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What you need to know

Child safety procedures

Moonee Valley City Council is a Child Safe Organisation committed to protecting children and young people from the risk of harm or abuse when they interact with us in person, online, visit our facilities, use our services and/or attend our events. Moonee Valley City Council employs a dedicated Child Safe Officer to support the organisation to actively enforce these standards at all times.

Trust is central to our partnership with families, and we embed child safety into everything we do, from how we create our learning environments to how we recruit, supervise and support our teams.

Measures Moonee Valley City Council have in place to protect children across our childcare centres and kindergartens include:

A culture that listens to children

Educators actively engage in conversations with children that give them the language, confidence and tools to understand consent, boundaries, and trusted adults. Training includes appropriate responses to disclosures from children and contacts to discuss observations or comments that are concerning.

Active supervision and line of sight practices

  • Effective supervision is key in all activities, as is maintaining educator to child ratios and ongoing risk assessments.
  • All services have supervision plans which consider the placement of activities and staff across the indoor and outdoor environments. This is intended to ensure staff are in line of sight or in hearing of each other, and so that children remain visible and well supported at all times.
  • All children sleep in the playroom. There are no separate cot or sleeping rooms.
  • Children remain in designated learning spaces and are not taken into offices, staff rooms or any location without visibility to other staff.
  • Teams are thoughtful about environmental design. For example, posters on windows should not hinder clear lines of sight.

Rigorous recruitment processes

Pre-employment screening includes:

  • child safety-focused interview questions relating to the Child Safe Standards, mandatory reporting and appropriate conduct when interacting with children
  • Specific questions for referees regarding candidates’ interactions and conduct with children
  • a minimum of two referees, with at least one being a direct supervisor
  • a current Working With Children Check, and
  • a police check before commencement

Moonee Valley City Council employs educators of all genders. Educators are employed on the basis of their skills, qualifications and experience. We recognise and value the important role all educators play in the lives and learning of children. The same rigorous Child Safety standards are expected of all employees, regardless of their gender.

Induction

As part on their onboarding process, Council employees, contractors and contractors must read and sign our:

  • Child Safe Code of Conduct clearly outlines that we have zero tolerance for child abuse, and the necessary behaviours to enforce zero tolerance.
  • Early Years Staff Acknowledgement of Child Safe Standards: confirms an educator’s understanding of appropriate behaviour with children and families, training and professional standards, reporting and responding responsibilities regarding irregular, inappropriate or suspicious behaviour of others, including their colleagues.
  • Staff Induction For: confirms an educator’s understanding of:
    • our policy of no mobile phones or no smart watches in rooms with children. Staff phones are in their lockers while they are in working on the floor with children
    • the location in centres of mandatory reporting posters and the contact details of reporting authorities, and
    • practices for accident/incident reports, including mandatory reporting and Reportable Conduct.

Proactive monitoring of teacher registration and Working With Children Checks

  • All staff hold either a valid Victorian Institute of Teaching registration or a current Working with Children Check, including casuals and agency staff.
  • Clearances are actively monitored for permanent staff and casuals, tracking expiry dates and status changes through our regular quarterly compliance audits.
  • Upcoming renewals are proactively flagged and verified, resulting in no staff working without a current clearance.
  • Agency staff qualification and clearance documents are provided to Moonee Valley City Council and, before they commence a shift in a Moonee Valley centre, staff onsite verify the currency of their Working with Children Check on the Department of Justice website.

Highly qualified and consistent teams

To reduce reliance on unfamiliar educators from agencies, we’ve doubled our internal casual staffing pool to screen and appoint team members with appropriate qualifications, understanding of Child Safe Standards and alignment with the values of our Child Safe Organisation.

Embedding child safety in staff practice

All educators engage in regular training, professional reflection, and team-based discussions aligned with the Child Safe Standards.

  • Annual child protection training is mandatory, including the Department of Education’s Protecting Children course and Moonee Valley City Council’s own Child Safe Training. These programs empower educators to identify and respond to signs of abuse or neglect and understand their reporting responsibilities.
  • Council’s Child Safe Officer provides additional child safety training to teams and visits services to build relationships with staff.

Victorian Government dedicated website

Moonee Valley City Council understands that we must remain vigilant in our safeguarding of children in our care and will work collaboratively with governments to improve the safety of all children. Please be reminded that the Victorian Government has set up a dedicated website and advice line (1800 791 241) where you will find resources from experts on this topic and updated information on the current investigation.

Get support

If you or someone you know needs help, consider reaching out to one of the following support services.