CHILD SAFE STANDARDS

OUR COMMITMENT TO CHILD SAFETY AND CULTURAL SAFETY

Backbone Youth Arts is committed to being a Child Safe Organisation. We annually review our policies, procedures and staff and volunteer training to ensure our commitment to The Universal Principle, Cultural Safety and the Child Safe Standards as set out by the Queensland Government.

THE UNIVERSAL PRINCIPLE AND CULTURAL SAFETY

Backbone Youth Arts is committed to providing an environment that ensures the cultural safety of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and children, safeguarding a space so that it is welcome, safe, inclusive, respectful and values their voices.

In culturally safe organisations:

  • Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples define cultural safety and how it is measured

  • staff and volunteers develop the knowledge, skills and attitudes to recognise and address biases and stereotypes, and

  • systems are transformed so they work better for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.

CHILD SAFE STANDARD 1: LEADERSHIP & CULTURE

Child safety and wellbeing is embedded in our organisational leadership, governance and culture. Staff undergo child safety training and review of the policies and procedures that protect the children and young people in our care.

CHILD SAFE STANDARD 2: VOICE OF CHILDREN

Children are informed about their rights, participate in decisions affecting them and are taken seriously. Children’s voices and perspectives are valued and welcome at all levels of our organisation. Our educational programs are built on student-driven inquiry models that ensure the child’s voice, perspectives, ideas, and concerns are at the centre of what we do. Backbone Youth Arts is committed to ensuring every child feels heard in our care.

CHILD SAFE STANDARD 3: FAMILY & COMMUNITY

Families and communities are informed and involved in promoting child safety and wellbeing. The parents, guardians and families in the Backbone community receive copies of our child safety policies and are invited to share their feedback throughout the year and at our AGM. Children and young people actively engage with Child Protection Week, the policies of their own classrooms and are informed of the Rights of Children.

CHILD SAFE STANDARD 4: EQUITY & DIVERSITY

Equity is upheld and diverse needs respected in policy and practice. Backbone is committed to ensuring our policies and procedures are trauma-informed, empathetic, compassionate and accessible to all. We uphold inclusivity, equity and diversity as fundamental values of our organisation and commit to reviewing our programs and procedures each year to ensure they are accessible, inclusive, and equitable to all.

CHILD SAFE STANDARD 6: COMPLAINTS MANAGEMENT

Processes to respond to complaints and concerns are child focused. Backbone staff and volunteers are trained in our mandatory reporting system and our complaints procedure for both children, young people and families is laid out clearly, with a step-by-step in our policies and procedures. We are committed to ensuring all children and young people who are part of our community feel safe and heard during our trauma-informed complaints and mandatory reporting procedures. We are committed to reviewing these procedures each year.

CHILD SAFE STANDARD 5: PEOPLE

Staff and volunteers working with children are suitable and supported to reflect child safety and wellbeing values in practice. All staff and volunteers are inducted and undergo regular child safety training. All staff and volunteers must hold a Working with Children Check (Blue Card) when participating in our educational programs.

CHILD SAFE STANDARD 8: PHYSICAL AND ONLINE ENVIRONMENTS

Physical and online environments promote safety and wellbeing and minimise the opportunity for children to be harmed. Physical safety and wellbeing is upheld with safe practices in the classroom, in the rehearsal room, in the supporting environments (i.e. onstage and backstage) and throughout the venue. Online safety is upheld strictly with our staff and volunteers - our staff and volunteers will never communicate nor interact with children and young people online. All digital communication is transparent and inclusive of parents and guardians.

CHILD SAFE STANDARD 7: KNOWLEDGE AND SKILLS

Staff and volunteers of the entity are equipped with the knowledge, skills, and awareness to keep children safe through ongoing education and training. Staff and volunteers at Backbone undergo annual child safety training. Our policies and procedures are written and reviewed with this training in mind and commit to having children’s safety and wellbeing at the centre.

CHILD SAFE STANDARD 10: POLICY AND PROCEDURES

Policies and procedures document how the entity is safe for children. Please see below for links to all of our policy and procedures documents:

  • Complaints Handling Policy

  • Code of Conduct

  • Child Safety and Wellbeing Policy

  • Risk Management Policy

CHILD SAFE STANDARD 9: CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT

Implementation of the Child Safe Standards is regularly reviewed and improved. Our policies and procedures are reviewed and updated where needed by leadership and staff every year.

*PLEASE NOTE THESE ARE CURRENTLY UNDERGOING OUR 2026 REVIEW AND UPDATE AND APPROVAL BY THE BACKBONE YOUTH ARTS BOARD. THESE WILL BE AVAILABLE PUBLICLY ON OUR WEBSITE SOON.

FEEDBACK?

Backbone Youth Arts is committed to ensuring the voices of children, young people and their community are heard. If you have feedback about our policies and procedures, we welcome community insight and invite you to share this with us at info@backbone.org.au.