Child safe principles, legislation and resources

National Principles for Child Safe Organisations 

Children have the right to participate safely in sport. The Australian Human Rights Commission developed 10 National Principles for Child Safe Organisations, based on standards recommended by the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse. 

The state or territory legislation that applies to your club or association will be based on these principles, which are ‘strength’s based’, meaning you can build upon the positive aspects of your club to make it even safer for children and young people. Your club needs to comply with the specific state or territory legislation (see below), which generally covers child safe standards, working with children checks and reporting of child abuse. 
 

The National Principles are: 

1. Child safety and wellbeing is embedded in organisational leadership, governance and culture.
2. Children and young people are informed about their rights, participate in decisions affecting them and aretaken seriously.
3. Families and communities are informed and involved in promoting child safety and wellbeing.
4. Equity is upheld and diverse needs respected in policy and practice.
5. People working with children and young people are suitable and supported to reflect child safety and wellbeing values in practice.
6. Processes to respond to complaints and concerns are child focused.
7. Staff and volunteers are equipped with the knowledge, skills and awareness to keep children and young people safe through ongoing education and training.
8. Physical and online environments promote safety and wellbeing while minimising the opportunity for children and young people to be harmed.
9. Implementation of the national child safe principles is regularly reviewed and improved.
10. Policies and procedures document how the organisation is safe for children and young people.

State and Territory legislation and resources

As well as national principles, each state and territory has child safety laws that set out responsibilities for both organisations and individuals who work or have contact with children.

Choose your state or territory from the left-hand menu or scroll below.

It's important to note that if you're travelling interstate for sport and recreation, you will need to understand and meet the requirements for each state or territory. For example, on many interstate trips people will need to comply with more than one state law – so if someone travels from Perth with children to Melbourne they will need to comply with Western Australian law and Victoria law.