Frequently asked questions - Child Link

Child Link is a digital tool that displays information about a child to authorised key professionals who have responsibility for child wellbeing and safety.

Child Link shows limited but critical information, such as a child’s participation in key early childhood and education services.

By providing information, Child Link helps authorised key professionals to:

• collaborate with other services and professionals working with the child and their family
• identify needs, issues and vulnerabilities that may be present earlier and provide the support necessary to prevent an escalation of harm
• make more informed decisions about the wellbeing, safety and support needs of a child in their school or service.

Information displayed on Child Link is only accessible to a prescribed group of authorised Users who have responsibility for the wellbeing and safety of children.

Professionals need to be authorised by a designated senior staff member within their school or service.

Access further information on Child Link and the Child Information Sharing Scheme.

Child Link responds directly to several inquiries and reports over the past decade recommending the development of new information systems, improved data collection and greater sharing of relevant child information.

Child Link brings together data from existing systems and services to form a single and aggregated source of information about a child and their engagement in key childhood services, such as Maternal and Child Health services and school.

It is a digital tool designed to help trained professionals to:

• identify and provide support for children and families
• facilitate transitions between services
• help children remain engaged with their education.

Child Link also assists professionals to provide support early in the interest of child wellbeing and safety by linking together information from across universal and tertiary services, and encouraging cross-service collaboration.

A Child Link Authoriser is a person in a service or school who is responsible for creating and managing accounts for Child Link Users within their organisation.

A Child Link User is a person trained and authorised to view relevant child profiles on Child Link.

Child Link Users may share information with others in their organisation, or with a prescribed Information Sharing Entity (ISE), under the Child Information Sharing Scheme (CISS).

An individual may be both a Child Link User and Authoriser.

Security and privacy are core to the design and implementation of Child Link, with technological and operational safeguards in place to protect a child’s information.

Access, transmission and storage of information for Child Link aligns to strict security protocols built into the system, under the Victorian Protective Data Security Framework.

A full suite of safeguards has been included in both the legislation and system design for Child Link which aim to prevent unauthorised access and misuse of information on Child Link.