Child Safety Statement
At Surrey Hills Pre-School Centre we are committed to keeping children and young people safe. We have zero tolerance for child abuse. Every member of our pre-school community has a responsibility to ensure that the wellbeing and safety of children and young people is at the forefront of all they do and every decision they make.
Surrey Hills Pre-School Centre is committed to providing a child safe environment where children and young people are safe and feel safe, and their voices are heard about decisions that affect their lives. Particular attention is paid to the cultural safety of Aboriginal children and children from culturally and/or linguistically diverse backgrounds, as well as the safety of children with a disability.
Our Child Safe Principles
In our planning, decision-making and operations we will
1. Take a preventative, proactive and participatory approach to child safety;
2. Value and empower children to participate in decisions which affect their lives;
3. Foster a culture of openness that supports all persons to safely disclose risks of harm to children;
4. Respect diversity in cultures and child rearing practices while keeping child safety paramount;
5. Provide written guidance on appropriate conduct and behaviour towards children;
6. Engage only the most suitable people to work with children and have high quality staff and volunteer supervision and professional development;
7. Ensure children know who to talk with if they are worried or are feeling unsafe, and that they are comfortable and encouraged to raise such issues;
8. Report suspected abuse, neglect or mistreatment promptly to the appropriate authorities;
9. Share information appropriately and lawfully with other organisations where the safety and wellbeing of children is at risk; and
10. Value the input of and communicate regularly with families and carers.
Privacy Statement
We believe your privacy is important.
Surrey Hills Pre-School Centre has developed a Privacy and Confidentiality Policy that illustrates how we collect, use, disclose, manage and transfer personal information, including health information. This policy is available on request.
To ensure ongoing funding and licensing, our service is required to comply with the requirements of privacy legislation in relation to the collection and use of personal information. If we need to collect health information, our procedures are subject to the Health Records Act 2001.
The Child Information and Family Violence Information Sharing Scheme allows Early Childhood Services to freely request and share relevant information with Information Sharing Entities to support a child or group of children’s wellbeing and safety when the threshold test has been met.
Purpose for which information is collected
The reasons for which we generally collect personal information are given in the table below.
Personal information and health information collected in relation to:
Primary purpose for which information will be used:
Children and parents/guardians
- To enable us to provide for the education and care of the child attending the service
- To manage and administer the service as required
The Approved Provider if an individual, or members of the Committee of Management/Board if the Approved Provider is an organisation
- For the management of the service
- To comply with relevant legislation requirements
Job applicants, employees, contractors, volunteers and students
- To assess and (if necessary) to engage employees, contractors, volunteers or students
- To administer the individual’s employment, contracts or placement of students and volunteers
Please note that under relevant privacy legislation, other uses and disclosures of personal information may be permitted, as set out in that legislation.
Disclosure of personal information, including sensitive and health information
Some personal information, including health information, held about an individual may be disclosed to:
- government departments or agencies, as part of our legal and funding obligations
- local government authorities, for planning purposes
- organisations providing services related to employee entitlements and employment
- insurance providers, in relation to specific claims or for obtaining cover
- law enforcement agencies
- health organisations and/or families in circumstances where the person requires urgent medical assistance and is incapable of giving permission
- anyone to whom the individual authorises us to disclose information.
- information sharing entities to support a child and a group of children’s wellbeing and safety.
Laws that require us to collect specific information
The Education and Care Services National Law Act 2010 and the Education and Care Services National Regulations 2011, Associations Incorporation Reform Act 2012 (Vic) and employment-related laws and agreements require us to collect specific information about individuals from time-to-time. Failure to provide the required information could affect:
- a child’s enrolment at the service
- a person’s employment with the service
- the ability to function as an incorporated association.
Access to information
Individuals about whom we hold personal, sensitive or health information can gain access to this information in accordance with applicable legislation. The procedure for doing this is set out in our Privacy and Confidentiality Policy, which is available on our website at https://surreyhillspreschool.com.au/policies.
For information on the Privacy and Confidentiality Policy, please refer to the copy available on our website or contact the Approved Provider/Nominated Supervisor.
Third party software
Surrey Hills Pre-School Centre uses certain third party software which include EnrolNow One and Zoho (which is the underlying technology used by EnrolNow One). For information on their privacy policy, please refer to their websites:
SHPC IS A SUNSMART MEMBER
It is the responsibility of SunSmart members to ensure their SunSmart policy practices are being implemented as documented for all children and that reasonable steps are taken to ensure all staff, children and families are aware of the policy and its requirements. The policy is to be reviewed at least once every five years.
