Safeguarding Children and Young People

Every child and young person has the right to feel safe and be safe.

At the Y Queensland, the safety and wellbeing of children and young people is our highest priority. We have zero tolerance for the harm, neglect or abuse of any child or young person. We work to create safe, inclusive environments where children and young people feel heard, supported and safe to speak up.

Report a concern Call 07 3253 1700

Our safeguarding approach

At Y Queensland, we want children and young people to feel safe, valued, respected and confident in our care.

Our national Feel Safe, Be Safe Framework guides how we create safe cultures, safe environments and safe approaches when working across the Y.

We recognise that harm can occur where unsafe organisational cultures, power imbalances, poor supervision, silencing of concerns or failures to act exist. Safeguarding therefore requires proactive leadership, accountability and continuous reflection across all levels of the organisation.

Our commitment to children and young people

We want every child and young person at the Y to feel safe, valued, respected and confident in our care.

Notice. Check. Protect.

We ask all Y people to Notice, Check and Protect when they feel or become aware that a child or young person may be unsafe.

Notice

We pay attention to what children and young people say, do and show us.

Check

We check in whenever something does not feel right, rather than waiting to be certain.

Protect

We always take action to help keep children and young people safe.

How we keep children and young people safe

Four things we do every day, across every Y program and service.

Safe people

We carefully recruit and screen our people. We train them in the early identification of abuse and harm, unsafe adult behaviours, unsafe environments or situations and how to best respond promptly and appropriately to ensure the safety and protection of children and young people.

Safe environments

When planning our programs, activities, physical environments, supervision plans and online spaces, safety of children and young people is paramount. We train staff to ensure they identify risk in environments early and make immediate adjustments as necessary.

Listening and responding

We provide easy to access reporting pathways for children, young people, their families and Y People to speak up when they feel, see or hear something that feels concerning to them. All reported concerns are taken seriously and acted on to ensure that safety is ensured.

Review and improvement

We regularly review our safeguarding policies and practices to ensure safeguarding remains our top priority each and every day.

Stay Safe, Tell Someone

If you see something, hear something or feel something that makes you worried or unsafe, tell someone you trust. You do not need to have evidence or be 100% sure before speaking up.

At the Y, we want children and young people to know they can speak up, and that they will be listened to and taken seriously.

Report a safeguarding concern

If you are worried about the safety or wellbeing of a child or young person at the Y, please tell us. You do not need to have proof or be certain that something has happened before raising a concern.

If someone is in immediate danger, call 000

You can

Speak to a Y Queensland staff member or manager in person
Use our confidential online feedback form
Call the Safeguarding Team on 07 3253 1700
Email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Report a concern online

What happens when you tell us?

We review the information you have provided and assess whether any immediate action needs to occur to keep a child or young person safe.
We ensure that the concern goes to the right people and is responded to properly.
Where required, we contact Police, Child Safety or another external service that can support safety.
We will provide you with an update in relation to our action on your feedback or concern, where you have provided your contact details.

We will handle information carefully and only share it where needed to respond appropriately.

Safeguarding policies and resources

Our safeguarding policies and resources set out our standards and expectations for everyone working at the Y, and explain what children, young people, families and the community can expect from us as a Child Safe Organisation.

Policies

Resources

Acknowledgement of Victim Survivors

At the Y, we pay our respects to all victims and survivors of abuse.

We acknowledge the past failures of the Y to protect children and young people, and the trauma that was inflicted upon the victims, survivors and their families.

The Y is committed to ensuring all children and young people in our care are kept safe from harm and free from abuse.