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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 knowledge, 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 is 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 as per the Position Description, 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 the value and 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

Staff induction confirms our educators understanding of:

  • Employee Code of Conduct as well as the Child Safe Code of Conduct which 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 confirms our 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 casual staff and agency staff.
  • WWCC are actively monitored for permanent and casual staff. This includes activity tracking and status changes.
  • All WWCC are proactively flagged and verified.

Highly qualified and consistent teams

Our staff have appropriate qualifications and a good understanding of Child Safe Standards. They align 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.

Victorian Government child safety review update

At the end of August 2025, two announcements were made that will change the way we work in the Victorian early childhood education and care (ECEC) sector: the Victorian Government’s response to the Rapid Child Safety Review and key outcomes from the Education Ministers Meeting. The actions arising from these announcements will strengthen the ECEC system, and we are now working to implement these important reforms.

These actions include:

·         amending the National Law to make the safety, rights and best interests of children the paramount consideration in decision making

·         establishing a National Worker register

·         increasing penalties for offences

·         a trial of CCTV in ECEC settings to begin by November 2025

·         implementing national mandated child safety training

·         implementing national restrictions on the use of personal devices in ECEC settings

·         reviewing worker-to-child ratio practices

·         considering the establishment of a National Early Childhood Reform Commission.

This delivered on a number of the recommendations in Victoria’s Rapid Child Safety Review.

The Victorian Government announced on Wednesday 20 August 2025 that it will accept all 22 of the Review’s recommendations, which included:

·         amending the Working With Children Check (WWCC) scheme to allow consideration of unsubstantiated allegations and intelligence to inform decisions whether to grant, suspend or cancel a WWCC clearance

·         establishing a new and strengthened independent Early Childhood Education and Care regulator that will more than double the frequency of compliance checks, visiting providers unannounced at least once every 12 months

·         strengthening the Social Services Regulator by giving it new powers to make it responsible for Working With Children Checks and the Reportable Conduct Scheme

·         new requirements for best-practice recruitment and clear guidance about how to report concerns, including advice for parents and promotion of the complaints and enquiry hotline.

The Department of Education will continue to provide more information on the next steps related to both the national and state-level changes as soon as they are available.

Useful links:

Child safety updates | vic.gov.au
Child safety | ACECQA
Rapid Child Safety Review | vic.gov.au
National Model Code for Early Childhood Education and Care (PDF, 885 KB)

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