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Youth Safety & Wellbeing Policy

 

1. Purpose & Commitment

  • Future Female Leaders Pty Ltd (FFL)  is committed to providing a safe, supportive, inclusive environment that promotes the wellbeing of all children and young people engaged in our programs, mentoring, events, and initiatives.
  • We adopt the National Principles for Child Safe Organisations as our guiding framework, embedding child safety and wellbeing in our leadership, governance, culture, policies and practices.
  • We recognise that children and young people have the right to:
    • Be safe and protected from harm
    • Be heard, even when it’s uncomfortable
    • Participate in decisions affecting them
    • Be treated with dignity, respect and fairness
    • Have their best interests prioritised.

2. Scope

This policy applies to:

  • All staff, contractors, volunteers, ambassadors, mentors, and representatives of Future Female Leaders (FFL) and related entities.
    All programs, events, activities, communications, physical and online environments involving children or young people under 18 (or otherwise defined as minors under relevant WA legislation).
  • Interactions between staff/volunteers and young participants, as well as between participants (peer-to-peer).

3. Principles and Key Commitments

  • Commitment Statement:
    “Future Female Leaders is committed to creating a safe, inclusive, and supportive environment that promotes the wellbeing of all young people engaged in our programs, mentoring, events, and initiatives. Everyone involved with FFL is responsible for upholding this commitment, ensuring children are respected, heard, and protected at all times.”

We commit to implement the following principles (as per the National Principles) in all aspects of FFL’s operations.

National Principle FFL Commitment Implementation
1. Youth safety and wellbeing is embedded in organisational leadership, governance and culture. We place youth and child safety at the centre of our organisational values, leadership decisions and everyday behaviour.
  • Embed child safety as a standing item in leadership agendas.
  • We make a public commitment to child safety by publishing our Youth Safety & Wellbeing policies on our website.
  • Our Code of Conduct provides guidelines for staff and volunteers on expected behavioural standards and responsibilities.
  • Maintain zero tolerance for misconduct.
  • Integrate child safety into policies and contracts.
  • Commit to ongoing learning for all staff.
2. Children and young people are informed about their rights, participate in decisions affecting them, and are taken seriously. We advise participants of their rights, and facilitate child-friendly ways for them to have a voice and raise concerns.
  • We include a section in the Participant Handbook about their right to safety, and how to raise concerns.
  • We inform our participants about their roles and responsibilities in helping to ensure the safety and wellbeing of their peers.
  • We undertake youth-appropriate surveys before and after our Signature Program. 
  • Staff model active listening.
  • We include a one-on-one midpoint session for Signature Program participants to review their progress and discuss any questions or concerns they may have.
3. Families and communities are informed, and involved in promoting child safety and wellbeing.  We communicate openly with families, schools, and the community about our child safe approach and provide access to relevant information.
  • In our Participant Onboarding process, we invite input on the needs of the individual and families, including cultural safety aspects.
  • We collect the school and parent/guardian details for our Signature Program participants, and keep them updated on the Program components, including travel requirements.
  • We encourage open communication with parents about their child’s participation in the Signature Program, and commit to notifying families if we observe any changes in behaviour or signs that their child may need support.
  • We publish our Youth Safety and Wellbeing policies on our website.
4. Equity is upheld, and diverse needs respected in policy and practice.   We seek to understand young people’s diverse circumstances, and deliver inclusive and culturally respectful experiences.
  • We design our Programs in line with accessibility needs, providing extra support where needed.
  • We champion attitudes and behaviours that respect the human rights of all children and young people.
  • We aim to continuously educate ourselves on the cultural needs of our students to ensure our programs are inclusive, sensitive, and appropriate for all participants.
  • We promote respect in all activities.
5. People working with children and young people are suitable and supported to reflect child safety and wellbeing values in practice. We vet and train all mentors and staff in child safety and wellbeing practices. 
  • Our recruitment process for staff and volunteers emphasises our commitment to child safety and wellbeing. 
  • We require a current Working with Children Check for all staff, mentors, facilitators and volunteers. 
  • We include a Youth Safety & Wellbeing section in our Mentor Success Kit, outlining our commitment and expectations. 
  • We conduct reference checks for all new organisation staff.
  • Mentor sessions are recorded and saved locally by mentors and may be requested by the FFL management team as/if required.  
6. Processes to respond to complaints and concerns are child focused.   We ensure concerns are taken seriously and responded to promptly.
  • We include a complaints process in our Signature Program Participant Handbook.
  • We include a clear complaints process in our Code of Conduct. 
  • Our complaints handling policy prioritises the safety and wellbeing of children and young people.
  • We protect whistleblowers.
  • Timely feedback is provided to participants, families, staff and volunteers who raise concerns or complaints.
7. Staff and volunteers are equipped with the knowledge, skills and awareness to keep children and young people safe through ongoing education and training.  We ensure personnel are confident in safeguarding practices.
  • We commit to ongoing training for our staff and volunteers.
  • We provide a supportive and safe environment for staff and volunteers who disclose harm or risk to children and young people.
  • Our staff and volunteers respond effectively when issues of youth safety and wellbeing or cultural safety arise.
8. Physical and online environments promote safety and wellbeing while minimising the opportunity for children and young people to be harmed.  We identify and mitigate risks in the online and physical environments without compromising a child’s right to privacy, access to information, social connections and learning opportunities
  • Our event risk assessments address physical and online risks.
  • We promote the use of safe online applications for young people, and provide guidance for use (ie. LinkedIn, WhatsApp).
  • Online mentor sessions are recorded and saved locally by mentors, and may be requested by the FFL management team if required. 
  • In-person mentor sessions are supervised by FFL Staff.
  • Free tickets are provided for a parent or guardian to any event where they are supervising a minor.
9. Implementation of the national child safe principles is regularly reviewed and improved.  We regularly evaluate and improve our child safe practices. 
  • We invite and review Participant feedback after every Signature Program.
  • We review our policy on an annual basis based on learnings.
10. Policies and procedures document how the organisation is safe for children and young people. We maintain clear, updated documentation.
  • We make a public commitment to child safety by publishing our Youth Safety policies on our website.
  • Our policies are documented in a language and format that is easily understood and accessible to staff, volunteers, families and children and young people.