Child Safety and Wellbeing Policy 2022

The Australian Human Rights Commission is committed to ensuring the safety, wellbeing and human rights of children. Across our work, we endeavour to create environments where all children can feel, and be, safe and welcomed, and where their participation is valued.

This Child Safety and Wellbeing Policy outlines the commitment of the Commission to making our workplace and our work child safe. It informs all staff, and anyone working with the Commission, of their obligations to act ethically towards children and gives guidance on the processes and procedures necessary to ensure child safety and wellbeing across all areas of our work.

This Policy also describes how the Commission implements the ten National Principles for Child Safe Organisations. The relevant principle is included at the beginning of each section.

The National Principles implement key recommendations of the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse. They seek to build workplace practices that prevent child sexual abuse, and which proactively address it where it occurs.

Because the Commission has been a leading advocate for these principles, they hold extra importance for the Commission in ‘walking the talk’ and ensuring that its own practices adopt a human rights-based approach.