Being a Child Safe Organisation
Our Commitment to Child Safety
At Kummara, keeping children and young people safe is at the heart of everything we do.
We are committed to being a Child Safe Organisation, where every child feels safe, respected, heard and valued. We believe children have the right to grow up strong in their identity, culture and community.
We follow the Queensland Child Safe Standards and the National Principles for Child Safe Organisations, and we build child safety into our leadership, policies, programs and everyday practice.
How We Keep Children Safe
Standard 1: Child safety and wellbeing is embedded in the entity’s organisational leadership, governance and culture.
Child safety is everyone’s responsibility
Child safety starts with leadership. Kummara’s Board, CEO and leadership team take clear responsibility for making sure children are protected.
We promote a culture where everyone, staff; volunteers, contractors and partners, understands that keeping children safe is part of their role. We have strong governance, risk management and accountability systems in place to support this.
Standard 2: Children are informed about their rights, participate in decisions affecting them and are taken seriously.
Children know their rights and are heard
We help children understand their rights, including their right to feel safe and to speak up if something is wrong. We listen carefully and respectfully when children share their thoughts, worries or ideas, and we take their concerns seriously.
Standard 3: Families and communities are informed and involved in promoting child safety and wellbeing
Families and communities are partners in safety
Children are safest when families and communities are involved.
We work in partnership with families and communities and share clear information about how we keep children safe. We respect cultural knowledge, community authority and shared responsibility — particularly the strength and leadership of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.
Standard 4: Equity is upheld and diverse needs respected in policy and practice.
Every child is treated fairly and with respect
All children deserve dignity, respect and equal access to support.
We actively remove barriers so children can participate fully in our services. Our approach is culturally safe, trauma-informed and inclusive.
We support:
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children
Children with disability
Children from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds
LGBTIQA+ children
Any child who may be vulnerable or experiencing disadvantage
We honour identity, culture, language and connection to community.
Standard 5: People working with children are suitable and supported to reflect child safety and wellbeing values in practice.
The right people work with children
Kummara carefully screen all staff, volunteers and contractors. This includes Blue Card checks and other required child safety screenings.
Our recruitment processes assess suitability to work with children, and all team members receive ongoing training and supervision to ensure safe, ethical and respectful practice.
Standard 6: Processes to respond to complaints and concerns are child focused.
It is safe to raise concerns
Kummara has clear and accessible ways for children, families and community members to raise concerns or make complaints.
Children and families can speak up without fear of blame or retaliation. All concerns are taken seriously and handled in line with legal requirements. We focus on the child’s safety and wellbeing at every step.
Standard 7: Staff and volunteers of the entity are equipped with the knowledge, skills, and awareness to keep children safe through ongoing education and training.
Our staff are trained to protect children
All staff and volunteers complete regular training in:
Child protection
Trauma-informed practice
Cultural safety
Children’s rights
We continually build our knowledge and skills so we can respond appropriately to risks, disclosures or concerns.
Standard 8: Physical and online environments promote safety and wellbeing and minimise the opportunity for children to be harmed.
Safe physical and online environments
Kummara actively manage risks in our buildings and digital spaces.
This includes:
Safe supervision practices
Visitor management processes
CCTV where appropriate
Safe transport procedures
Clear guidelines for online communication
Our aim is to reduce opportunities for harm and promote safe, respectful environments.
Standard 9: Implementation of the Child Safe Standards is regularly reviewed and improved.
We implement continuous improvement to review and improve our practice
Child safety is not a one-time task; it requires ongoing reflection and improvement.
Kummara regularly review our policies, listen to feedback, learn from incidents, and strengthen our systems to reflect best practice and legislative updates.
Standard 10: Policies and procedures document how your organisation is safe for children.
Clear policies guide our actions
Our Child Safe Organisation Policy, Code of Conduct and reporting procedures clearly outline how we keep children safe.
These documents are accessible, regularly updated and embedded into our daily work.
links:
National Principles for Child Safe Organisations | National Office for Child Safety
Child Safe Standards | Queensland Family and Child Commission