Child Safety

Child Safety

The Victorian Minister for Education approved Ministerial Order 1359 in February 2022. 

It provides the framework for child safety in schools and replaces Ministerial Order 870 on 1 July 2022.

Ministerial Order 1359 sets out the specific actions that all Victorian schools need to take to meet the new Child Safe Standards from 1 July 2022. MACS Schools (Melbourne Archdiocese of Catholic Schools) are well placed to build on their existing child safety strategies, policies and practices to strengthen the school’s culture of child safety and protect children from abuse.

The new Child Safe Standards build on the current Standards, with changes and new requirements for organisations, including for schools to:

• involve families and communities in efforts to keep children and young people safe 
• provide cultural safety for Aboriginal children and young people
  • This means that the environment is made safe - free from assault, challenge or denial of Aboriginal identity and experience. 
  • Schools must meet this requirement regardless of whether or not Aboriginal children and young people are currently enrolled or using their services.
  • better manage the risk of child abuse in online environments 
  • ensure governance, systems and processes to keep children and young people safe are developed, documented, implemented and embedded

Schools are well placed to address the requirements of the new Standards by building on their existing child safety strategies, policies and practice. All staff are leaders in Child Safety at St Joseph the Worker Primary School.

We have many things in place to ensure the safety of our students and will continue to work on the explicit area in the new standards to build on our work and ensure the culture of Child Safety is embedded in all we do.