Scouts Australia

Child Safety

Child Protection Team Phone available 24 Hours 02 6183 5023 

Email:protection@scoutsact.com.au

The Scout Association of Australia, ACT Branch is committed to providing a safe environment for youth members participating in the Scout program. Scouts ACT has a Duty of Care to its youth members, their parents or guardians and to visitors to provide, to the best of its ability, a safe environment that protects them from physical or emotional harm. 

All events, activities and programs are run by suitably qualified Leaders who take the utmost care in delivering the program. In the event of an accident, Leaders will take appropriate action and will inform parents or guardians accordingly.

Adult members must (by law) obtain a Working With Vulnerable Peoples Card that enables them to take part in activates with children. This card is valid for 3 years. The fundamental principles of Scouting requires that all Adults in Scouting live by the Scout Promise and Law and the Code of Conduct, where respect for others is paramount. Scouts ACT expects adherence to the Code of Conduct from all adults engaged in or supporting Scouting.

Scouts Australia ACT Branch takes great care in the selection of leaders. Each applicant is interviewed by their Group Leader, who assists them with their training program. This includes child protection training. At Scout meetings, events and camps, trainee Scout Leaders are always supervised by another approved, trained leader. 

Scouts ACT has a no tolerance approach to bullying and encourages all its members to recognise situations which may lead to abuse, to be able to assert the right to resist the abuser, and to report any abuse with confidence.

For information on our policies, please follow this link - Policies and Procedures

Scouts Australia’s National Child Protection Policy - One Approach for All Australian Scout Members

Scouts Australia has merged all Branch-based child protection policies into a single National policy to ensure consistency and clarity of our zero-tolerance approach to child protection.

This new National policy describes several areas of child protection including strategies for prevention; dealing with reports of abuse; training of all Scouting adults with regards to child protection; and the ongoing education of both adults and youth members. From all the different State and Territory legal requirements, Scouts Australia has selected the highest standard to apply in our new comprehensive National policy.

All State and Territory Branches agreed on four key child protection principles:

  • All adults in Scouting must report incidents to the appropriate authority
  • Any report will be responded to quickly and positively
  • There will be no delay, and strict steps must be followed
  • Investigations are not conducted locally - there is an escalated process

The independent, not-for-profit child protection organisation Child Wise has accredited the policy and has closely assisted Scouts Australia through its development. Child Wise will continue to work with Scouts Australia to ensure the policy and its underlying Scout Branch frameworks remain at best practice levels across Australia.  

The new policy was approved by the National Executive Committee (NEC) of Scouts Australia in November 2016. During the next few months all training materials and handbooks across every Branch and Group will be updated. All Leaders, parents, volunteers and participants in Scouting must follow the new National policy.

To ensure that every Scouting member plays their part in providing the safest possible environment for all children, please read the summary page here and download a copy of the full policy here.