Published 5 September 2022

Working together to make sure every child in every community has a fair go.

Every child deserves to feel safe in the community. For National Child Protection Week 2022, Royal Life Saving recognises that more work is needed to boost child safety, and the aquatic industry can play a key role in this.

Learning to swim should be one of the most joyous parts of growing up, and we are united in wanting to keep that a safe and happy memory for children of all ages.

Governments across Australia are moving to implement new legislation which gives children greater protection and make the actions we all need to take clearer to staff and organisations. New South Wales and Victoria are leading the way with new legislation in the past 12 months.

The New South Wales Office of Children’s Guardian now has the power to monitor and investigate how organisations implement the standards to support and safeguard the wellbeing of children and young people.

The Victorian Government has also undertaken work to align their existing child safety standards, which came into effect on 1 July 2022, with the National Principles. Victoria will take on 11 standards to replace its current seven standards and principles. The Victorian Government’s approach also includes cultural safety for Aboriginal children and young people.

But it is not all about policy and legislation; education is crucial to empower staff to identify any inappropriate behaviour, including grooming, and report any concerns promptly as well as champion the issue in the community.

Many aquatic organisations are making great progress in safeguarding children, while others are in the process of embedding better practices.

To support better practices, Royal Life Saving has made available two new child safety training modules for frontline staff and management of aquatic facilities to help keep children safe from abuse.

The first version  for frontline staff is designed for swim teachers, program instructors, pool lifeguards, and any other staff or volunteers that come into regular contact with children through their role at an aquatic facility, swim school or similar organisation.

The management version covers the same content but also looks more closely at what can be done at an organisational level in terms of instilling and promoting a child safe culture. The module uses the 10 Child Safe Standards as a guiding framework and includes information on effectively managing risks to children’s safety at all levels.

In addition, the National Aquatic Industry Committee (NAIC) is currently working on new child safety guidelines to be included in the Guidelines for Safe Pool Operations. These will be released for consultation later this year.

We are all committed to keeping children safe from harm and we will continue to work with everyone in the aquatic industry to make sure every child in the community has a fair go.

Royal Life Saving is supporting child safety across the aquatic industry by:

• The recent launch of two Child Safety Training Modules for the aquatic industry, one for service staff such as swim teachers and lifeguards, the other for facility management
• Working with the National Aquatic Industry to develop a consistent policy framework which supports child safety across the entire industry through the Guidelines for Safe Pool Operations, expected before summer

For more information on child safety training modules – or contact your local Royal Life Saving office.