Safer Kids
Keeping children and young people safe is everyone’s responsibility.
Having a Child Protection Policy in place is good practice if your organisation has contact with children and young people.
The introduction of the Vulnerable Children Act 2014 sets our clear responsibilities for organisations that are directly or indirectly government funded in their work with children and young people.
We recognise that children attend all sorts of activities and groups for which the Act does not apply, such as sports, cultural, arts or recreation groups.
What Rātā Foundation requires
We want all organisations whose work involves contact with children or young people to have a Child Protection Policy in place. If you are required under the Act please tells us what you have in place. If you are not required to have a policy under the Act we encourage you to do so.
What is a child protection policy?
A child protection policy provides guidelines for organisations and their staff to create safe environments for children. It is a tool that protects both children and staff by clearly defining what action is required in order to keep children safe, and ensuring a consistency of behaviour so that all staff follow the same process.
Find out more
Below are some resources to help you get started, or review what you already have in place.
- Check out the Child Matters website to learn more about developing a Child Protection Policy, safe work practices and safe recruitment.
- The Safeguarding Children’s Initiative has more resources including an online eLearning course helps you understand your responsibilities in relation to child protection.
- On the SportNZ website you will find Safe Sport for Children which provides information on how sports organisations can reduce the risk of harm to participating children.
- Check out Sport Auckland’s Develop your Legacy. And online interactive development tool for your sports club, including child protection resources.