Policy Statement

1.     All people, regardless of their age, gender, race, religious beliefs, disability, sexual orientation, or family or social background, have equal rights to protection from abuse, neglect or exploitation.

2.     The Artemis Foundation commits to promoting and protecting the welfare and human rights of people that interact with, or are affected by, our work - particularly those that may be at risk of abuse, neglect or exploitation. We have no tolerance for abuse, neglect or exploitation. We will take a survivor-centric approach in all that we do.

3.     All staff, volunteers, partners and third parties of the Artemis Foundation share responsibility for protecting everyone from abuse, neglect or exploitation. Beyond this, particular people have specific responsibilities, and they must carry out their duties without exception.

4.     The Artemis Foundation has a process for managing incidents that must be followed when one arises.

Purpose

5.       The purpose of this policy is to:

a.     help protect people that interact with, or are affected by, the Artemis Foundation;

b.     define the key terms we use when talking about protecting people or safeguarding;

c.     set out and develop the way the Artemis Foundation manages safeguarding risks;

d.     set out the specific roles and responsibilities of persons working in and with the Artemis Foundation;

e.     facilitate the safe management of incidents;

f.     to support a positive and effective internal culture towards safeguarding.

Definitions

6.     Safeguarding means protecting the welfare and human rights of people that interact with, or are affected by, The Artemis Foundation, particularly those that might be at risk of abuse, neglect or exploitation. This refers to any responsibility or measure undertaken to protect a person from harm.

7.     At risk of significant harm means the existence of current concerns for the safety, welfare or wellbeing of a child or young person because of the presence, to a significant extent, of any one or more of the following circumstances:

a.     the child or young person’s basic physical or psychological needs are not being met, or are at risk of not being met (for example, they are not being provided with adequate food, water, or shelter by their caregiver);

b.     the parents or other caregivers have not arranged, and are unable or unwilling to arrange, for the child or young person to receive necessary medical care;

c.     the child or young person has been, or is at risk of being, physically or sexually abused or ill-treated;

d.     the child or young person is living in a household where there have been incidents of domestic violence and, as a consequence, the child or young person is at risk of serious physical or psychological harm;

e.     a parent or other caregiver has behaved in such a way towards the child or young person that the child or young person has suffered, or is at risk of suffering, serious psychological harm; and there is an imminent threat of physical violence to the child or young person, including, but not limited to, abuse perpetrated by another person towards the child or young person, or self-harm risks raised by the child or young person toward themselves.

8.     Care and Protection Act means the Children and Young Persons (Care and Protection) Act 1998 (NSW).

9.     Child means a young person who is under the age of 18 years old.

10.    Abuse, neglect or exploitation means all forms of physical and mental abuse, exploitation, coercion or ill-treatment. This might include, for example:

a.     sexual harassment, bullying or abuse;

b.     sexual criminal offences and serious sexual criminal offences;

c.     threats of, or actual violence, verbal, emotional or social abuse;

d.     cultural or identity abuse, such as racial, sexual or gender-based discrimination or hate crime;

e.     coercion and exploitation;

f.     abuse of power.

11.    Child protection refers to any responsibility, measure, or activity undertaken to safeguard children from harm.

12.    Grooming Behaviour means grooming or procuring a child under the age of 16 years for unlawful sexual activity and is a sexual offence (the Working with Children Act also recognises grooming as a form of sexual misconduct).
 
Grooming Behaviour exists where there is evidence of a pattern of conduct that is consistent with grooming the alleged victim for sexual activity and there is no other reasonable explanation for it.  The types of behaviours that may lead to such a conclusion include, but are not limited to:

a.     persuading a child or group of children that they have a 'special' relationship, for example, by:

                         i.    spending inappropriate special time with a child;

                       ii.    inappropriately giving gifts;

                      iii.    inappropriately showing special favours to them but not other children;

                       iv.    inappropriately allowing the child to overstep rules; or

                         v.    asking the child to keep this relationship to themselves;

b.     testing boundaries, for example, by:

                         i.    undressing in front of a child;

                       ii.    encouraging inappropriate physical contact (even where it is not overtly sexual);

                      iii.    talking about sex; or

                       iv.    ‘accidental’ intimate touching;

c.     inappropriately extending a relationship outside of work (except where it may be appropriate: for example, where there was a pre-existing friendship with the child’s family or as part of normal social interactions in the community);

d.     inappropriate personal communication (including emails, telephone calls, text messaging, social media and web forums) that explores sexual feelings or intimate personal feelings with a child; and

e.     an adult requesting that a child keep any aspect of their relationship secret or using tactics to keep any aspect of the relationship secret (this would generally increase the likelihood that grooming is occurring).

13.    Mandatory reporter has the meaning given under the Care and Protection Act (which provides for the mandatory reporting of children at risk of significant harm; any concern regarding the safety, welfare or wellbeing of a student must be reported to the relevant authorities), i.e. a person who:

a.     in the course of their employment, delivers services including health care welfare, education, children's services and residential services, to children; or

b.     holds a management position in an organisation, the duties of which include direct responsibility for, or direct supervision of, the provision of services including health care, welfare, education, children's services and residential services, to children;

c.     for the avoidance of doubt, all staff are mandatory reporters.

14.    OCG means the NSW Office of the Children's Guardian.

15.    Policy means this Child Protection Policy in force as at 01 May 2025.

16.    Principles means the National Child Safe Principles.

17.    Reasonable grounds for belief means a belief based on reasonable grounds that abuse has occurred when all known considerations or facts relevant to the formation of a belief are taken into account and these are objectively assessed 

Circumstances or considerations may include the source of the allegation and how it was communicated, the nature of and details of the allegation, and whether there are any other related matters known regarding the alleged perpetrator.

Reasonable grounds for belief exist if a reasonable person believes that:

a.     a child or vulnerable person is in need of protection;

b.     a child or vulnerable person has suffered, or is likely to suffer, significant harm as a result of physical injury;

c.     the parents of the child are unable or unwilling to protect the child.

The existence of reasonable grounds for belief does not necessarily require proof, but does require more than mere rumours or speculation.

A 'reasonable belief' is formed if a reasonable person in the same position would form the belief on the same grounds.  For example, a 'reasonable belief' might be formed if:

                         i.    a child or vulnerable person states that they have been physically or sexually abused;

                       ii.    a child or vulnerable person states that they know someone who has been physically or sexually abused;

                      iii.    someone who knows the child or vulnerable person states that the person has been physically or sexually abused; or

                       iv.    signs of abuse lead to a belief that the child or vulnerable person has been physically or sexually abused.

18.    Reportable conduct means:

a.     any sexual offence or sexual misconduct committed against, with or in the presence of a child or vulnerable person (including a child pornography offence or an offence involving child abuse material);

b.     any assault, ill-treatment or neglect of a child or vulnerable person; and

c.     any behaviour that causes psychological harm to a child  or vulnerable person whether or not, in any case, with the consent of the child or vulnerable person.

19.    Sexually explicit comments and other overtly sexual behaviour means the following (and constitutes conduct that is reportable conduct for the purposes of the relevant legislation in NSW):

a.     behaviour involving sexually explicit comments and other overtly sexual behaviour which can constitute sexual misconduct.  Some forms of this behaviour also involve crossing professional boundaries.  This conduct may include, but is not limited to:

                         i.    inappropriate conversations of a sexual nature;

                       ii.    comments that express a desire to act in a sexual manner;

                      iii.    unwarranted and inappropriate touching involving a child;

                       iv.    sexualised behaviour with or towards a child (including sexual exhibitionism);

b.     personal correspondence (including electronic communications such as e-mails and text messages) with a child or vulnerable person in relation to the adult's intimate, romantic or sexual feelings for a child or vulnerable person;

c.     exposure of children and young people to the sexual behaviour of others, including the display of pornography;

d.     watching children undress in circumstances where supervision is not required and it is clearly inappropriate; and

e.     grooming behaviour.

20.    Working with Children Act means the Child Protection (Working with Children) Act 2012 (NSW).

21.    WWCC means Working With Children Check.

22.    Survivor-centric approach means considering and lawfully prioritising the needs, rights and wishes of survivors.

23.    Vulnerable person means people who are more likely to be subjected to abuse and can include:

a.     children and seniors;

b.     people with impaired intellectual or physical functioning;

c.     people from a low socio-economic background;

d.     people who are Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islanders;

e.     people who are not native speakers of the local language;

f.     people with low levels of literacy or education;

g.     people subject to modern slavery, which involves human exploitation and control, such as forced labour, debt bondage, human trafficking, and child labour.

Roles and responsibilities

24.    While the responsibility to protect people is shared by all who work at or with the Artemis Foundation, some individuals have specific obligations with which they must comply.

25.    The members of the board of the Artemis Foundation are responsible for:

a.     protecting all people that interact with, or are affected by, the Artemis Foundation;

b.     ensuring that there are appropriate and effective ways for the Artemis Foundation to do this;

c.     ensuring that the Artemis Foundation observes all relevant laws relating to safeguarding;

d.     ensuring that the Artemis Foundation takes a survivor-centric approach.

26.    The Chief Executive Officer of the Artemis Foundation must:

a.     ensure the Artemis Foundation has effective and appropriate ways to manage safeguarding and legal compliance;

b.     ensure the appointment of a Safeguarding Manager with appropriate skills and competency;

c.     ensure that, within the Artemis Foundation’s approach, reasonable steps are taken to protect people;

d.     ensure that reports to external parties are made where required.

27.    The Safeguarding Manager of the Artemis Foundation must:

a.     manage reports of abuse, neglect or exploitation;

b.     ensure that all staff, contractors, and volunteers are aware of relevant laws, policies and procedures, and the Artemis Foundation’s Code of Conduct;

c.     ensure that all staff, contractors and volunteers are aware of their obligations to report suspected incidents of abuse, neglect or exploitation;

d.     manage reports of abuse, neglect or exploitation;

e.     provide support for staff, contractors and volunteers in undertaking their responsibilities.

28.    All Managers of the Artemis Foundation must:

a.     promote a positive culture towards safeguarding;

b.     implement this policy in their area of responsibility;

c.     ensure that the risks of incidents have been considered in their area of responsibility;

d.     ensure that there are appropriate controls in place to prevent, detect and respond to incidents;

e.     facilitate the reporting of any suspected abuse, neglect or exploitation;

f.     take a survivor-centric approach to potential incidents and ensure that any incident is dealt with transparently and accountably.

29.    All Staff and Volunteers of the Artemis Foundation must:

a.     familiarise themselves with the relevant laws, the Code of Conduct, policies and procedures for safeguarding;

b.     comply with all requirements;

c.     report any incident to the appropriate authority when it is reasonable to suspect that a person’s safety or welfare is at risk;

d.     report any suspicion that a person’s safety or welfare may be at risk to the appropriate authority; and

e.     provide an environment that is supportive of everyone’s emotional and physical safety.

30.    All partners and contractors of the Artemis Foundation must:

a.     implement the provisions of this policy and the Artemis Foundation’s procedures in their dealings with the Artemis Foundation;

b.     report any suspicion that an incident may have taken place, is taking place, or could take place.

Managing safeguarding risk

31.     The way the Artemis Foundation manages the risks of safeguarding will be:

a.     Holistic:

                         i.    the Artemis Foundation and its stakeholders will work to prevent, detect and take action on incidents;

b.     Risk-based and proportionate:

                         i.    the Artemis Foundation will regularly assess the risks to people in its operations and develop proportionate controls to mitigate those risks;

c.     Survivor-centric:

                         i.    the Artemis Foundation will put survivors at the heart of its approach to safeguarding;

d.     Lawful:

                         i.    the Artemis Foundation will ensure that it understands and complies with the law in everything it does, in all jurisdictions in which it works.

32.    The Artemis Foundation will manage the risk of safeguarding by:

a.     having up-to-date and documented risk assessments;

b.     maintaining a register of the Artemis Foundation’s legal obligations for safeguarding and workplace health and safety in all the jurisdictions in which it operates;

c.     having an action plan that sets out how it will manage safeguarding;

d.     adhering to this Safeguarding Policy and its Code of Conduct;

e.     doing due diligence checks of staff, volunteers and third parties;

f.     implementing policies, procedures and systems that introduce controls to reduce the likelihood and consequence of incidents;

g.     conducting awareness-raising for stakeholders on risks, expectations, and individual responsibilities;

h.     maintaining two reporting processes: the confidential reporting process, and the overt reporting process;

i.     having an incident response plan;

j.     monitoring and reviewing the effectiveness and proportionality of its safeguarding approach.

Managing incidents

33.    Harassment, abuse, neglect and exploitation are all serious misconduct and the Artemis Foundation reserves the right to:

a.     take disciplinary action against those it believes are responsible, which may include dismissal;

b.     take civil legal action;

c.     report the matter to law enforcement.

Reporting suspected incidents

34.    All staff, volunteers and third parties must, as soon as practicable, report any suspicion that an incident has taken place, may be taking place, or could take place.

35.    They may do this through direct reporting to:

a.     any member of the board;

b.     the Chief Executive Officer;

c.     the Safeguarding Manager;

d.     their Manager or Supervisor.

36.    If a person wants to report confidentially, including with anonymity, they may use the confidential reporting system, which is:

a.     an anonymous digitised complaints form and feedback mechanism, whereby any issues result in an immediate report to, if applicable, the child or vulnerable person’s parent or guardian;

b.     in addition, an internal review will be conducted by the Artemis Foundation executive team (from which tutors are disaffiliated);

c.     where necessary, the issue will be reported to the authorities.

37.    If a person believes that another person is at risk of immediate harm or the victim of a criminal offence, they must dial 000.

Responding to suspected incidents

38.    All suspected, perceived, potential or actual incidents will be managed through the incident response plan.

External reporting

39.    The Artemis Foundation will:

a.     report any suspicion of a criminal offence to the police or the relevant criminal judicial body;

b.     meet all donor requirements regarding the reporting of incidents;

c.     report any qualifying matter to the ACNC.

Privacy and data protection

40.    All personal information considered or recorded will respect the privacy of the individuals involved unless there is a risk to someone’s safety. The Artemis Foundation will protect personal information.

41.    The Artemis Foundation’s Privacy Policy applies.

Administration of this policy

42.    This Policy will be reviewed every three (3) years. The next review will be on 01 April 2028.

Procedures created by the policy

43.    To ensure continued and effective safeguarding of vulnerable persons during the operation of the Artemis Foundation, the Artemis Foundation will:

a.     identify and assess the risks that have a potential to result in the abuse, neglect, or exploitation of vulnerable persons during the Artemis Foundation’s operations by:

                         i.    conducting an internal risk assessment with respect to the potential for abuse of vulnerable persons affiliated with or affected by the operations of the Artemis Foundation;

                       ii.    consulting with both benevolent recipients, their guardians, and staff during the drafting and refining of the risk assessment to ensure wide input;

                      iii.    updating and reviewing the risk assessment register annually to ensure it continues to encompass the entirety of foreseeable risk to vulnerable persons in the operations of the Artemis Foundation;

b.     commit to managing these risks through maintaining:

                         i.    a clear and easily accessible register of the risk mitigation steps taken for each identified risk to vulnerable persons;

                       ii.    safeguarding policy clearly stating the Artemis Foundation’s expectations of staff members in regard to vulnerable persons;

                      iii.    policy with clear definitions of roles and responsibilities of people involved in safeguarding;

                       iv.    policy outlining the reporting and management of incidents, or near incidents with regard to the safeguarding of vulnerable people;

c.     maintain internal control measures to reduce the likelihood and consequences of incidents including:

                         i.    the requirement of all staff members to obtain and maintain a valid Working with Children’s Check in order to continue to be employed by the Artemis Foundation;

                       ii.    anonymous reporting mechanisms for vulnerable persons to raise potential issues in a safe and removed environment from the potential perpetrator;

                      iii.    strict confidentiality procedures in cases of reporting;

                       iv.    oversight and periodic assessment of staff to ensure compliance to policy when working with vulnerable persons;

d.     ensure staff engagement with expectations of the ethos and operation of the Artemis Foundation by instigating:

                         i.    a proactive approach to safeguarding, including fostering a culture of openness which encourages all involved parties to report any concerns regarding breaches of vulnerable person safeguarding and which supports them in this process;

                       ii.    assurance of prompt responses to inquiries regarding breaches of vulnerable person safeguarding;

                      iii.    recruit staff who are suitable to work with vulnerable persons and provide high quality training, supervision, and professional development including but not limited to:

1.  communicating a zero-tolerance approach to breaches of the safeguarding of vulnerable persons throughout the recruitment process;

2.  conducting through recruitment processes a values-based interview and verification of WWCC prior to an offer of employment with the Artemis Foundation being communicated; and

3.  ab initio training for all staff with regard to the expected environment and ethos with which the Artemis Foundation intends to operate;

                       iv.    regular staff meetings to ensure continued support and creation of the desired culture allowing for:

1.  opportunity to raise questions, concerns, and learnings to further aid in the safeguarding of vulnerable people;

2.  the conductance of the results of this meeting to the Responsible People to engender actionable changes in both risk assessment, reporting, and management policy;

e.     require all staff, volunteers, and contractors involved with the operations of the Artemis Foundation to:

                         i.    familiarise themselves with the relevant laws, Vulnerable Persons Protection Policy, Child Protection Statement, Code of Conduct, and the Artemis Foundation’s policies and procedures in relation to the protection of vulnerable persons and comply with all requirements;

                       ii.    report any reasonable belief that a vulnerable person’s safety is at risk to the relevant authorities and fulfil their obligations as mandatory reporters;

                      iii.    report any suspicion that a vulnerable person’s safety may be at risk to their supervisor or, if their supervisor is involved in the suspicion, to the Safeguarding Manager;

                       iv.    provide an environment that is supportive of all vulnerable person’s emotional and physical safety;

f.     maintain and communicate specific policy and a formalised statement as to the protection of vulnerable persons to all parties associated with the operations of the Artemis Foundation ensuring that:

                         i.    all parties are familiar with the safeguarding policy and child protection statement;

                       ii.    have access to the safeguarding policy and child protection statement whenever desired;

                      iii.    can access a confidential reporting platform to offer vulnerable persons and families a secure channel for seeking assistance and support.

44.    Specific to the conductance of support sessions as carried out by staff of the Artemis Foundation, the following measures will be adhered to:

a.     students are provided with only an email address for their tutor which is created, managed, and supervised by the Artemis Foundation;

b.     the communication between tutors and children is closely monitored;

c.     reporting as to the content of each session required to be disseminated with both the Artemis Foundation and the parent or guardian of the child within 24 hours of the session occurring;

d.     tutors are not permitted to contact students via phone number, social media messaging or any unauthorised means;

e.     all in-person sessions:

                         i.    are only to take place in a section of the home that is deemed a common area; and

                       ii.    with a parent or guardian present; and

                      iii.    are never to take place in a room in which a bed is present;

f.     all online sessions:

                         i.    are only to take place in a location where the child’s monitor can be viewed by a parent or guardian;

                       ii.    are only to take place in a location where a bed can not be seen on a video meeting screen by either the tutor or the student in the session;

                      iii.    are only to take place via approved means being:

1.  Google Meet hosted on a laptop or personal computer; or in instances where Google Meet cannot be made to function

2.  Zoom hosted on a laptop or personal computer;

                       iv.    are never to take place via mobile phone hosted means.