Child safety

Swinburne has zero tolerance for child abuse and all forms of harm to children. Concerns or allegations are treated very seriously and acted upon.

As an education institution, we embrace the role we play in the lives of our young people. We support and respect the participation and empowerment of all children and want children to feel safe and valued. We seek to protect any child associated with a university-related activity.

If you have a concern about child safety at Swinburne, report it to Safer Community Swinburne by emailing safercommunity@swinburne.edu.au.

Our commitment

We commit to implementing the Victorian Child Safe Standards. To achieve this, we have: 

• developed strategies to embed an organisational culture of child safety and promote the empowerment of children 
• embedded child safety in our policy framework and recruitment practices 
• implemented strategies to remove or reduce risks to children and processes for responding to and reporting suspected child abuse.
• Swinburne upholds an inclusive culture and is committed to:
• the cultural safety of Aboriginal children 
• the cultural safety of children from culturally and/or linguistically diverse backgrounds 
• providing a safe environment for children living with a disability.  

Responsibilities

It is the shared responsibility of our university community to protect children and prevent child abuse. Our organisational culture aims for all members of the Swinburne community — including children and their parents or guardians — to feel confident and comfortable in discussing any allegations of child abuse or child safety concerns. 

To support this:

• All staff are required to complete a range of compliance training modules. 
• Identified staff, volunteers, contractors and students on placements are required to undertake a Working with Children Check. 
• Our Child Safety Statement of Commitment and Practice has been established as a procedural guideline for the Swinburne community. This resource includes a code of conduct, guidance on recognising child abuse and reporting requirements. 
• A system is in place to report and respond to child safety concerns through Swinburne Safer Community as displayed in the Child Safety Reporting Process Flowchart [PDF 70KB]‌. 
• Swinburne complies with the national legislative framework requiring welfare arrangements for international students aged under 18.