Child Safety Standards
The Victorian Child Safe Standards (the Standards) came into effect on 1 January 2016 and apply to all organisations involved in child-related work in Victoria, such as schools, churches, kindergartens, children’s services, out-of-home care services, youth services and local councils.
On 22 December 2015, the Victorian Minister for Education provided Ministerial Order No. 870, which articulates how schools will be required to comply with the Standards. This Ministerial Order requires schools to be compliant from 1 August 2016 and overall responsibility for ensuring compliance rests with the Victorian Registration and Qualificiations Authority.
Child information Sharing and Family Violence Reforms
The Child Information Sharing Scheme (CISS), Family Violence Information Sharing Scheme (FVISS) and Family Violence Multi-Agency Risk Assessment and Management (MARAM) Framework commenced for
education workforces at the beginning of Term 2, 2021. Schools and early childhood education services are required to respond to information sharing requests, make requests and proactively share information with Authorised Information Sharing Entities (ISEs).