RTOs - child and student empowerment

About the Standard

This Standard requires RTOs to support strategies to:

RTO’s requirements include:

informing children about their rights
recognising the importance of friendships
encouraging support from peers, to help children feel safe and connected
providing children with access to sexual abuse prevention programs where relevant
equipping staff and volunteers to identify the signs of harm to children.

An RTO must be able to provide evidence of:

a commitment to the importance of:
- empowering children to understand their rights
- the value of friendships to help children feel safe
ways for children to raise safety issues and provide feedback about the physical environment, staff behaviour and RTO practices
actions and strategies that support children to:
- understand their rights
- feel connected to their peers
- have a voice in the RTO's operations and environment
professional development and induction training for staff and volunteers to help them to:
- identify signs of child abuse
- address the importance of supporting students to make friends to strengthen their confidence and engagement
a Child Safety Code of Conduct that includes standards for staff and volunteer behaviour and explains their responsibilities. This includes making sure students are informed of their rights, know how to raise complaints and are aware of sexual abuse prevention programs.

An RTO complying with this Standard may have:

website publication of policy and procedures that reference the RTO’s commitment to the Standards and the rights of children
communication and engagement resources that explain the complaints process and how to access sexual abuse prevention programs. This could be as part of the:
- RTO website
- student handbook
- marketing material
a Child Safety Code of Conduct that requires staff and volunteers to inform students about their rights and how to raise safety concerns
professional development and induction that promotes staff and volunteers' responsiveness to feedback from children
a monitoring or performance framework to review child safe policies and procedures.

In complying with Child Safe Standard 3 an organisation must, at a minimum, ensure:
- children and young people are informed about all of their rights, including to safety, information and participation
- the importance of friendships is recognised and support from peers is encouraged, to help children and young people feel safe and be less isolated
- where relevant to the setting or context, children and young people are offered access to sexual abuse prevention programs and to relevant related information in an age-appropriate way
- staff and volunteers are attuned to signs of harm and facilitate child-friendly ways for children and young people to express their views, participate in decision-making and raise their concerns
- organisations have strategies in place to develop a culture that facilitates participation and is responsive to the input of children and young people
- organisations provide opportunities for children and young people to participate and are responsive to their contributions, thereby strengthening confidence and engagement.
- The Commission for Children and Young People (CCYP)(opens in a new window) — provides practical, accessible guidance for the Child Safe Standards including 'Empowerment and participation: a guide for organisations working with children and young people'.
- The Department of Education provides schools guidance about how to identify child abuse(opens in a new window).

Updated 20 February 2024