This information session covers some sensitive and challenging issues

Induction for DECD employed bus drivers

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Acknowledgement of Country

We acknowledge and respect the traditional custodians whose ancestral lands we are meeting upon today

We acknowledge the deep feelings of attachment and relationships of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island people to country

We also pay respect to the cultural authority of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island people visiting or attending from other areas of Australia present here today.

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This information session covers some sensitive and challenging issues for your and others’ wellbeing:• Talk about individuals anonymously - don’t identify children or adults or

discuss your personal experience.

• Not a forum for personal issues – wait for an opportunity to discuss your concerns outside of the session.

• Recognise the value of hearing all points of view - and agreeing to disagree.

• If you feel frustration or anger, manage these emotions positively by waiting for an opportunity to discuss your concerns outside of the session.

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AimsThis information session aims to introduce DECD employed bus drivers to:

• Some of the circumstances that may make children and young people vulnerable to harm

• What they are expected to do if you have concerns about the safety or wellbeing of children and young people

• The process of making a notification of child abuse and neglect by mandated and non-mandated notifiers

• Appropriate ways of relating with children and young people.

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Mandatory Notifying

• Staff and volunteers in education and care settings are mandated notifiers and therefore, required under the Children’s Protection Act 1993 to notify suspected child abuse to the Child Abuse Report Line (CARL) on 13 14 78.

• Under the Children’s Protection Act, DECD employed bus drivers are not mandated notifiers as they do not provide an education service to children and young people.

• However, as DECD employees bus drivers are expected to meet a duty of care to children and young people both within and beyond the education or care setting.

• Bus drivers have a right to make a mandatory notification and a responsibility to report all concerns about children’s safety and wellbeing to the site leader.

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You will be looking at mandatory notification processes a little later but first it is important to

understand a little about the issues that can affect the safety and wellbeing of children and

young people.

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Generally children and young people should be:• Happy – appearing pleased to be at the site once settled, participating willingly in

most activities and happy to see parents/caregivers at the end of the day

• Healthy – adequately clothed for weather conditions, clean, provided with enough food for recess and lunch, and any health issues are appropriately managed by parents/caregivers

• Socialising normally with adults and peers – interacting comfortably with adults in their life, and having mainly positive interactions with peers

• Doing what is expected of them developmentally - similar cognitive and physical abilities to their peers, or in keeping with the level of disability which may be present

• Attending regularly – Irregular attendance and unexplained absences are issues the site must respond to.

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Children and young people’s vulnerability to harm is increased if their parents face problems such as:

• drug and alcohol abuse• mental health problems• gambling addiction• physical or intellectual disability• social isolation• being a victim of abuse neglect or family violence• extreme poverty• experiencing trauma • being a teenage parent.

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Children and young people’s vulnerability to harm may also be increased through:

• Age(the younger the more vulnerable)

• Disability(particularly intellectual disability)

• Emotional deprivation(already abused or neglected children)

• Isolation and disadvantage(children in care, refugees, new arrivals, non-English speaking, remote community, international exchange students).

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When your role is significant

Sometimes your concerns about children and young people’s

situations will mean you form a suspicion on reasonable grounds that abuse or chronic neglect is occurring.

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Duty of Care is a common law concept that refers to the responsibility of staff to provide children and young people with adequate level of protection against harm.

• Staff are required to ensure that the physical and emotional wellbeing of children and young people is safeguarded, and that their behaviour is guided by duty of care within and beyond the education and care setting.

• Staff have a duty of care to protect children and young people from physical and emotional harm and, while the ways of meeting the duty may differ for different groups, the duty itself remains unqualified.

• Staff are expected to meet this duty in a manner that respects the dignity of all children and young people as well as their vulnerabilities.

Duty of Care

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Do any aspects of the definitions surprise or confuse you?

Definitions of abuse and neglect

Look at the definitions of abuse and neglect on pages 4 and 5 of your handbook

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Indicators of abuse, neglect and family violence (Pages 4 and 5)

The key message about indicators is to appreciate

patterns and clusters of behaviours. The best way to appreciate clusters is to

always consult with the site leader.

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• A child/young person tells you that s/he has been abused

• Your own observation of the behaviour of a particular child/young person and/or injuries, or your knowledge of the child generally leads you to suspect that abuse is occurring

• When your own observations about the behaviour of the child’s or young person’s adult caregiver/s give you cause to suspect that the child or young person is being, or is at risk of being, abused or neglected

• A child/young person tells you s/he knows someone who has been abused (the child may be referring to her/himself)

• Someone tells you of the abuse who is in a position to provide reliable information (perhaps a relative, friend, neighbour or sibling of the child/young person).

You have “suspicion on reasonable grounds” when:

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• You are working within a professional community whose job it is to support you in your role

• This includes giving you guidance on how to respond to your concerns

• Always seek guidance from the site leader.

How should DECD employed bus drivers respond to their concerns about children and young people?

You are not expected to act alone

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You may have observed one or more of the indicators discussed earlier or you may have heard something from the child/young person or their parent/caregiver that causes you concern.

Situation 1

General concerns

Expected action = Talk with the site leader

They will listen to your concerns and advise you about who will do what, next.

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Situation 2:

You believe you should make a mandatory notification about abuse or neglect

Expected action = Talk with the site leader (same as Situation 1)

Your role means you are supported by professionals at the site in making a notification.

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Making a notification about abuse or neglect is a serious action that has repercussions for everyone concerned:

• the child/young person

• their parents/caregivers

• the staff at the site (who must continue to support and work with the child/young person, their parents /caregivers as well as liaise with Families SA) and

• you, who may also continue to transport and support the child/young person and relate with their parents/caregivers.

Why are you advised not to act alone?

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Working as part of a team means:

• The notification will be the most accurate and detailed description of the child/young person’s situation possible and therefore will be more likely to result in appropriate intervention

• Everyone can receive the emotional support or guidance they need, most importantly the child/young person

• The site can protect its community if it anticipates some kind of backlash from parents/caregivers

• The site can ensure that proper records are kept and shared with appropriate personnel regarding a child/young person’s situation so that their needs continue to be met sensitively.

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How should you respond if a child/young person approaches you

and begins to talk to you directly about abuse or neglect?

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• can usually be answered by a ‘yes’ or ‘no’

• they tend to offer information(put words in people’s mouths).

Leading Questions

Open Questions • invite information and allow the individual to say what they wish to say

• keep the conversation open and are rarely able to be answered with a ‘yes’ or ‘no’.

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Do Don’t• respect the enormity of what is

being shared with you

• listen with care, show care and only ask open questions

• be patient, don’t rush them or yourself

• write down what you’ve been told

• speak with the principal/nominated site leadership member to help you decide the next actions

• look after yourself.

• stop the child/young person from talking; act scared or shocked

• doubt the child (question the validity of their story)

• threaten to harm or punish the perpetrator

• promise that everything will be fine, they will be safe, happy, better

• ask leading questions or interview others (investigate matters further).

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If the child/young person has directly disclosed abuse consider saying

Sometimes people want to know how to finish a discussion like this with a child or young person

Thank you for talking with me, I’m really pleased you’ve told me about what’s happened. I’m going to get someone to help us decide what to do next.”

“ Thank you for talking with me. If you ever feel worried or unhappy or afraid it’s important to talk with me again and if I’m not here you should talk to… [suggest a staff member you think the child/young person knows e.g. their class teacher or the school counsellor]”

If the child/young person hasn’t disclosed anything directly consider saying

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Can anyone stop you from making a notification?

• As a DECD employed bus driver you have the right to make a notification to Child Abuse Report Line (CARL) as well as having a duty of care to do so.

• Remember, for the reasons discussed earlier, it is recommended that you work with the site leader.

No.

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What happens when a notification is made?• When it is decided that a notification is to be made, the site leader will be informed

• The site leader refers to checklists that help ensure the site has all information required by Families SA

• Once all relevant information is gathered and noted the notification is made either by you on your own or with the site leader

It can be done by:a call to the Child Abuse Report Line, or

an e CARL notification to reportchildabuse.families.sa.gov.au

• Once a notification is made it is recorded on a specific form and kept securely in the site leader’s office

• You can also keep your own personal record of your notification.

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Read Page 8 of your handbookHow is your identity protected?

It is important to understand that even though the Child Abuse Report Line will not tell the family who made a notification, parents can

make very good guesses about where notifications have come from.

This is why it is important to work with the site leader to prepare for these kinds of possibilities.

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In SummaryThe responsibility of DECD employed bus drivers is to share their concerns about children and young people with the site leader, so that:

• action can be taken at the site to support the child/young person and family, and/or

• the bus driver can be supported in making a notification to Families SA if abuse or neglect is suspected

• the site leader may make a mandatory notification based on the information the bus driver provides.

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“Protective practices for staff in their interactions with children and young people” provides clear advice to adults for the establishment of positive, caring and respectful relationships with children and young people in education and care settings.

It also describes the relationship boundaries expected of staff and volunteers in government and non government education and care environments and their responsibilities to notify about inappropriate adult behaviour.

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Look at pages 9 – 11 of your DECD employed bus drivers RAN-EC Induction Handbook and read the information on ‘Maintaining professional boundaries with children and young people’.

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• Students tell you that their teacher has given some of them presents. These range from lollies to packets of textas and CD vouchers

• They then go on to say that one of the students often cuddles the teacher and sits in their lap

• They further add that the teacher has initiated a move to a different room in the school that is less visible to others

• You hear two students talking about how this teacher has organised with the parent of one of the students to provide extra tutoring at home.

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This must happen no matter what position or authority the person has at the site – teacher, deputy principal, grounds person, bus drivers, canteen manager, school support officer, volunteer or visitor, etc.

Every adult working in an education and care environment is expected to notify of any inappropriate behaviour involving adults and children/young people

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If you are unaware of this requirement or the process involved, you should speak with the site leader ASAP.

One of the ways safety is maintained on education and care sites is by requiring that all staff including DECD employed bus drivers and all volunteers undertake DCSI screening. (relevant history screening)

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In conclusion

• If children or young people share concerning personal information with you, respond in a supportive way. Showing you care and taking action is most important.

• You are not expected to be an expert at asking open questions.

• All concerns about children, young people or adults at the site need to be referred to the site leader ASAP.

• Confidentiality is critical. Respect the sensitivity of the personal information you have by not discussing it with people other than the site leader.

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Counselling support for adultsLifeline

13 11 14 www.lifeline.org.au/

Adults Surviving Child Abuse 1300 657 380 (information and support line) http://www.asca.org.au/

Advocates for Survivors of Child Abuse www.asca.org.au

Employees Assistance Program (EAP)If you are affected by a Responding to Abuse or Neglect situation you can access support in three ways:1. Telephone counselling - 1300 360 364 (24 hours seven days per week)2. Face to face counselling - 1300 360 364 (24 hours seven days per week)3. Online counselling www.decs.sa.gov.au/ohs