Child Safe Officer

 

All Clubs must have a Child Safe Officer. The Child Safe Officer is responsible for developing and implementing the Member Protection Policy and making sure all people over the age of 14 working with anyone under the age of 18 has a Working with Children Check. Also if there are any problems or complaints relating to child safety within the club, these will be dealt with by the Child Safe Officer.

Our current Child Safe Officer is Vickie Richardson

What is a Working with Children Check

Over the last 12 months the Child Safe Environments landscape has had several key changes. One of these key changes is Screening, also known as Working with Children Checks (WWCCs) or Relevant History Assessments. South Australia has introduced legislation titled Child Safety (Prohibited Persons) Act 2016, that provides direction on the Screening requirements of those carrying out child related work.

The Regulations for the Act have been released and will take effective 1 July 2019. This requires all those in child related work, working with or likely to work with children will require a Working with Children Check (WWCC). This check must be the one issued from the SA Government Screening Unit commonly known as a DCSI Check (now referred to as DHS Screening).

Under this legislation SAPOL / Police Certificates or other National Criminal History Certificates are not a recognised form of screening.

In the context of football, the meaning of child-related work and work with children is:

  • services or activities provided in the course of the operation of clubs and associations with a significant membership of, or involvement by, children;
  • coaching or tuition services for children;
  • This includes those aged 14 years and over. It will no longer be from age 18
  • There are other elements that refer to exemptions, however the only profession exempt is that of a SAPOL or AFP Officer
  • The Parent exemption is subject to several other factors, many common to football environments that voids exemption, therefore SANFL strongly endorses the screening of parent volunteers
  • Screening checks for volunteers now free. At this stage however, those required to obtain or renew a Working with Children Check are unable to submit their own request as it must be facilitated by an organisation. Until longer term solutions are available, SANFL will facilitate application submissions.

Whilst current screening arrangements remains valid (use of Police Certificates), we do not know what transition arrangements will be in place to move to the new screening regime, or how the Screening unit will manage the influx of applications in June.  With these factors to consider, SANFL are committed to supporting the football community transitioning now to the Screening Unit WWCs as they are appointed into 2020 Season roles.

An application link will be provided soon.

For Volunteers once a WWCC has been requested

Once a WWCC has been requested by SANFL the volunteer will receive an email from the DCSI Screening Unit, they are required to follow the steps in the email and complete the application form.

An application will require the person to verify their identity online by providing details of their of both their drivers license and passport (or full birth certificate registration number). If the applicant does not have one of these they will be required to print and seek verification from an authorised person and post the application to DCSI Screening Unit.  A list of authorised verifying officers is available on the application website and includes a JP or SAPOL Officer.

Once the application is finalised the applicant and SANFL will receive notification of the outcome.  The volunteer will be required to advise their club / league.

The club will be required to maintain a record of all volunteers details and clearance information. *The collection and storage of personal details must be secure and compliant with Australian Privacy Laws.*