managed with procedural fairness and in keeping with the principles of natural justice.

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