When challenges present in the lives of children, understanding the issues and providing support early is important.
Professionals who provide services to children, parents or families are in a good position to pick up on the challenges, risks and issues that can hold a child back. But sometimes, it’s not easy to understand what’s going on until we see the bigger picture.
Victoria’s Child Information Sharing Scheme, or CISS, helps bring the pieces of the picture together earlier, to identify an obstacle for a child and to see what might help. To get a clearer picture, certain professionals who work in organisations prescribed under CISS can share information with other prescribed professionals working with that child or family and they can work together across services to coordinate their support.
Sometimes, when I was worried, I got stomach aches before school. Jack’s counsellor noticed his anxiety was affecting his schoolwork and his friendships. She had a chat with Jack and his mum about getting Jack’s school involved. She asked me what I thought. At first, I didn’t want everyone to know but now, my teacher helps me on those days when I don’t feel good, and we’ve come up with ways to help me manage things better.
CISS prescribed organisations are known as information sharing entities or ISEs. They include schools, health services, education and care services, police and many others. Key people in those organisations have been trained to share and request information under CISS. If you become aware of important information about a child, talk to those people in your organisation who have been trained to share under CISS. CISS prioritises the safety and wellbeing of children over individual privacy and confidentiality, but only information that is relevant to the wellbeing or safety of that child can be shared. Trained CISS professionals know that whenever it’s safe, reasonable and appropriate to do so, they must support the agency and voice of a child and respect their social, individual, and cultural identity strengths and abilities by involving them in the decisions about their own lives. CISS professionals also work collaboratively with protective parents or guardians. CISS professionals will always try to talk with the child and their family or carer first, unless there’s a good reason not to. For example, if it’s an emergency, or parents or carers can’t be contacted.
However, if a parent or child doesn’t want others involved, CISS allows professionals to use their judgement to share or request information anyway if they consider it may help to promote the child’s wellbeing. CISS doesn’t change Victoria’s mandatory reporting rules. If it’s a matter of safety, mandatory reporters must share information as required under those rules, whether or not they are prescribed or authorised under CISS. CISS helps professionals give and receive the information they need to help children and their families get the support they need to be safe and to thrive.
Updated