Child Safeguarding

If you believe a child is in immediate danger or a life-threatening situation call Triple Zero (000).

Otherwise contact the Department of Child safety, Seniors and Disability Services.

Queensland Rugby Union Ltd (QRU) is committed to the safety and wellbeing of children and young people accessing our programs and services in the sporting environment.

QRU is committed to ensuring the safety and wellbeing of all Children involved in our sport and our policies, frameworks and procedures seek to address risks to Child safety and to ensure a Child safe culture. Our policies are accessible and in a form that are easy to understand, have been informed by stakeholder consultation and are communicated to children and their families, our staff/volunteers, and the public. We will regularly review our policies, consult, and advise our staff/volunteers of any changes.

QRU actively seeks to anticipate Children’s diverse circumstances and respond effectively to those with additional vulnerabilities and give all Children, parents, guardians and carer’s access to information, support, and a complaints process. We will also strive to consider the needs of all Children, particularly Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children, Children with a disability, LGBTQI Children and Children from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds.

QRU will seek to ensure that all those involved in the delivery of rugby services to Children understand their roles and expected standards of behaviour in relation to keeping them safe from abuse and neglect through the application of this Policy, Member Protection Policy and the Code of Conduct. We use position descriptions that clearly state the relevant Child safe requirements.

This Policy outlines our expected standards of behaviour towards Children. Rugby AU staff and volunteers are provided with all relevant documents and are required to indicate, in writing, that they have read and are committed to the expectations set out.

QRU has appropriate measures in place to seek to minimise the likelihood that we will recruit staff or volunteers that are unsuitable to work/volunteer with Children. We will meet the requirements of the relevant state or territory Working with Children Check Regulations and Appendix 3 of the Rugby Australia Child Safeguarding Policy.

All new QRU staff and volunteers have access to information during their induction about our commitment to keep Children safe including our Code of Conduct, Member Protection Policy, and this Policy, including the Appendices. We also support ongoing education and training for our staff and volunteers to ensure Child safe information is provided in an ongoing way. We ensure that QRU staff and volunteers have up-to-date information relevant to specific legislation applying in the state or territory they are based in or where they may travel to as a part of their duties.

We involve and communicate with Children and their families in developing a safe, inclusive, and supportive environment. We will provide information to Children and their parents/carers (such as brochures, posters, handbooks, guidelines) about:

1. our commitment to keeping Children safe and communicating their rights;
2. the behaviour we expect of our staff and volunteers and of the Children themselves;
3. our policy about responding to Child Abuse.

We have processes for encouraging two-way communication with Children and families.

We seek their feedback and have a process for responding.

We respect diversity and seek to facilitate effective communication and involvement.

QRU is committed to maintaining and improving our policies, procedures and practices to keep Children that participate in rugby safe from neglect and abuse. We communicate with our staff and volunteers to ensure that they understand our policies and that the policies are effective in the workplace.

We require QRU staff and volunteers to disclose convictions or charges affecting their suitability to work with Children and our Member Unions review police records and Working with Children Checks (WWCC) periodically. We regularly review our policies and processes to identify and document any potential risks to Children participating in rugby. QRU will support all Member Unions with the implementation of this Policy through the provision of guidance, support and training materials.

QRU’s approach to responding to Child Abuse is, as part of this Policy, approved and endorsed by the QRU Board and applies to all our staff/volunteers. Staff and volunteers must:

1. immediately report abuse or neglect and any concerns with policies, practices or the behaviour of staff and volunteers;
2. meet any legislated mandatory or other jurisdictional reporting requirements; and follow a specified process when reporting abuse or neglect.

QRU staff/volunteers are given a copy of, and have access to, this Policy, the Member Protection Policy and the Code of Conduct Policy and understand that they are required to comply with all relevant requirements.

We document any allegation, disclosure or concern regarding Child Abuse and monitor responses to all allegations, disclosures, or concerns.