Child Protection

Does the overseas activity involve individuals working with children or contact with children? If you are working with an institution or provider, is the organisation child-focused and what child protection controls are in place?

Child exploitation and abuse is not tolerated and attracts criminal penalties under Australian legislation. Participants in a Global Learning project must recognise that it is the shared responsibility of all adults to prevent child exploitation. If a learning abroad program involves working with children, participants are required to comply with the:

  1. Western Sydney University Working with Children (Workers and Students) Policy
  2. Australian Government Child Protection Policy.

Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT)

The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) has a zero tolerance approach to child exploitation or abuse. DFAT recognises that it is the shared responsibility of all adults to prevent child exploitation and abuse - see DFAT Child Protection Policy.  In Australia, there is recognition that organisations that work with children also have a role in protecting them, and need policies and procedures to enable them to do so. The DFAT Child Protection policy sets out expectations and requirements for all delivery partners to act in accordance with the policy principles outlined in the document, and abide by their own relevant policies, international declarations, conventions, agreements and domestic legal frameworks, which seek to protect children.

If your project involves working with children, you are required to determine the level of contact with children (e.g. nil, contact or working), and assess the Activity Risk. If your project involves working with an organisation that is child focused, you are required to list the child protection controls in place. See CHILD PROTECTION GUIDANCE for comprehensive information about the assessment.

This information must be added to the final Learning Abroad Risk Assessment including what will be established to mitigate the risks (see Risk Management in Learning Abroad).

Partnerships

Staff managing a program are not permitted to work with overseas partners or providers that have not passed the due diligence process:

Reports and notifications

To report an instance, suspicion or allegation of child exploitation and/or abuse, you may do so by using the form available on the DFAT website. Child exploitation and abuse is not tolerated by DFAT and attracts criminal penalties under Australian legislation.