Our Childsafe Commitment
CHILD SAFETY COMMITMENT STATEMENT
Victorian Curling Association is committed to providing a safe, inclusive, respectful and empowering environment for all children and young people involved in our sport. Our actions are guided by the 11 Victorian Child Safe Standards, the Sport Integrity Australia (SIA) Child Safeguarding Policy, and Curling Australia’s National Integrity Framework and Safeguarding Children and Young Person Policy. We believe every child has the right to feel safe, valued, heard, and protected.
We acknowledge that child safeguarding is everyone’s responsibility. Our members, coaches, officials, volunteers, and administrators play a vital role in fostering safe sporting environments. Victorian Curling Association is committed to ensuring that child safety is embedded in our governance, culture, leadership, policies and practices.
We recognise our legal and moral responsibilities under the Child Wellbeing and Safety Act 2005 (Vic), including obligations relating to the Failure to Disclose and Failure to Protect offences. We are committed to acting swiftly, compassionately and appropriately when concerns about child safety arise.
Victorian Curling Association commits to:
1. Embedding a child safety culture across all levels of the organisation, including through strong leadership, open communication, and accountability at committee and operational levels.
2. Making child safety central to our public messaging, strategic priorities, recruitment, and member engagement practices.
3. Valuing diversity and promoting inclusion by:
- Upholding the cultural safety of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children;
- Creating inclusive spaces for culturally and linguistically diverse children and families;
- Removing barriers and addressing the unique needs of children with disabilities.
- Ensuring children and young people are empowered to understand their rights, voice their views, and participate in decisions affecting them. We will use child-friendly language and accessible formats to communicate their rights and reporting pathways.
5. Actively involving families and carers in our safeguarding efforts. We will provide accessible information and welcome feedback from parents and guardians as partners in protecting children.
6. Developing, implementing and regularly updating a comprehensive suite of child-safe policies and procedures, including a Code of Conduct, Safeguarding Policy, Reporting and Complaints Procedures, and a Risk Management Plan.
7. Ensuring that all individuals working with children undergo appropriate screening and training, including Working with Children Checks, referee checks, interviews and ongoing education on child safety standards.
8. Taking proactive steps to identify and mitigate risks to children across all environments where curling activities take place – including physical settings, digital platforms, travel, accommodation and mixed-age settings. Key risks include:
- Unsupervised travel or billeting with unknown adults;
- Mixed-age programming without adequate safeguards;
- Inadequate supervision or inappropriate conduct in change rooms;
- One-on-one digital interactions and social media misuse;
- Unscreened or untrained staff, volunteers or contractors;
- Misuse of photographic content and lack of media consent;
- Insufficient medical disclosure or first aid planning;
- Barriers to participation for children with disability or diverse cultural needs;
- Lack of child-friendly reporting channels.
9. Providing safe, confidential and accessible processes for reporting concerns or complaints, including for children. We will support and protect individuals who make disclosures or raise concerns.
10. Maintaining secure records and clear processes for information sharing, privacy, and confidentiality in line with legal requirements.
11. Reviewing, evaluating and improving our child safety systems regularly, including through stakeholder feedback, incident reporting trends, and developments in law and best practice.
Victorian Curling Association adopts a zero-tolerance approach to child abuse, neglect, bullying, grooming and all forms of misconduct involving children. We are committed to taking preventive, protective and responsive measures consistent with the highest standards of safeguarding.
We are also committed to continuous improvement. Victorian Curling Association will:
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Regularly review and update our child safeguarding policies and practices to reflect legal changes, emerging risks, and stakeholder feedback;
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Monitor implementation and compliance through internal reviews, reporting systems, and external audits where appropriate;
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Encourage open dialogue with children, parents, staff, clubs, and partner organisations to identify areas for growth;
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Promote a culture of learning and adaptability through ongoing education, reflective practice, and collaboration with subject matter experts;
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Report transparently on our progress and hold ourselves accountable to the principles outlined in this Commitment Statement.
This Statement should be read in conjunction with Victorian Curling Association’s Child Safety Policy, Curling Australia’s Safeguarding Children and Young Person Policy, the National Integrity Framework, and relevant State legislation.
All individuals in our sport share a collective responsibility to ensure that curling is safe and inclusive for every child.
To report a concern or seek advice: https://www.sportintegrity.gov.au