Child Safety Champions

St Francis Xavier College has appointed the people listed below as the College’s Child Safety Champions . Each Child Safety Champion is available to answer any questions that you may have with respect to our Child Protection and Safety Policy and the Child Protection Program.

Child Safety Champions are selected based on a number of considerations, namely:

• their personal attitudes, experiences and beliefs, for example, a person who is non-judgmental, calm, resilient and demonstrates a high degree of integrity and respect for confidentiality;
• their role within the College, for example, a person who has seniority and experience working with complex student and family issues at the College and someone who is readily accessible and available to all members of the College community; and
• their personal profile within the College, for example, a person who is approachable, who students and staff trust and who is willing and able to respond to issues personally and sensitively.

It is every individual’s responsibility to protect children and make reports regarding their concerns to the appropriate authorities.

If a person requires support in reporting to the authorities, the College’s Child Safety Champions are your first point of contact. They receive special training that allows them to deal with child protection concerns both sensitively and effectively.

Child Abuse includes:

• sexual offences;
• grooming;
• physical violence;
• serious emotional or psychological harm;
• serious neglect; and
• family violence, or exposure to family violence.

If you have any concern that a child may be experiencing any form of abuse, whether or not you have formed a belief on reasonable grounds that the abuse has occurred, you can discuss your concerns with the College’s Child Safety Champion. Please note that only raising concerns with the College’s Child Safety Champion, does not meet your legal obligations to report suspected child abuse.

The welfare and best interests of the child are paramount. Whenever there are concerns that a child is in immediate danger the Police should be called on 000.