Every person and organisation bound by this Policy must always place the safety and welfare of children above all other considerations.
The ARU acknowledges that the Rugby Bodies, staff, members and volunteers provide a valuable contribution to the positive experiences of junior participants. The ARU aims to ensure this continues and to protect the safety and welfare of its junior participants.
Several measures will be used to achieve this such as:
· Prohibiting any form of Abuse against children;
· Carefully selecting and screening people whose role requires them to have direct and unsupervised contact with children. (Screening procedures are outlined in Part B of this Policy);
· Providing procedures for raising concerns or complaints (the complaints procedure is outlined in Part C of this Policy); and
· Providing education and/or information to those involved in rugby on Child Abuse and child protection.
The ARU requires that any child who is abused or anyone who reasonably suspects that a child has been or is being abused by someone within rugby, must report it immediately to the police, relevant government agency and the Rugby Body. Descriptions of the sorts of activity which may be Abuse are in the Definitions at clause 11.
All allegations of Child Abuse will be dealt with promptly, seriously, sensitively and confidentially. A person will not be victimised for reporting an allegation of Child Abuse and the privacy of all persons concerned will be respected. The procedures for handling allegations of Child Abuse are outlined in attachment C of this Policy.
If anyone bound by this Policy reasonably suspects that a child is being abused by his or her parent/s, they are advised to contact the relevant government department for youth, family and community services in their state/territory.