Child Protection Policy

1. Purpose

1.1 UTS is committed to the safety and wellbeing of children and has a zero-tolerance approach to child exploitation, harassment, neglect and abuse. The Child Protection Policy (the policy) outlines UTS’s commitment to the safety, protection and wellbeing of all children while on campus or involved in university activities and addresses the university’s responsibilities under the:

2. Scope

2.1 This policy applies to all staff, students and affiliates (including volunteers) engaged by or on behalf of UTS when interacting with children. References to staff in this policy include affiliates.

2.2 This policy does not apply to the following:

UTS students under the age of 18 (university students are excluded in the Act)
associated or controlled entities of the university, including ActivateUTS and UTS College (refer UTS College: Under 18 students and the Under 18 Policy (available at UTS College: Policies and Procedures)).

2.3 Children who may be on campus from time to time, either transiting or with their school, are considered to be in the care of the parent, teacher, school coordinator or other carer. Notwithstanding this, staff and students must behave in line with this policy at all times when interacting with children on campus.

3. Principles

3.1 Staff and students must ensure the protection and safety of children and adhere to the behavioural requirements outlined in this policy, the Code of Conduct, the Student Rights and Responsibilities Policy, the Campus Policy and the Equity, Inclusion and Respect Policy.

3.2 UTS acknowledges Australia’s role as a signatory to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child and the rights and obligations outlined under this convention.

3.3 UTS will not knowingly engage, directly or indirectly, with any individual or organisation, in or outside Australia, who poses an unacceptable risk to children. UTS will report any such abuses. This includes provisions in relation to modern slavery reporting (refer Eradicating modern slavery and the Modern Slavery Act 2018 (Cwlth)).

3.4 In implementing this policy and undertaking child-related activities, the safety and wellbeing of children is paramount. UTS will mitigate and reduce the risks to children by embedding risk mitigation practices into operations and functions.

4. Policy statements

Behavioural requirements

4.1 UTS will take necessary steps and precautions to ensure the safety, welfare and wellbeing of children, and protect children from abuse, harassment, neglect and/or exploitation.

4.2 All staff and students engaging in a child-related activity must:

treat children with respect and consideration
understand and apply the relevant Child Safe Standards
ensure children are protected from hazards and restricted from all hazardous areas (refer Health, Safety and Wellbeing Policy)
never use harassing, provocative, belittling, suggestive or any other type of inappropriate language around children and never behave in a manner that is inappropriate or in breach of the university’s behavioural expectations
never engage children in any form of sexual activity including sexual intercourse, abusive or predatory behaviour, grooming or the payment or offer of payment for sexual services
avoid being alone with a child or children at any time and ensure that there is more than one adult present when working with and around children
never photograph or film children without clear business rationale and prior approval from a parent or legal guardian
never physically or verbally harm or use a physical punishment towards a child
never produce, develop or access by any means or mechanism child exploitation material, and
always ensure that the privacy of children is maintained in line with the Privacy Policy and records relating to children are appropriately managed in line with the Records Management Policy (refer Records management and privacy).

4.3 The senior executive, deans, directors and supervisors must:

be aware of UTS’s responsibility as a public authority under the NSW Reportable Conduct Scheme as outlined by the Office of the Children’s Guardian, particularly when a Working with Children Check (WWCC) is required
identify any roles or activities under their remit that involve child-related work and ensure the relevant individuals have a WWCC and any other relevant checks
be aware of the process for the reporting of alleged abuses (refer Reporting child abuse)
ensure relevant individuals are made aware of and comply with their responsibilities under this policy.

4.4 Staff, students and visitors must never use UTS information technology facilities to access, produce or distribute child pornography or exploitation materials (including via social networks or any other means of online communication). Individuals in breach of this requirement will be reported to the police in line with UTS’s obligations for child safety.

Child-related work and the Working with Children Check

4.5 Supervisors are responsible for ensuring that any individuals engaging in child-related activities are assessed to determine whether they require:

a WWCC, and/or
any other checks, clearance or training in line with this policy.

4.6 It is against the law to engage in child-related work without a Working with Children Check (WWCC). Staff and students engaging in child-related work at or on behalf of UTS must obtain a WWCC before the work begins.

4.7 Supervisors and staff may use the UTS Working with Children Check assessment tool to determine whether a WWCC is required (available at Child abuse or harm). Further guidance on WWCC and child-related work is available via the Office of the Children’s Guardian (refer Who needs a check).

4.8 Where the requirement to undertake child-related work is known before employment or appointment, a WWCC must be included in the relevant position description, contract of employment, or otherwise occur as part of the pre-employment process (refer Recruitment and Appointment Policy).

4.9 Child-related work that arises after employment or enrolment has started must be managed by the appropriate university supervisor.

4.10 Individuals must apply for (or renew) a WWCC and receive clearance from the Office of the Children’s Guardian before interacting with children and ensure supervisors are informed of any renewal or review activities.

4.11 The People Unit (on behalf of UTS) may apply for WWCCs or verify WWCC application numbers.

4.12 WWCCs may be transferred between jobs and must be renewed every 5 years. The People Unit will maintain UTS’s registration with the Office of the Children’s Guardian (refer Help to register and verify).

4.13 In addition to the requirement to obtain a WWCC, UTS may require individuals to undertake checks and/or clearances when undertaking any child-related work or child-related activity for or on behalf of UTS. This may include police checks (including police checks from all countries in which the individual has lived for 12 or more months), criminal background checks, screening measures and referee checks.

4.14 UTS may require staff or students to attend child protection training, awareness sessions or any other form of training even when not engaged directly in child-related work in support of this policy, or for any other reason as required by the university.

Outcomes of a Working with Children Check

4.15 If the outcome of a WWCC is a clearance to work with children, the cleared individual will still be subject to ongoing monitoring by the Office of the Children’s Guardian for the 5-year life of the clearance.

4.16 If the outcome of a WWCC is a bar against working with children, the supervisor, in consultation with the People Unit, must ensure that the barred individual is immediately:

prohibited from engaging in any child-related work for or on behalf of UTS
prohibited from engaging in any other activity that may include interactions with children, and
assessed to determine appropriate interaction or involvement with other UTS activities.

4.17 Staff and students who, in the course of their work at UTS, are barred by the Office of the Children’s Guardian will be immediately suspended from any child-related work or activities and any other work as determined by the university, pending further investigation.

Approving child-related work and activities

4.18 All child-related work and child-related activities must be proposed in a business case for approval by an appropriate supervisor in line with the Delegations. Approval must be sought before any child-related work or activity takes place.

4.19 The business case must include relevant information on:

the specific nature, duration and objectives of the activity, including the nature of the interaction with children and any required training, due diligence, WWCC and/or other background checks
the purpose of the activity and its strategic alignment to the UTS 2027 strategy
the responsible owner(s) of the activity
the location of the activity (for example, whether it is on or off-campus and/or online)
the type of information that may be collected and how this will be managed (refer Records management and privacy)
how the Child Safe Standards will be applied to design a child safe framework appropriate to the type and nature of the work (refer Implementing the Child Safe Standards)
appropriate information, approvals and consent forms that will need to be completed by parents or guardians (where required)
appropriate risk assessments and risk mitigations to ensure child safety (refer Risk Management Policy), and
funding and costs (including costs associated with WWCC, insurances or police checks for each person engaging in child-related work on behalf of UTS).

4.20 Child-related activities need to be reviewed regularly by the relevant supervisor to ensure the protection and risk mitigation strategies remain relevant and fit for purpose, and to ensure any training and WWCC requirements continue to be met.

Research involving children

4.21 Anyone undertaking a research activity that may be categorised as child-related work must:

obtain a WWCC clearance before interacting with children as part of their research project, and
comply with all working with children requirements identified as part of their ethics approval (refer the Research Policy and the Research Management Procedure (SharePoint)).

4.22 To meet its state and Commonwealth regulatory responsibilities, an active report on all projects involving research with children is kept as part of the human research ethics process and updated regularly (refer Records management and privacy).

Internships

4.23 Students undertaking internships in line with the Internships Management Policy must comply with the child protection requirements of host organisations.

4.24 Individuals under the age of 18 undertaking internships at UTS must comply with the provisions outlined in this policy and must be pre-approved in line with this policy (refer Approving child-related work and activities).

Younger international students

4.25 The National Code of Practice for Providers of Education and Training to Overseas Students 2018 sets out specific requirements for the management and protection of younger overseas students (standard 5).

4.26 To manage the welfare and protection of overseas students under the age of 18, staff must follow the requirements of the:

Reporting child abuse

4.27 UTS’s zero tolerance of child exploitation, harassment, neglect and abuse extends to an absolute requirement to take action when a child’s health and wellbeing may be at risk. Staff and students must report any actual or suspected child exploitation, harassment, neglect and/or abuse (hereafter child abuse, refer Definitions) as follows:

Staff must report any instances or allegations of child abuse to their supervisor or the Executive Director, People and Culture.
Students must report any instances or allegations of child abuse to their responsible academic officer or graduate research supervisor.

4.28 Reports must be made even where the allegation may seem trivial, minor or lacking evidence (refer Child abuse or harm).

Managing and investigating child abuse

4.29 The receiver of the report must immediately:

remove or minimise any obvious risk to children and/or others where possible
triage any allegations of exploitation and/or abuse by staff or affiliates to the Executive Director, People and Culture
triage any allegations of exploitation and/or abuse by students to the Director, Student Services, and/or
1. report any allegations of exploitation and/or abuse using UTS information technology resources to the Chief Information Officer.

4.30 Individuals may be removed from and/or excluded from campus to ensure the safety, protection and wellbeing of children and the UTS community in line with the Campus Policy.

4.31 In managing a report of child abuse, the Director, Student Services and/or the Executive Director, People and Culture will:

report suspected child abuse, exploitation or risk of significant harm to the NSW Child Protection Helpline and/or the NSW Police Force in line with the Crimes Act 1900 (NSW)
notify the NSW Children’s Guardian of reportable conduct, allegations or convictions in line with the Children’s Guardian Act 2019 (NSW) (refer Reportable Conduct Scheme)
receive confidential information from the Office of the Children’s Guardian and/or the Department of Communities and Justice (which may occur if an individual’s WWCC status has changed or there is an investigation by the Office of the Children’s Guardian of a reportable allegation)
consult with the General Counsel and Executive Director, Risk and Compliance, the Director, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion and/or the Head of Security and Emergency Management and other relevant UTS staff as required in the investigation of a report
refer the matter to any other relevant statutory authority and/or agency where breaches of relevant legislation may be evident
respond in an unbiased and fair manner, taking into account procedural fairness, natural justice, equity principles and any legislative requirements
report any incidents to the insurer (via insurance@uts.edu.au) ensuring personal information is protected (refer Records management and privacy), and
notify any other external or funding body as soon as possible where relevant.

Records management and privacy

4.32 All records relating to children must be maintained in line with the Records Management Policy and the Privacy Policy, noting in particular that consent may be required for the collection, disclosure or sharing of information relating to children. Advice is available from the Privacy Officer (refer Privacy contacts).

4.33 All investigations (and information relating to any investigations) of child abuse will be managed confidentially and in line with the Records Management Policy and the Privacy Policy.

4.34 Any disclosures relating to allegations or investigations of child abuse will follow the requirements of section 57 of the Children’s Guardian Act 2019 (NSW).

4.35 Supervisors are responsible for keeping accurate records of who is required to have a WWCC, who has a current WWCC, verifying the WWCC numbers, and reminding staff, students and affiliates to renew their WWCC (every 5 years). This can be tracked on the WWCC clearance table (part of the WWCC assessment tool available at Child abuse or harm).

4.36 Clearance tables must be signed by the relevant director and submitted annually to Client Services and Support (People Unit). This information is:

collated and recorded on Content Manager in line with the Records Management Policy, and
provided to the Provost annually to support external compliance requirements.

Policy breaches and complaints

4.37 Staff, students and affiliates who are dissatisfied with UTS’s response to a reported child protection allegation, including mandatory reporting obligations, are encouraged to seek information and advice from the Office of the Children’s Guardian.

4.38 Any breaches of this policy will be managed in line with the Code of Conduct, the Enterprise agreements, the Student Rules, the Student Rights and Responsibilities Policy, the Information Security Policy and/or the Research Policy as appropriate and in line with external reporting obligations (refer Managing and investigating child abuse).

4.39 In line with the Campus Policy, the Temporary Exclusion Policy and Rule 16.9 Student Rules individuals may be removed from and/or excluded from campus to ensure the safety and wellbeing of the UTS community.

5. Roles and responsibilities

5.1 Policy owner: The Provost is responsible for policy enforcement and compliance, ensuring that its principles and statements are observed. The Provost is also responsible for annual reporting in line with normal compliance requirements and the approval of any associated university level procedures.

5.2 Policy contact: The Executive Director, People and Culture is responsible for the day-to-day implementation of this policy for staff and acts as a primary point of contact for advice on fulfilling its provisions. The Executive Director, People and Culture is responsible for ensuring that UTS is registered with the Office of the Children’s Guardian. In addition, the following roles act as policy contacts:

The Director, Student Services acts as a primary point of contact for advice on managing allegations against students.
The General Counsel and Executive Director, Risk and Compliance, the Director, Property and the Head of Security and Emergency Management may be consulted, where necessary, to support the effective implementation of this policy in line with the university’s obligations.
The General Counsel and Executive Director, Risk and Compliance and the Executive Director, People and Culture should be notified where a UTS child-related worker becomes barred in line with the requirements of the Office of the Children’s Guardian.

5.3 Implementation and governance roles:

The senior executive, deans, directors and supervisors have an important role in understanding when their faculties, divisions and areas of responsibilities require child protection measures and whether staff, students or affiliates under their supervision require a WWCC.

The People Client Services Manager is responsible for managing and publishing staff guidance on child protection on the UTS website.

Staff must work with their supervisors and the People Unit to ensure the necessary WWCCs are in place and reflected in their workplans. Further information is available at Child abuse or harm.

Any person with mandatory reporting obligations should be aware of their responsibilities under the Children’s Guardian Act 2019 (NSW).

Additional reporting obligations under the Reportable Conduct Scheme may also apply for UTS staff, students and affiliates working or volunteering in a relevant entity (refer Reportable Conduct Scheme).

The Office of the Children’s Guardian maintains reporting responsibilities under Division 3 of the Children’s Guardian Act 2019 (NSW). This is separate from and outside the university’s obligations under the Act and the Regulation.

6. Definitions

The following definitions apply for this policy. These are in addition to the definitions outlined in Schedule 1, Student Rules. Definitions in the singular also include the plural meaning of the word.

Adult means any person of 18 years or over.

Affiliate is defined in the Code of Conduct.

Child (or children) means any person under the age of 18 years old. Teaching of university students is excluded in the Act.

Child abuse means any act of physical, verbal and/or sexual abuse carried out against a child. This includes but is not limited to:

sexual touching
accessing, producing, disseminating or possessing child pornography or exploitation materials
sexual comments, conversations or communications
child grooming behaviours, and/or
any mistreatment of a child, including, but not limited to, making excessive, inappropriate or degrading demands or comments either directly or indirectly, and any behaviour that may cause significant emotional or psychological harm.

Child-related activity means any planned UTS activity or program that is targeted towards children and may involve direct contact or interaction with children. Child-related activities may or may not include child-related work.

Child-related work means any work requiring direct contact with a child or children, as outlined in section 6 of the Act and part 2 of the Regulation. To summarise, child-related work (which can be paid or voluntary) is any work that involves direct contact with a child or children, normally involves being face-to-face, or any contact with a child that is more than incidental to the work being undertaken. Section 6(2)(g) of the Act excludes the educational activities conducted at UTS from child-related work. Child-related work may take place in a face-to-face setting or online.

Internship is defined in the Internships Management Policy.

Staff is defined in the Code of Conduct.

Supervisor is defined in the Code of Conduct.

Unacceptable risk means a high-level risk, identified by a risk evaluation as unacceptable. The only appropriate risk treatment is avoiding the risk by deciding not to initiate (refer Risk Management Policy).

Visitor is defined in the Campus Policy.

Working with Children Check means the process of screening individuals engaged in child-related work as managed by the New South Wales Office of the Children's Guardian: Working with Children Check.

Working with Children Check clearance means an authorisation to engage in child-related work from the New South Wales Office of the Children’s Guardian. This is further outlined in the Act.

Approval information

Policy contact	Executive Director, People and Culture
Approval authority	Council
Review date	2028
File number	UR20/1770
Superseded documents	Child Protection Policy 2015 (UR15/1171)

Version history

Version	Approved by	Approval date	Effective date	Sections modified
1.0	Council (COU 20-6/133)	25/11/2020	08/01/2021	New policy.
1.1	Director, Governance Support Unit (Delegation 3.14.1)	19/05/2021	17/06/2021	Changes to reflect new organisational structure of the Centre for Social Justice and Inclusion.
1.2	Deputy Director, Corporate Governance (Delegation 3.14.2)	22/02/2022	22/02/2022	Minor change to reflect portfolio realignment under Fit for 2027 project and general updates.
2.0	Council (COU/22-6/131)	30/11/2022	15/12/2022	Full review to address the Child Safe Standards and meet sector and funding body expectations.
2.1	Deputy Director, Corporate Governance (Delegation 3.14.2)	06/07/2023	10/07/2023	Minor updates to reflect new child protection content on the UTS website.
3.0	Council (COU/24-3/56)	19/06/2024	28/06/2024	Major updates to reflect younger international students, to update behavioural expectations and to clarify reporting processes.

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