Child protection – we all have a role to play Queensland Ambulance Service staff will play an additional and important legal role protecting some of the state’s most vulnerable, as the organisation works towards becoming a Child Safe organisation.
Medical Director Dr Steve Rashford said these changes were made in response to changes to the Queensland Criminal Code last year. (You can read the Medical Circular 39/2021 here.)
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“These changes mean all QAS staff, both corporate and operational, now have a legal duty to protect the vulnerable from sexual abuse, particularly children under the age of 16 and people with a mental impairment under the age of 18 years,” Dr Rashford said. The Criminal Code changes were made as part of a national response to the findings of the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, which uncovered shocking abuse of children within Australian institutions. The Australian Human Rights Commission was tasked with developing guidelines for this national response, National Principles for Child Safe Organisations. “The QAS recognises all children and young people attending Queensland Health services have the right to feel safe, valued, listened to, and informed,” Dr Rashford said. “The QAS has formed a working group to review, develop and implement a Child Protection Framework to ensure we meet our legislative responsibilities, address the National Principles and ensure Queensland Health’s commitment is upheld.” Working group Secretariat Elizabeth Santillan said this group included representatives from Clinical, Corporate, Cultural Safety, Health Contact Centre (HCC), and Human Resources and Operations.
Autumn 2022
“We want to this framework ensure our staff feel educated and supported to report any concerns they may have about the safety of a child or vulnerable person under 18, as it is now a mandatory obligation,” Ms Santillan said. “We will be working closely with Queensland Health and other relevant agencies to develop a reporting process and a mandatory training package for our workforce.” Dr Rashford said the QAS was proud to work towards becoming a Child Safe organisation. For QAS to be a Child Safe organisation, this means we consciously and systematically: •
create an environment where a child’s safety and wellbeing are at the centre of our thought, values and actions
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place emphasis on genuine engagement with, and valuing of children and vulnerable young people
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create conditions that reduce the likelihood of harm to children and vulnerable young people
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create conditions that increase the likelihood of identifying any harm and respond to any concerns, disclosures, allegations, or suspicions.
“While our workforce has a longstanding high level of trust in our community, this strengthens our reputation as a safe place for children and vulnerable people in our care,” he said. Information about QAS’s Child Protection Framework is available on the Portal and the page will be updated as more resources become available to staff.
