Accreditation program modules

This phase of the process involves working with project leads from your organisation to establish and plan the project. The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse and other State/Territory inquiries into child abuse all point to the critical role leaders have in influencing how organisations develop and sustain child safe culture. Child Wise also recognises this, and as such prioritises leadership engagement at the commencement of an Accreditation project.

Project Establishment includes:

• Project Planning - An initial project planning meeting with the named project lead(s) from your organisation; you may also opt to include other senior leaders in this meeting.
• Leadership Briefing - A leadership engagement meeting at the commencement of the project to provide an overview, summarise timescales and deliverables.
• ‘Leading a Child Safe Organisation’ training (optional) - A two-hour tailored training session specifically designed for organisational leaders, which is optional for Accreditation and can be purchased as a stand-alone product or component of a tailored consultancy project.

The Self-Assessment is an essential component of Accreditation, as it enables a more accurate understanding of strengths and priorities for development.

The Self-Assessment is structured around the Child Wise Accreditation Framework and encourages a critical examination of child safety capacity across the organisation. The completed Self-Assessment tool is then used to shape the Child Safety Review.

This module uses a whole-system approach to enable your organisation and Child Wise to develop a deeper understanding of child safety across the organisation. By necessity, Child Wise undertakes this phase of the program without fear or favour, recognising that the most important beneficiaries of the process are children and young people.

The Child Safety Review aims to:

• Equitably and proportionately examine child safety across the organisation;
• Engage all stakeholders, especially children, young people and families;
• Provide a transparent, system-wide view of child safety in the organisation;
• Identify strengths, areas for development, risks and mitigation; and
• Provide your organisation with meaningful, achievable and tailored recommendations designed to shape an improvement plan;
• Assess the extent to which organisations are seeking and responding to the voices of children and young people.

In most cases, the Child Safety Review will make recommendations which your organisation will need to implement in order to progress toward Child Wise Accreditation.

 At the conclusion of the Child Safety Review, Child Wise will work with your organisation to develop a tailored improvement plan which addresses how, when and by whom recommendations will be implemented.

Your organisation may opt to engage Child Wise to support with capacity building, although this is optional for Accreditation.
Additional services that Child Wise can offer organisations include:

1. Policy development

Child Wise can support your organisation by:

• Reviewing and editing draft policy and procedure documents; and
• Developing documents e.g. policies, procedures, strategies, tailored to the organisational context.

2. Child safety organisational framework

An organisational child safeguarding framework can be developed that is specific to your organisation. The framework will integrate all child safety policy requirements and will be informed by the outcome of the Child Safety Review if one was undertaken.  

The framework can also include a compliance table that sets out examples of what the organisation needs to have in place in order to achieve the relevant child safety standards.

3. Child safety training

Child Wise can deliver training to your staff in-house at your organisation or through our virtual training. We are in the process of finalising our virtual classroom training packages.

In-house training is recommended for organisations that need to train groups of staff and volunteers, or the board/leadership team. In-house training can be delivered in its standard format or customised to suit your organisational needs and context. The training provided includes state-based and national legislation that applies to you.

Click here for more information on the training programs available.

4. Improving engagement with children and young people

Child Wise can support your organisation to more effectively empower and promote the participation of children and young people in your organisation, through consulting or coaching, or a combination of both. 

This includes support to:

• Creatively and meaningfully engage children and young people in your organisation;
• Create opportunities for children and young people to become involved in organisational development;
• Consult with and seek the views of children and young people;
• Develop child and young person friendly policies, procedures and processes.

5. Embedded model 

Child Wise can support your organisation’s capacity building by embedding one of our Child Wise Advisors in your organisation one day per week over the course of 3-12 months.  The Child Wise Advisor can offer valuable expertise as your organisation continues its journey along the child safety continuum. 

Accreditation is a formal designation agreed by Child Wise Accreditation Decision-Makers. At least two Decision-Makers will be involved in awarding Accreditation to organisations; more than two Decision-Makers may be involved in larger, complex projects. Decision-Makers are professionals with significant (20+ years) experience in child safety related work and are contracted by Child Wise to independently assess whether organisations have reached the benchmark for Accreditation.

Following the implementation of the Improvement Plan and when significant progress has been achieved, your organisation can be assessed for Accreditation. Your Child Wise Advisor can support you in determining when your organisation is ready for Accreditation.

In preparation for presentation to Accreditation Decision-Makers, the Child Wise Advisor and client organisation will update the Improvement Plan noting:

• Evidence of progress since the Child Safety Review;
• Any contextual issues relevant for decision making (e.g. organisational changes, challenges, parallel Accreditation processes);
• Any primary evidence which might assist the Panel’s decision making;
• Plans for ongoing improvement.

The Mid-Accreditation Self-Assessment process is an essential component of ongoing Accreditation, as it evidences whether organisations are progressing along the child safety continuum.

The Self-Assessment process is three-fold:

• Firstly, your organisation utilises the Improvement Plan to self-assess and update progress in relation to each recommended area of improvement;
• The updated Improvement Plan is then sent to Child Wise prior to the year 18-month Accreditation anniversary;
• Child Wise Decision-Makers then review the outcome of the Self-Assessment, provide feedback, make recommendations for further improvement and determine if the benchmark for Accreditation continues to be met.