Child safety paramount in important policy update

Baw Baw Shire's Child Safety Policy has been updated to reflect current responsibilities to report child abuse.

Council's child safety policy demonstrates council's commitment to the safety and wellbeing of children, identifies the actions required to keep children safe and clarifies roles and responsibilities in relation to recognising and responding to child abuse.

The policy applies to all councillors, staff, council volunteers and work placement students.

Cr Danny Goss said while it was a State Government requirement, Baw Baw Shire was already in front of the game and a leader in the sector.

"It is paramount to keep our children and grandchildren safe. This policy shows we are committed to look after our children," he said.

Cr Goss said the policy listed not only the issues but how to deal with the issues. "It spells out our responsibilities for all of us."

Cr Joe Gauci said the government recommendation could've been presented to council as a tick box scenario.

"But during this review process, we found a lot of things that we could improve," he said.

Cr Gauci said council consulted with its Early Years Advisory Committee to ensure the policy was up to standard.

Victoria has had mandatory Child Safe Standards since January 2016.

The 2017 Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse recommended a new version of child safe standards be adopted by every state.

Since then, the version of child safe standards recommended by the Royal Commission has been adapted to apply to all kinds of child abuse, not just sexual abuse.

A report to council said in 2019, the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) reviewed Victorian standards to ensure they were as strong as possible and to consider how they could better align with the recommendations of the Royal Commission.

From July 1 this year, the State Government requires all organisations covered by the existing standards to comply with the eleven new Child Safe Standards.

Key changes include new requirements: To involve families and communities in organisations' efforts to keep children and young people safe;

A greater focus on safety and Aboriginal children and young people;

To manage the risk of child abuse in online environments; and,

Greater clarity on the governance, systems and processes to keep children and young people safe.

Council officers undertook a gap analysis against the 11 new standards to assess what practices were currently in place and identified opportunities to strengthen council's approach and compliance.

Fire alarms urged

Fire authorities have launched a campaign to urge installing fire alarms in rooms of most houses, especially bedrooms.

The Country Fire Authority and Fire Rescue Victoria said more than 70 per cent of house fires that cause fatalities start in bedrooms and living areas.

They advocate smoke alarms as a bedroom essential, citing examples where people sleeping have not heard alarms that have sounded in other parts of their house.

CFA acting chief officer Garry Cook said people lose their sense of smell when sleeping and carbon monoxide in smoke causes a deeper sleep.

Without a working alarm in the bedroom they may not wake up when the house is on fire, he said.

The CFA also said there were a number of other measures people should always take.

These include replacing alarms every 10 years, interconnecting all smoke alarms where possi- ble, power alarms with a 10-year lithium battery, allow a gap of at least 30 centimetres to avoid "dead air" space, test them monthly to ensure they work and clean the alarms at least once a year.