Child Safety and Wellbeing Policy

01

Policy statement

STEP Wellbeing is committed to the safety, wellbeing and protection of all children and young people. This commitment applies in all contexts in which STEP Wellbeing operates, including online consultancy engagements and in-person visits to schools and education settings.

STEP Wellbeing recognises that child safety is everyone’s responsibility. Lachlan Marchant, as sole operator of STEP Wellbeing, upholds the highest standards of professional conduct and takes all reasonable steps to create and maintain environments that are safe for children and young people.

02

Scope

Nature of work. STEP Wellbeing provides systems-level consultancy services to schools and education organisations. This includes the Wellbeing Capacity Review, Supervising Well, Implementation Partnerships, Operating Partnerships and Practice Advisory engagements, all directed at school leadership, staff and organisational systems. This policy applies to all such work, including online advisory and review services, in-person site visits, and all communications relating to schools, students or child-related contexts.

Important clarification

STEP Wellbeing does not engage with students directly in any therapeutic, clinical or individual support capacity. All services are directed at school leadership, staff and organisational systems, not at individual students.

Incidental contact. Notwithstanding the above, Lachlan Marchant may be physically present in school environments during in-person site visits. In these contexts, incidental contact with students may occur, for example passing through common areas. This policy governs conduct in all such circumstances.

03

Legislative and regulatory framework

National Principles for Child Safe Organisations (AHRC, 2019)
Child Safe Standards as applicable in each state or territory
Applicable Working With Children legislation in each jurisdiction, for example the Working with Children Act 2005 (Vic) or the Child Protection (Working with Children) Act 2012 (NSW)
Mandatory reporting obligations under relevant state or territory legislation
Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) and the Australian Privacy Principles
Any specific child safety requirements set by client schools or their governing bodies

04

Working With Children Check

Lachlan Marchant holds a current and valid Working With Children Check appropriate for child-related work in the relevant jurisdictions.

The check will be maintained in current standing at all times, with renewal initiated well in advance of expiry.
Evidence will be made available to client schools upon request and prior to any in-person engagement.
If the check is revoked, suspended or otherwise affected, all child-related work will cease immediately and affected clients will be notified.

05

Commitment to the National Child Safe Standards

STEP Wellbeing is guided by the ten National Principles for Child Safe Organisations, adapted for a sole-trader consultancy context.

National principle	STEP Wellbeing commitment
1 · Child safety embedded in leadership and culture	Lachlan Marchant personally upholds and models child-safe values in all professional conduct.
2 · Children participate in decisions affecting them	STEP does not make decisions on behalf of children. Where its work informs such decisions, student voice is encouraged as part of systems advice.
3 · Families and communities informed and involved	STEP supports schools to engage families appropriately in wellbeing systems design.
4 · Equity upheld and diverse needs recognised	STEP’s consultancy considers the needs of all student cohorts, including vulnerable and marginalised groups.
5 · People working with children are suitable and supported	Lachlan Marchant maintains all required checks, professional registrations and continuing professional development.
6 · Complaints processes are child focused	Any concern raised about a child during an engagement is responded to promptly and referred to the appropriate person at the school.
7 · Equipped with knowledge and skills	Lachlan Marchant maintains current training in child safety and mandatory reporting obligations.
8 · Physical and online environments are safe	Both online engagement practices and in-person school visit protocols are designed to minimise risk.
9 · Implementation continuously reviewed	This policy is reviewed annually and following any incident or change in relevant legislation.
10 · Policies and procedures in place and accessible	This policy is published here and made available to client schools upon request.

06

Online engagement safety

All online meetings with school staff are conducted via agreed, secure platforms arranged through the client school.
STEP Wellbeing does not engage in one-on-one online communication with students under any circumstances.
Online consultancy sessions are conducted in professional, visible settings, and are not recorded without explicit consent from all participants.
Materials shared digitally are appropriate to a professional consultancy context and are not used in ways that compromise student privacy.
Student data or case information shared by schools is handled strictly in accordance with the Privacy and Confidentiality Statement.

07

In-person school visit protocol

When attending a school site in person, Lachlan Marchant will:

Sign in at the school office and wear a visitor identification badge as required.
Present evidence of a Working With Children Check upon request, prior to or upon arrival.
Not be alone with individual students at any time.
Not enter student-only areas such as change rooms or bathrooms under any circumstances.
Limit movement on school grounds to areas relevant to the agreed consultancy purpose.
Not take photographs or video of students.
Report any safeguarding concern observed to the relevant staff member immediately.
Follow all school-specific visitor and safety requirements.

08

Professional conduct and code of behaviour

Will always

Act in the best interests of children and young people, even when working with adult staff.
Maintain professional boundaries in all communications and interactions.
Respond promptly to any child safety concerns raised by school staff.
Report concerns through appropriate channels.
Treat all information about students and school contexts as confidential.

Will never

Engage in one-on-one contact with students, online or in person.
Use language or behaviour that is demeaning, inappropriate or harmful.
Share identifiable information about students with any third party.
Misuse a position of professional trust or access.
Ignore or minimise a child safety concern.

09

Reporting obligations and procedures

Mandatory reporting. Lachlan Marchant understands and complies with mandatory reporting obligations under applicable state or territory legislation. Although STEP Wellbeing’s services are not directed at individual students, any reasonable belief that a child is at risk of significant harm, arising from information or observations during the course of work, triggers a reporting obligation.

1Immediate stepNotify the school’s Principal, Deputy Principal or designated Child Safety Officer without delay.

2If a staff member is involvedReport directly to the Principal, or if the Principal is implicated, to the relevant education authority.

3If a mandatory report is requiredMake the required report to the applicable statutory authority in addition to notifying the school.

4Document the concernRecord the date, nature of the concern, who was notified and any action taken.

5ConfidentialityMaintain confidentiality of the report consistent with legislative requirements.

Concerns about STEP Wellbeing. Any person with a concern about the conduct of Lachlan Marchant in relation to child safety may contact him directly at lachlan@stepwellbeing.com.au, contact the relevant school’s leadership directly, or contact the applicable child protection authority or professional registration body.

10

Privacy, confidentiality and data handling

STEP Wellbeing handles all information relating to students and education settings in accordance with the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth), the Australian Privacy Principles, and the STEP Privacy and Confidentiality Statement. Student-level information shared by schools is used solely for the purpose for which it was shared, not retained beyond what is necessary for the engagement, not shared with any third party without explicit consent, and stored securely and destroyed appropriately when no longer required.

11

Incident management

Lachlan Marchant will cooperate fully with any investigation by a school, education authority or statutory body.
STEP Wellbeing services to the relevant school will be paused pending resolution, where appropriate.
A record of the incident, response and outcome will be maintained.
This policy will be reviewed following resolution of any incident.

12

Policy review

This policy is reviewed annually, or sooner if there is a change in relevant legislation, an incident, or a material change in the nature of STEP Wellbeing’s work.

Related documents: STEP Privacy and Confidentiality Statement · STEP Master Services Terms · STEP Conflict of Interest Policy · Working With Children Check certificate, on request. The signed original of this policy is available to client schools on request.