Child safe standards
A safe place for children – embracing Child Safety Standards at the University of Melbourne
In case of immediate danger call the Police on 000, and contact University Security on (03) 8344 6666
If you have a concern about child safety at the University of Melbourne, report it via the Safer Community Program.
We want everyone who encounters the University of Melbourne to have a safe, positive and inclusive experience. In particular, we care about the safety of children with whom we are in contact.
Every day, in many different ways, members of the University of Melbourne community interact with children. We’re in contact with small children in our childcare centres, with older children as part of our outreach to secondary school students, with children of diverse backgrounds at home and abroad in our research activities, with children visiting our campuses, and in lots of other settings and situations.
Every Victorian has a moral responsibility to ensure their interactions with children are safe, respectful, appropriate and inclusive. Following changes to Victorian legislation in 2016 we now also have legal responsibilities.
All Victorians have a role to play in safeguarding children by reporting suspected child abuse, which can be emotional, physical, cultural, or sexual abuse, or neglect.
The University of Melbourne embraces the Child Safe Standards developed at government level to guide interaction with children, to help everyone understand how we can all support the safety of children in our communities.
A child is defined as anyone under the age of 18 years.
Our commitment to child safety
The University affirms that all forms of abuse and harm of children is unacceptable. We're committed to the implementation of the Victorian Child Safe Standards in order to ensure a safe environment for all members of the University community and visitors less than 18 years of age.
The University fully supports the objectives of the Child Safe Standards to educate, raise awareness, and help organisations create and maintain a child safe environment. The child safe standards seek to strengthen the capacity of organisations to prevent and respond to the risks of child abuse, drive cultural change in organisations, and protect children from the risks of abuse and other harm.
To support this, the University has:
- Nominated a Child Safe Champion — the University Provost
- Nominated a Child Safe Responsible Officer — the Director of Wellbeing from University Services
- Developed a child safety reporting process through the University’s Safer Community Program for any child safety concern, including disclosure from a child of abuse or harm, or a reasonable belief that abuse or harm has occurred or may occur.
Reporting a child safety concern
Everyone associated with the University has a responsibility to report a child safety concern, including staff, students, parents, volunteers, and visitors
The University has a reporting process in place to report and respond to child safety concerns through the Safer Community Program.
In case of immediate danger call the Police on 000, and contact University Security on (03) 8344 6666