Lesson 9: The Process

The first part of the Child Safe Sport Toolkit is a process. This process takes you through a complete cycle in becoming a Child Safe Sport. Below are the key points of the steps of the child safe process.

Step 1 – Assess

• What’s involved – Your working group gathers together all existing policies to get an idea of where you are at. Then, they compare these policies with the toolkit to understand what needs to be updated and/or created.
• Who’s involved – the Child Safe Working group and senior leadership.
• The result – a comprehensive overview of your current policies.

Step 2 – Update and Expand

• What’s involved – Updating existing policies, or creating new ones, in consultation with stakeholders. This can include other sports who can share their insights and ideas.
• Who’s involved – the Child Safe Working group, senior leadership, key contact, various stakeholders for consultation, other sports.
• The result – A suite of child safe policies updated to suit current child safe practices and customised to your sport.

Step 3 – Endorsement

• What’s involved – Ensuring your sport’s sponsorship, input and buy-in throughout the process so that changes will be adopted from the top down.
• Who’s involved – the Child Safe Working group, senior leadership, key contact
• The result – A policy suite that is endorsed from the highest level.

Step 4 – Communication

• What’s involved – Using the various communication avenues from meetings to newsletters and social medial to ensure everyone involved in your sport knows:
• what your sport is doing to make it a Child Safe sport,
• the who, what, when, why of the new policies
• what this means for them
• Who’s involved – the Child Safe Working group, senior leadership, key contact, sport media/marketing department, state bodies.
• The result – Everyone knows what is happening, when, why and how they are involved.

Step 5 – Implementation

• What’s involved – Making it happen. Putting the policies into action.
• Who’s involved – Everyone
• The result – The new policies are rolled out and acted upon.

Step 6 – Review

• What’s involved – Undertaking the process on a regular (at least annually) basis, starting with a review of the policies to ensure they remain current with the environment, your sport and legislation.
• Who’s involved – the Child Safe Working group, senior leadership, key contact.
• The result – Your sport remains a Child Safe Sport in line with current legislation and practices.