Child safety and you

Parks Victoria’s Statement of Commitment to Child Safety

Parks Victoria has zero tolerance for child abuse, and all forms of harm to children. We are committed to child safety and wellbeing in accordance with the Child Safe Standards, the compulsory minimum standards for all organisations in Victoria providing services to children under the age of 18 years.

Parks Victoria is committed to:

• The wellbeing, safety, participation and empowerment of children
• The promotion of cultural safety, participation and empowerment of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and children from culturally and/or linguistically diverse backgrounds
• The establishment and continuous improvement of our child safe policy and supporting procedures
• Involving families and the community, where possible, in promoting child safety and wellbeing
• Working to minimise risk to the wellbeing and safety of children in both online and physical environments
• The prevention of child abuse by regularly training and educating our employees to identifying risks early, and work on removing and reducing those risks
• Taking all reasonable steps for thorough recruitment due diligence, including the requirement that all employees, contractors and volunteers in public facing roles hold a valid Working with Children Check
• The provision of clear, fair and transparent processes in responding to, and the timely reporting of, actual or suspected child abuse; and
• The modelling of Child Safe Standards at Parks Victoria by the leadership team.

Working with Children Checks (WWCC)

In line with state legislation, as a volunteer, you may need to apply for a Working with Children Check if your role meets the criteria under the Worker Screening Act 2020, or if your volunteer group requires you to have one.

The WWCC accreditations are managed by the volunteer group you are volunteering with, and the group leaders have a legal obligation to understand their responsibilities under the Act, including maintaining appropriate records.

If you are volunteering in a Parks Victoria managed volunteer program and a WWCC is required, you will be required to upload your WWCC to your ParkConnect profile under the accreditations tab.

A VIT card is accepted to cover any WWCC requirement.

How do I apply for a Working with Children Check?

Working with Children Checks are free for volunteers.

Please visit www.service.vic.gov.au/services/working-with-children to apply for your Working with Children Check.

If undertaking a Parks Victoria managed volunteer event, please insert the organisational details below in your application.

If obtaining one to undertake activity with a community organisation, it is best to use their details to ensure appropriate record keeping.

It can take several weeks for your application to be processed and approved. You are still eligible to volunteer while you wait for your Working with Children Check to be sent to you.

If required, how do I upload my Working with Children Check to ParkConnect?

Please use the information sheet available here  to guide you through the steps to upload the details of your Working with Children Check to ParkConnect.

If you have any difficulties accessing ParkConnect, or need help with the processes above, please check out the Parks Victorias Volunteer Resource Hub or contact your Volunteer Group leader. They can then speak with their Parks Victoria contact and get you the information and support you need. Alternatively, please or reach out to info@parks.vic.gov.au.