Commonwealth child safe framework statement of compliance

Geoscience Australia strongly supports the Commonwealth Child Safe Framework, which sets the minimum standards for creating, maintaining and embedding behaviours and practices that are safe for children. In alignment with these standards, Geoscience Australia undertakes an annual child safety risk assessment to identify, evaluate, manage and implement mitigations for identified risks in any activities that involve interaction with children and young people. Our current risk rating for child safety remains low.

Our Child Safe Culture is based on the National Principles which guide our approach to promoting safety and wellbeing in all interactions with children and young people.

Our public-facing Education Centre implements robust procedures and maintains a proactive culture that safeguards the wellbeing and safety of all visiting school groups. Facilitated by experienced educators, general and custom-made programs are available to suit individual group needs, ensuring the best possible outcome for students. Venue and safety information is distributed to schools prior to visiting the Education Centre and includes a Code of Conduct statement in relation to child safety. The document is available on the Geoscience Australia website.

We participate in a wide range of in person, guided tours and online, community and education-based outreach activities introducing all people to Geoscience Australia’s products and services. The same stringent child safety practices and principles are applied across all other Geoscience Australia facilities or activities where staff interact with children and young people, ensuring a consistent commitment to their safety and wellbeing.

Our Child Safety Procedures require staff engaged in child-related work, including those in our Education Centre, to obtain and maintain a Working with Vulnerable People (WWVP) registration in accordance with relevant legislation and regulations. Staff working in other roles who may occasionally come into contact with children and young people must also obtain a WWVP registration where contact is expected to exceed 2 days per year.

Additionally, all staff must comply with the Australian Public Service Code of Conduct when in contact with children and young people in the course of their duties and complete annual security awareness training which includes an overview of our Child Safety Procedures. Our Procedures detail the mechanisms for reporting suspected abuse or injury, responding to incidents and handling complaints.

Effective 31 October 2024.