Element 2.2.3: Child protection

Management, educators and staff are aware of their roles and responsibilities to identify and respond to every child at risk of abuse or neglect.

National Law and National Regulations underpinning Element 2.2.3

Section 51(1)(a) Conditions on service approval (safety, health and wellbeing of children)

Section 162A Persons in day-to-day charge, nominated supervisors and family day care co-ordinators to have child protection training

Regulation 84 Awareness of child protection law

Additional state/territory requirements

In addition to complying with the National Quality Framework, approved providers, educators and other staff may be required to report on incidents or suspected incidents involving children under other state and territory laws including child protection legislation.

Information about notifications can be found throughout the guide.
See also Provider and service approvals.

What Element 2.2.3 aims to achieve

Management, educators, family day care educator assistants and other staff members must be aware of current child protection policy and procedures, including their legal responsibilities, and be able to act when required to protect any child who is at risk of abuse or neglect.

Assessment guide for meeting Element 2.2.3 (for all services)

Awareness of role and responsibility to protect children

Assessors may observe educators:

listening and responding to families’ comments about their day-to-day observations of their child and the events occurring in their lives
remaining vigilant about observing and responding to signs or indicators of child abuse and/ or neglect
discussing with children what it feels like to feel safe and unsafe and how they can seek help when they feel unsafe.

Assessors may discuss:

how nominated supervisors, educators, family day care co-ordinators, educator assistants, and staff members develop their awareness of any obligation under child protection law and how they articulate these obligations and responsibilities?
how new or relieving educators, family day care educator assistants and other staff members are made aware of their responsibilities in relation to child protection and the particular protection needs of individual children in the service
any support mechanisms in place for educators and other staff members who identify children at risk
how nominated supervisors, educators, co-ordinators, family day care educator assistants and staff members support each child’s understanding of consent, respecting each child’s physical space and using touch only when necessary and appropriate.

Assessors may sight:

evidence:
- that current information about child protection procedures and expectations is provided to service staff
- that current information about child protection law and individual obligations under the relevant legislation is provided to service staff
- that nominated supervisors, educators, family day care co-ordinators and family day care educator assistants have attended training or professional development on child protection
- that information is provided to families about the service’s practices in relation to child protection
- that nominated supervisors, educators and co-ordinators work collaboratively with other authorities and/or professionals to support children who have specific protection needs
the service’s policy and procedures on a child safe environment that ensures child protection measures are considered in the physical and online environments

Family day care

that educators’ families have been provided with information and/or training to support their understanding and response to suspected child protection issues

a current list of local community resources that can provide information and support for children, families and service staff in relation to children at risk of abuse and/or neglect.

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