Wyndham council has adopted a major change to how it monitors and reviews its child safety and welfare policies.
At the monthly council meeting on Tuesday, July 25, councillors unanimously renewed an amended version of council’s child safety, wellbeing and reportable conduct policy.
The amendment, proposed by Cr Jennie Barrera, suggested that council review the policy annually rather than once in every three years.
Cr Barrera also suggested all review outcomes without changes made should be documented and maintained for transparency and accountability.
“Communities rightly expect local councils and other organisations to demonstrate zero tolerance for harm and strong safeguards for children,” she said.
The need to have quicker responses in an industry with high levels of staff turnover was also part of the rationale.
“This will embed child safety as a core, ongoing, organisational responsibility, not something tied to individual champions especially in environments of staff turnover,” Cr Barrera said.
“It therefore enables early identification and response to any potential gaps or risks in the implementation of the policy.
“Annual reviews show that the council is not complacent and actively working to meet community standards.
“Child safety is not optional, it’s not occasional– it’s foundational, it’s urgent and it’s negotiable.”
Cr Josh Gilligan said the changes would elevate the collective response they want to see year in and year out.
“It is important that we send a message to our community that as a local government of an area that has a significant population of people under the age of four,” Cr Gilligan said.
