Our commitment to child safety (2024)
The Commonwealth Child Safe Framework (CCSF) is a whole-of-government policy introduced in 2019 following the findings of the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse. The Framework "sets minimum standards for creating and maintaining a child safe culture and practices in Australian Government entities."
CSIRO is committed to ensuring the safety and wellbeing of all children and young people who engage in our activities and programs or may otherwise have interactions with CSIRO. We have zero tolerance for child abuse, neglect, and exploitation. We strive to create and maintain an environment where all children and young people are safe, feel valued, and have their rights upheld. Although working with children and young people is not our core function, it is critical to CSIRO's vision to create a better future for Australia and to inspire future scientists.
CSIRO and our people recognise their responsibility, individually and as an organisation, and seek to create and maintain child safe behaviours, policies, and procedures. We acknowledge our people's ongoing commitment, support, and cooperation to protect and safeguard children and young people. Our commitment is embodied in our 'Be child safe' message and CSIRO Child Safe Policy - CSIRO which aligns with the National Principles for Child Safe Organisations.
CSIRO's interactions with children and young people
CSIRO is a large and diverse organisation with over 8,800 employees and affiliates working across 49 sites in Australia and 2 overseas locations.
For approximately 40 years, CSIRO's Education and Outreach (CEdO) has been developing and delivering high-quality science, technology, engineering, and maths (STEM) programs to teachers, students, and the wider community. CSIRO staff and affiliates engage with over 200,000 children and young people every year, in-person and virtually. These interactions take place through a range of activities, including laboratory and facility tours, school visits, outreach and work experience programs, scientific research trials, community events, exhibitions, as well as interactions on social media and through publications.
Annual risk assessment
The CSIRO Child Safe Office has undertaken a review of child-related risks to ensure that the risks to children and young people are identified, and mitigation strategies are appropriate to control any risks.
Our risk assessment is informed by our compliance with legislation, policies, and procedures. We gather feedback from research units and conduct site visits to ensure we develop a strong child safety awareness and culture. Our services and programs are designed to incorporate children's feedback and experiences. We recruit a workforce that is appropriately trained and qualified and we support our people to understand and follow child safety obligations. We also ensure prompt and effective identification, reporting and management of any child-related incidents.
The overall risk rating for CSIRO has been assessed as high. This rating is based on the possibility of non-compliance with requirements, policies and controls aimed at managing and mitigating risks. CSIRO continues to progress our maturity in relation to compliance and given there is still work to be done the higher risk rating assessment is appropriate. This will be addressed as part of CSIRO's ongoing improvement plan for 2024-25.
CSIRO's child safety initiatives
During the 2023-24 reporting period, we built on our child safe activities through:
| 2023-24 Child Safe Focus Areas | CCSF Req |
|---|---|
| Ongoing engagement with stakeholders and developing networks (internal and external) to share information and resources and further improve our practices and procedures. | 1, 2, 3 |
| The launch of a CSIRO-wide network of Child Safety Allies, with support of our Child Safe Champion, to raise awareness of, and compliance with, our child safety obligations and advocate our child safe practices and culture throughout CSIRO. | 2, 3 |
| Ongoing training to increase knowledge of reporting requirements, recognising risk of harm or harm and/or abuse to children and young people, trauma-informed practices, legislation, cultural considerations, and safety. | 1, 2, 3 |
| Raising awareness about requirements when obtaining, managing, storing, and using images and data relating to children and young people through individualised training. | 2, 3 |
| Ongoing engagement with our Human Research Ethics team to ensure child safety is considered in human research proposals and approvals. | 1, 2, 3 |
| Raising awareness and promoting child safety through interactions such as Child Protection Week, site visits, and social media. | 2, 3 |
| The Double Helix magazine has embedded a child safe culture throughout their publication, which is aimed at children 8-14 years, and continues to entertain, inform and inspire young people and connect them with STEM in an easy, fun and interesting way. | 3 |
| Training and education of our people about child safeguarding requirements for events and activities, including the importance of assessing risks through use of our Child Safety Activity Risk Assessments. | 1, 2, 3 |
| Ongoing review of recruitment practices for compliance with legislation and to ensure we employ those who are deemed to meet those requirements. | 2,3 |
| Continued work towards consistent implementation of child safe clauses in contracts with collaborators and funded third-parties. | 1, 2, 3 |
| Improvement of our processes and systems to increase compliance with child safeguarding requirements and implementing evidence-based education and training for our people and third-party providers. | 1, 2, 3 |
| Increased presence of visual awareness raising through distribution of child safety visuals including digital and physical imagery (eg. child safe hands and ‘Be child safe’ messaging). | 2, 3 |
Embedding child safety into our culture and practices is an ongoing process. At CSIRO, we are committed to ongoing improvement and compliance.
Our Child Safe Office will prioritise the following focus areas in the next 12 months:
| 2024-25 Child Safe Focus Areas | CCSF Req |
|---|---|
| Development of e-Safety guidelines and child safe social media policy to raise awareness of, and compliance with best practice for online interactions with children and sharing of content where children are included. Deliver associated education and training to support awareness and compliance. | 2, 3 |
| Review CSIRO's media consent and privacy forms with our Legal teams to ensure consistent protection of children and young people within CSIRO’s media platforms. | 2, 3 |
| Ensure that child safety is adequately considered in all relevant research proposals and approvals with CSIRO's Human Research Ethics team. | 1, 2, 3 |
| Development of a centralised Working with Children/Vulnerable People register to oversee the system to monitor the data is accurate to align with legislative requirements CSIRO wide. | 1, 2, 3 |
| Increase visibility and streamline the process for Child Safety Activity Risk Assessments and improve reporting capabilities through system improvements within CSIRO's Health, Safety, and Environment system. | 1, 2, 3 |
| Continued progress towards the development of children's advisory groups to provide opportunities for children and young people to participate in decisions and programs which affect them during their interactions within CSIRO. | 3 |
| Development of practice tools for children and young people enabling their participation in decisions that affect them. | 2, 3 |
| Consulting with children, young people, and key stakeholders to implement cultural safety competencies within our Child Safe Policy and related guidance documentation. | 1, 3 |
| Continue to review existing child safe clauses in contracts with funded third-parties, contractors, and subcontractors to implement consistency and updated requirements throughout CSIRO third-party contracts. | 1, 2, 3 |
Commonwealth Child Safe Framework Compliance
Requirement One:
Undertake risk assessments annually in relation to activities of the entity, to identify the level of responsibility for, and contact with, children, evaluate risks to child safety and put in place appropriate strategies to manage identified risks
CSIRO is fully compliant: The annual risk assessment was undertaken to identify existing and emerging risks to children and ensure mitigation strategies are appropriate and aligned with best practices. The risk was assessed as high. As we mature as a child safe organisation, we continue to identify areas that require further work to ensure compliance.
Requirement Two:
Establish and maintain a system of training and compliance, to make staff aware of and compliant with the Framework and relevant legislation, including Working with Children Checks / Working with Vulnerable People Checks and mandatory reporting requirements
CSIRO is working towards compliance: CSIRO has a Child Safe Policy, Child Safe Procedure, and associated guidance documents which set our requirements and expected behaviours for our people. We also have robust recruitment practices to ensure we employ those who are deemed to meet our requirements. Our Child Safe Office provides regular, ongoing training and we hope to launch our child safety e-Learning module in late 2024, which will be mandatory for all staff, affiliates and volunteers who interact with children. We are continuing to raise awareness on our requirements for Working with Children/Vulnerable People Checks and we are working towards implementing a centralised system to oversee and ensure compliance. CSIRO has reporting mechanisms for any concerns about child safety or the conduct of our staff, affiliates, and volunteers, whilst interacting with children. All reports received are thoroughly reviewed and investigated as appropriate.
Requirement Three:
Adopt and implement the National Principles for Child Safe Organisations
CSIRO is working towards compliance: The CSIRO Board and leadership are committed to the National Principles for Child Safe Organisations thereby building and maintaining, through good governance, a culture of child safety to lower the risk of harm to children. We have established our Child Safe Office and developed policies, procedures, and guidance documents to raise awareness, understanding, and compliance with child safeguarding requirements. This is supported by the proposed development of a social media policy and e-safety guidelines to promote CSIRO’s interaction with children in an online setting. Our e-learning module (developed with Child Wise to be launched in late 2024) will raise awareness and develop an understanding of the legislative requirements for compliance. Further, the Child Safe Office regularly delivers specialised child safety training to staff who interact with children in their activities. Our Child Safe Allies Network regularly engages in child safety information exchanges, as well as the dissemination of child safe practices and requirements to support an increase of awareness with the wider CSIRO community.
Requirement Four:
Publish an annual statement of compliance with the Framework, including an overview of the entity’s child safety risk assessment (conducted under Requirement One)
CSIRO is fully compliant: CSIRO has published the 2024-25 Annual Compliance Statement and is committed to regularly reviewing and monitoring our compliance with the Commonwealth Child Safe Framework.
We invite comments on our annual Compliance Statement to childsafepolicy@csiro.au.
Our commitment to child safety (2024)
The Commonwealth Child Safe Framework (CCSF) is a whole-of-government policy introduced in 2019 following the findings of the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse. The Framework "sets minimum standards for creating and maintaining a child safe culture and practices in Australian Government entities."
CSIRO is committed to ensuring the safety and wellbeing of all children and young people who engage in our activities and programs or may otherwise have interactions with CSIRO. We have zero tolerance for child abuse, neglect, and exploitation. We strive to create and maintain an environment where all children and young people are safe, feel valued, and have their rights upheld. Although working with children and young people is not our core function, it is critical to CSIRO's vision to create a better future for Australia and to inspire future scientists.
CSIRO and our people recognise their responsibility, individually and as an organisation, and seek to create and maintain child safe behaviours, policies, and procedures. We acknowledge our people's ongoing commitment, support, and cooperation to protect and safeguard children and young people. Our commitment is embodied in our 'Be child safe' message and CSIRO Child Safe Policy - CSIRO which aligns with the National Principles for Child Safe Organisations.
CSIRO's interactions with children and young people
CSIRO is a large and diverse organisation with over 8,800 employees and affiliates working across 49 sites in Australia and 2 overseas locations.
For approximately 40 years, CSIRO's Education and Outreach (CEdO) has been developing and delivering high-quality science, technology, engineering, and maths (STEM) programs to teachers, students, and the wider community. CSIRO staff and affiliates engage with over 200,000 children and young people every year, in-person and virtually. These interactions take place through a range of activities, including laboratory and facility tours, school visits, outreach and work experience programs, scientific research trials, community events, exhibitions, as well as interactions on social media and through publications.
Annual risk assessment
The CSIRO Child Safe Office has undertaken a review of child-related risks to ensure that the risks to children and young people are identified, and mitigation strategies are appropriate to control any risks.
Our risk assessment is informed by our compliance with legislation, policies, and procedures. We gather feedback from research units and conduct site visits to ensure we develop a strong child safety awareness and culture. Our services and programs are designed to incorporate children's feedback and experiences. We recruit a workforce that is appropriately trained and qualified and we support our people to understand and follow child safety obligations. We also ensure prompt and effective identification, reporting and management of any child-related incidents.
The overall risk rating for CSIRO has been assessed as high. This rating is based on the possibility of non-compliance with requirements, policies and controls aimed at managing and mitigating risks. CSIRO continues to progress our maturity in relation to compliance and given there is still work to be done the higher risk rating assessment is appropriate. This will be addressed as part of CSIRO's ongoing improvement plan for 2024-25.
CSIRO's child safety initiatives
During the 2023-24 reporting period, we built on our child safe activities through:
| 2023-24 Child Safe Focus Areas | CCSF Req |
|---|---|
| Ongoing engagement with stakeholders and developing networks (internal and external) to share information and resources and further improve our practices and procedures. | 1, 2, 3 |
| The launch of a CSIRO-wide network of Child Safety Allies, with support of our Child Safe Champion, to raise awareness of, and compliance with, our child safety obligations and advocate our child safe practices and culture throughout CSIRO. | 2, 3 |
| Ongoing training to increase knowledge of reporting requirements, recognising risk of harm or harm and/or abuse to children and young people, trauma-informed practices, legislation, cultural considerations, and safety. | 1, 2, 3 |
| Raising awareness about requirements when obtaining, managing, storing, and using images and data relating to children and young people through individualised training. | 2, 3 |
| Ongoing engagement with our Human Research Ethics team to ensure child safety is considered in human research proposals and approvals. | 1, 2, 3 |
| Raising awareness and promoting child safety through interactions such as Child Protection Week, site visits, and social media. | 2, 3 |
| The Double Helix magazine has embedded a child safe culture throughout their publication, which is aimed at children 8-14 years, and continues to entertain, inform and inspire young people and connect them with STEM in an easy, fun and interesting way. | 3 |
| Training and education of our people about child safeguarding requirements for events and activities, including the importance of assessing risks through use of our Child Safety Activity Risk Assessments. | 1, 2, 3 |
| Ongoing review of recruitment practices for compliance with legislation and to ensure we employ those who are deemed to meet those requirements. | 2,3 |
| Continued work towards consistent implementation of child safe clauses in contracts with collaborators and funded third-parties. | 1, 2, 3 |
| Improvement of our processes and systems to increase compliance with child safeguarding requirements and implementing evidence-based education and training for our people and third-party providers. | 1, 2, 3 |
| Increased presence of visual awareness raising through distribution of child safety visuals including digital and physical imagery (eg. child safe hands and ‘Be child safe’ messaging). | 2, 3 |
Embedding child safety into our culture and practices is an ongoing process. At CSIRO, we are committed to ongoing improvement and compliance.
Our Child Safe Office will prioritise the following focus areas in the next 12 months:
| 2024-25 Child Safe Focus Areas | CCSF Req |
|---|---|
| Development of e-Safety guidelines and child safe social media policy to raise awareness of, and compliance with best practice for online interactions with children and sharing of content where children are included. Deliver associated education and training to support awareness and compliance. | 2, 3 |
| Review CSIRO's media consent and privacy forms with our Legal teams to ensure consistent protection of children and young people within CSIRO’s media platforms. | 2, 3 |
| Ensure that child safety is adequately considered in all relevant research proposals and approvals with CSIRO's Human Research Ethics team. | 1, 2, 3 |
| Development of a centralised Working with Children/Vulnerable People register to oversee the system to monitor the data is accurate to align with legislative requirements CSIRO wide. | 1, 2, 3 |
| Increase visibility and streamline the process for Child Safety Activity Risk Assessments and improve reporting capabilities through system improvements within CSIRO's Health, Safety, and Environment system. | 1, 2, 3 |
| Continued progress towards the development of children's advisory groups to provide opportunities for children and young people to participate in decisions and programs which affect them during their interactions within CSIRO. | 3 |
| Development of practice tools for children and young people enabling their participation in decisions that affect them. | 2, 3 |
| Consulting with children, young people, and key stakeholders to implement cultural safety competencies within our Child Safe Policy and related guidance documentation. | 1, 3 |
| Continue to review existing child safe clauses in contracts with funded third-parties, contractors, and subcontractors to implement consistency and updated requirements throughout CSIRO third-party contracts. | 1, 2, 3 |
Commonwealth Child Safe Framework Compliance
Requirement One:
Undertake risk assessments annually in relation to activities of the entity, to identify the level of responsibility for, and contact with, children, evaluate risks to child safety and put in place appropriate strategies to manage identified risks
CSIRO is fully compliant: The annual risk assessment was undertaken to identify existing and emerging risks to children and ensure mitigation strategies are appropriate and aligned with best practices. The risk was assessed as high. As we mature as a child safe organisation, we continue to identify areas that require further work to ensure compliance.
Requirement Two:
Establish and maintain a system of training and compliance, to make staff aware of and compliant with the Framework and relevant legislation, including Working with Children Checks / Working with Vulnerable People Checks and mandatory reporting requirements
CSIRO is working towards compliance: CSIRO has a Child Safe Policy, Child Safe Procedure, and associated guidance documents which set our requirements and expected behaviours for our people. We also have robust recruitment practices to ensure we employ those who are deemed to meet our requirements. Our Child Safe Office provides regular, ongoing training and we hope to launch our child safety e-Learning module in late 2024, which will be mandatory for all staff, affiliates and volunteers who interact with children. We are continuing to raise awareness on our requirements for Working with Children/Vulnerable People Checks and we are working towards implementing a centralised system to oversee and ensure compliance. CSIRO has reporting mechanisms for any concerns about child safety or the conduct of our staff, affiliates, and volunteers, whilst interacting with children. All reports received are thoroughly reviewed and investigated as appropriate.
Requirement Three:
Adopt and implement the National Principles for Child Safe Organisations
CSIRO is working towards compliance: The CSIRO Board and leadership are committed to the National Principles for Child Safe Organisations thereby building and maintaining, through good governance, a culture of child safety to lower the risk of harm to children. We have established our Child Safe Office and developed policies, procedures, and guidance documents to raise awareness, understanding, and compliance with child safeguarding requirements. This is supported by the proposed development of a social media policy and e-safety guidelines to promote CSIRO’s interaction with children in an online setting. Our e-learning module (developed with Child Wise to be launched in late 2024) will raise awareness and develop an understanding of the legislative requirements for compliance. Further, the Child Safe Office regularly delivers specialised child safety training to staff who interact with children in their activities. Our Child Safe Allies Network regularly engages in child safety information exchanges, as well as the dissemination of child safe practices and requirements to support an increase of awareness with the wider CSIRO community.
Requirement Four:
Publish an annual statement of compliance with the Framework, including an overview of the entity’s child safety risk assessment (conducted under Requirement One)
CSIRO is fully compliant: CSIRO has published the 2024-25 Annual Compliance Statement and is committed to regularly reviewing and monitoring our compliance with the Commonwealth Child Safe Framework.
We invite comments on our annual Compliance Statement to childsafepolicy@csiro.au.