The governance of Monivae College is informed by a range of policies designed to provide clear direction for the fulfilment of our educational and pastoral goals. These policies are developed by the College Leadership team and adopted upon review by the College Board. It is the role of the College Board to review these policies.

Child Safety

The care, safety and wellbeing of children and young people is a central and fundamental responsibility of Catholic education.

Monivae College is committed to strengthened practices for the protection of children in line with the Victorian Government child safety reforms.

Catholic school communities place the highest priority on the care, wellbeing and protection of children and young people. Founded in Christ and sustained by faith, Catholic schools seek to fulfil their mission of enabling each student to come into the fullness of their own humanity. This includes paying attention to the inherent dignity of children and young people, and their fundamental right to be respected, nurtured and safeguarded by all.

Catholic education has done much to strengthen its wellbeing and protection environment and remains committed to continuous improvement and review of its policies.

Supporting an absolute commitment to child safety, Monivae College has a dedicated Student Wellbeing Group and a dedicated Child Protection Officer. We continue to work closely with the Victorian Registration and Qualifications Authority (VRQA), the Department of Education and Training (DET), and the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) to improve child protection through the promotion and implementation of the Victorian compulsory minimum Child Safe Standards and other relevant legislative obligations emanating from recommendations associated with the:

Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse
Victorian Parliamentary Inquiry into the Handling of Child Abuse by Religious and Other Organisations which culminated in the report titled Betrayal of Trust.

Mandatory reporting is a legal requirement under the Children, Youth and Families Act 2005 (Vic.) to protect children from harm relating to physical injury and sexual abuse and is non-negotiable in our schools.

There has been a review of school policies and procedures to reflect recent Victorian legislative amendments with respect to managing the risk of child abuse. The updates to these policies complement the introduction of new Victorian Child Safe Standards, which came into effect for all Victorian schools in 2016.

Catholic schools must comply with legal obligations related to mandatory reporting and managing the risk of child abuse to ensure that all school policies and procedures are continually reviewed and updated to reflect Victorian legislative requirements.

The Victorian Child Safe Standards

On 26 November 2015, the Victorian Parliament passed the Child Wellbeing and Safety Amendment (Child Safe Standards) Bill 2015 (Vic.) to introduce the Victorian Child Safe Standards (the standards) into law. The standards have been phased in since 1 January 2016 for most organisations working with children and came into force for schools from 1 August 2016.

Ministerial Order No. 870 was gazetted on Thursday 7 January 2016. The Ministerial Order, developed in consultation with stakeholders from government and non-government school sectors, specifies the actions schools must take to meet each of the child safety standards.

As a minimum requirement for school registration, schools must take action in accordance with Ministerial Order No. 870 to manage and reduce the risk of child abuse. The Victorian Registration and Qualifications Authority (VRQA) will have responsibility for ensuring compliance against the standards in schools.

Child safe organisations must have:

strategies to embed an organisational culture of child safety, including through effective leadership arrangements
a child safety policy or statement of commitment to child safety
a code of conduct that establishes clear expectations for appropriate behaviour with children
screening, supervision, training and other human resources practices that reduce the risk of child abuse by new and existing personnel
processes for responding to and reporting suspected child abuse
strategies to identify and reduce or remove risks of child abuse
strategies to promote the participation and empowerment of children.

In complying with the child safety standards, organisations must include the following principles as part of each standard:

promoting the cultural safety of Aboriginal children
promoting the cultural safety of children from culturally and/or linguistically diverse backgrounds
promoting the safety of children with a disability.

The links below provide further information on Child Safety:

Policies

Child Safety

The Victorian Child Safe Standards