Child empowerment

Early childhood services must comply with all the following elements of this Standard:

Empowering children improves child safety. Children are more likely to speak up when they feel respected and confident they will be listened to. Their opinions can also help improve policies and practices that keep them safe.

Children benefit from strong friendships.

They often view their friends as their main source of:

• support
• information
• advice and help.

Support children to raise concerns about the safety or wellbeing of their friends.

• Train staff and volunteers to uphold Aboriginal cultural safety. They should respect the identity and culture of all children at the service.
• Train staff and volunteers to provide child friendly ways for children to:
  • express their views
  • take part in decision-making
  • raise their concerns.
• Educate staff and volunteers about children's rights. This includes the 4 guiding principles in the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

• Inform children of their rights and special protections including the right to:
  • live and grow up healthy
  • have a say about decisions affecting them
  • get information that is important to them
  • be safe and not harmed by anyone
  • be treated equally.
• Provide age-appropriate and accessible information to children, including:
  • how the adults in the service should behave
  • how to safely raise concerns for themselves and others
  • the Charter of Commitment under the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child
  • the work of the Commission for Children and Young People
  • the service's Child Safe Environment Policy (Child Safe Environment policy)
  • the service’s Code of Conduct.

• Display attractive and easy-to-read posters promoting children’s voice and agency.
• Invite children to provide feedback on service-wide decisions. Take their views into account.
• Involve children in consultation processes and tell them about their impact on decision-making.
• Offer children different ways to communicate. This could include writing, drawing, or physical ways to communicate.
• Discuss commitment to the child’s voice with parents and the child at enrolment. Remind children too when they start at the service.
• Organise orientation activities focused on activating children’s voices.
• Document children’s participation in activities that contribute to the life of the service.
• Show that the service listens to children by acting on their concerns. Note that what might seem unimportant to an adult may be important to a child.

• Give children information about the service’s complaints processes.
• Offer children a variety of ways to raise concerns such as:
  • suggestion boxes
  • surveys or
  • talking to a trusted adult.
• Make sure children have formal and informal opportunities to have their say on safety issues.
• Highlight children’s views in your information for the community. Quote children where appropriate.
• Create opportunities for all child voices by being aware of:
  • discriminatory barriers
  • over reliance on the input of child leaders.

• Teach children practical protective strategies, including:
  • what to do when they feel unsafe
  • phrases they can use to raise an objection
  • pathways for raising safety concerns, and
  • safe behaviours when using digital technology and the online environment.
• Provide a range of age-appropriate picture books, fiction and non-fiction that include:
  • children's rights and empowerment themes
  • cultural and linguistic diversity
  • neurodiverse characters and people with disability
  • diversity in sexual orientation and gender, where appropriate.
• Support all children to identify trusted adults and friends they can talk to about a concern. This could be at the service, at home or in the community.
• Empower children with the knowledge that adults are accountable.
• Empower children with the knowledge that children have a right to safety.
• Provide contact information for independent child and youth advocacy services or helplines.

• Display posters acknowledging sexuality and gender diversity. Identify safe spaces where children can go if they need support.
• Discuss healthy boundaries for friendships.
• Point out that the risk of harm can occur in:
  • child-to-child interactions
  • adult-to-child interactions.
• the Bully Stoppers program may be relevant for school age children in OSHC services.

• Are there any practices that disempower children? If so, take action to change them.
• Do you provide regular opportunities for children to have their say about safety issues?
  • Are all children able to fully participate at the service?
  • Is your service fully accessible to children with additional needs?
  • If not, how can you support their participation?
  • Can you provide more opportunities to strengthen their confidence and engagement?
• How can you encourage a culture of participation and respond to what children say?
• How can you talk about child safety issues with children in an age-appropriate way?
• Are all staff and volunteers confident to recognise and act on any signs of child abuse and harm? Provide support and training to develop these skills.
• Do all staff and volunteers understand child rights? Provide support and training to develop these skills.
• How can you help children:
  • support their peers
  • challenge bullying
  • challenge isolating behaviour?
• Consider offering age-appropriate sexual abuse prevention programs for children.

The two National Child Safety Guides are the:

• NQF Child Safe Culture Guide
• NQF Online Safety Guide.

There are also additional resources:

• NQF Child Safe Culture – Self-assessment and risk assessment tool
• NQF Online Safe Culture – Self-assessment and risk assessment tool
• Child Safety incident response template – Responding to complaints, concerns, allegations and disclosures
• Reporting and Responding Schemes tool.

Download these resources at Child Safety, together with links to additional ACECQA resources about child safety.

The Commission for Children and Young People (CCYP) have information for all types of organisations that must comply with the Child Safe Standards. This includes:

• CCYP | Resources and support for the Child Safe Standards
• CCYP | Translated resources about the Child Safe Standards

Note: information isn't tailored for early childhood services.