Safe Services, Programs, Facilities and Activities

Risk management

It is imperative that individuals and organisations that provide services, programs, facilities and activities to children and young people, and other vulnerable people have robust risk management practices.

There are many risks associated with supporting, supervising and caring for children, young people and other vulnerable people. Some examples include:

physical injury of a child, young person or other vulnerable person such as fractures, sprains, concussion, sunburn or hypothermia
physical abuse of a child, young person or other vulnerable person such as another person hitting, punching, pushing or dragging them
sexual abuse a child, young person or other vulnerable person such as grooming, sexual assault, sexual touching or engaging in an unlawful sexual relationship with them
financial abuse of a child, young person or other vulnerable person
medical emergencies involving a child, young person or other vulnerable person such as an allergic or anaphylactic reaction, choking or aspiration pneumonia
medical neglect of a child, young person or other vulnerable person such as a failure to administer medication or the incorrect administration of medication
racism or discrimination of a child, young person or other vulnerable person
bullying of a child, young person or other vulnerable person
a child, young person or vulnerable person who is lost, missing, has absconded or is otherwise unaccounted for
self-harm or attempted suicide of a child, young person or other vulnerable person
the preventable death of a child, young person or other vulnerable person.

There are many factors that contribute to these issues. These include:

poor recruitment and pre-employment screening processes
inadequate induction, training and support provided to employees, contractors and volunteers
poor application and enrolment processes
failure to consult with children, young people and other vulnerable people to understand their individual circumstances and needs
failure to consult with parents, carers, families and other professionals involved in providing care and support to the child, young person or vulnerable person
inadequate information and education provided to children and young people and other vulnerable people and their parents, carers and families
inadequate supervision
failure to develop, implement and enforce relevant policies and procedures
failure to action and respond to feedback, complaints or incidents
poor recordkeeping and information management practices.

Safety Quality & Care Legal Services can advise and support individuals and organisations to identify, assess, manage, monitor and review risks that may be associated with providing services, programs, facilities or activities to children and young people, and other vulnerable people.

It can also advise and support individuals and organisations who are managing specific incidents that have resulted in abuse, neglect, psychological or emotional harm, physical injury or death of a child, young person, or other vulnerable person.

Emergency management

Individuals and organisations that provide services, programs, facilities and activities to children and young people, and other vulnerable people must be ready to respond to emergencies and other serious incidents. These incidents can occur without warning and can have devastating consequences to the health, safety and wellbeing of children, young people, other vulnerable people, and/or the employees, contractors and volunteers that support and care for them.

These emergencies or serious incidents may include:

fires including building fires, bushfires or grassfires
medical emergencies
severe weather
loss of essential services such as electricity or water
local police incident
intruder engaging in violent, threatening or aggressive behaviour
identification of asbestos or other hazardous materials.

These emergencies and serious incidents may result in:

physical injuries
psychological or emotional harm
property damage or destruction
closure of the service or facility
cessation of the program or activity.

Safety Quality & Care Legal Services can advise and support individuals and organisations to plan and prepare for emergencies and serious incidents that may occur. This includes developing, implementing, monitoring and reviewing emergency management plans.

It can also support individuals and organisations to respond, manage and recover from specific emergencies or incidents that may occur during the provision of services, programs, facilities or activities to children and young people, and other vulnerable people.

Reportable incidents

Individuals and organisations that provide services, programs, facilities or activities to children and young people, and other vulnerable people may be required to report certain incidents to a regulatory body or a funding body. For example:

Education and care services in Victoria must notify the Department of Education (Quality Assessment and Regulation Division) about certain incidents that occur while a child is being educated and cared for by the service. These reportable incidents include the following:

death of a child
any incident involving serious illness of a child for which the child attended or should have attended a hospital
any incident involving serious injury or trauma to a child for which the child attended or should have attended a hospital
any incident involving serious injury or trauma to a child for which the child received or should have received urgent attention from a registered medical practitioner
any emergency for which emergency services attended
a child appears to be missing or cannot be accounted for
a child appears to have been taken or removed from the premises in a manner that is contrary to the National Law and Regulations
a child is mistakenly locked in or out of the premises or part of the premises
any complaint alleging that a serious incident has occurred or is occurring at the education and care service
any complaint alleging that the education and care service has contravened the National Law
any incident that requires the approved provider to close, or reduce the number of children attending the service for a period
any circumstance at the service that poses a risk to the health, safety or wellbeing of a child attending the service
any incident where there is a reasonable belief that physical or sexual abuse of a child or children has occurred or is occurring at the service
allegations that physical or sexual abuse of a child or children has occurred or is occurring at the service.

Social service providers must notify the Social Services Regulator of certain incidents that have occurred during the delivery of social services. These ‘notifiable incidents’ include:

the unexpected death of a service user
incidents that may pose a serious risk to service users
incidents that result in serious harm to a service user
incidents that are reasonably likely to cause serious harm to a service user
incidents that result in serious injury to a service user who is a resident of a supported residential service.

NDIS providers must notify the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission of certain incidents or alleged incidents that may have occurred in connection with the provision of supports or services. These reportable incidents include the following:

the death of a person with disability
serious injury of a person with disability
abuse or neglect of a person with disability
unlawful sexual or physical contact with a person with disability
assault of a person with disability
sexual misconduct committed against, or in the presence of, a person with disability, including grooming of the person for sexual activity
the use of a restrictive practice in relation to a person with disability unless it is with specific authorisation and the use was in accordance with the person’s behaviour support plan.

Individuals and organisations that must comply with the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) must notify the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner if all of the following criteria are met:

the individual or organisation has personal information
the personal information has been lost or stolen, or has been the subject of unauthorised access or disclosure; and
the loss, theft or unauthorised access or disclosure may result in serious harm to the person whose personal information is involved.

Safety Quality & Care Legal Services can advise and support individuals and organisations to manage and respond to these incidents.
This may include taking any one or more of the following actions:

providing support and assistance to all of the children and young people, or other vulnerable people affected by the incident
reporting these incidents to the relevant regulatory authorities
reviewing or investigating the circumstances and contributing factors that led to the incident
determining whether any further action needs to be taken to prevent further incidents from occurring
co-operating with any external investigation or review of these incidents
complying with any regulatory action that may be taken as a result of these incidents.