ITC Child Protection Policy

Application

This policy applies to all College staff and students.

Purpose

1. The purpose of this policy is to
   1. articulate ITC’s commitment to ensuring the wellbeing and safety of the children and young persons it engages with in the course of its activities
   2. provide guidance to staff and students on the identification of suspected child abuse, and
   3. set out the processes by which suspected child abuse may be reported.

Related Documents

1. The following documents set out further information relevant to this policy:

• Children’s Act 2014
• ITC Student Code
• ITC Staff Code of Conduct
• Education (Pastoral Care of Tertiary and International Learners) Code of Practice 2021
• Health Information Privacy Code 2020
• Oranga Tamariki Act 1989 (Children’s and Young People’s Well-being Act 1989)
• Privacy Act 2020

Definitions

The following definitions apply to this document:

• Child means a person who is under the age of 18 years.
• Child abuse means the harm (whether physical, emotional, or sexual), ill-treatment, abuse, neglect, or deprivation of a child.

Recruitment, employment and enrolment (safety checking)

As part of staff recruitment and employment procedures and student enrolment procedures, safety checking is carried out in accordance with the Children’s Act 2014; this may include police vetting, identify verification, the checking of references and/or an interview.

Identifying suspected child abuse

Information on the identification of suspected child abuse is available from Child Matters.

Responding to suspected child abuse

• Information on how to respond to suspected child abuse is available from Child Matters.
• No staff member or student is expected to act alone in responding to suspected child abuse; staff and students are encouraged to discuss their concerns with their line manager or the relevant tutor/Campus Manager respectively.
• Line managers and tutors/Campus Managers have a responsibility to ensure that, where a staff member or student expresses a concern that a child or young person has been, or is likely to be, the victim of child abuse, appropriate steps are taken to respond to the concern.
• Where staff or students are working in an external organisation e.g. a school, the Child Protection Policy or equivalent of that organisation, where applicable, takes precedence and must be followed.
• Information volunteered by a child or young person should be fully and accurately recorded by its recipient but no child or young person should be interviewed or in any way questioned about the suspected abuse.
• Under no circumstances should a child or young person who is the subject of an allegation of child abuse be exposed to unnecessary risk; an allegation that child abuse has been carried out by a staff member or student may require consideration of the removal of the staff member or student from the child or young person’s environment.
• Information, advice and support with respect to responding to and reporting suspected child abuse is available from Oranga Tamariki (Ministry for Children); concerns may be discussed confidentially with a registered social worker by calling 0508 FAMILY (0508 326 459).

Reporting child abuse

• Any person who suspects that the immediate safety or wellbeing of a child or young person is in doubt should alert the Police
• Any person who believes that a child or young person has been, or is likely to be, the victim of child abuse may report the matter to Oranga Tamariki (Ministry for Children)or the 
• Where it is suspected that child abuse has been carried out by a staff member, the matter must be reported promptly to the Campus Manager.
• Where it is suspected that child abuse has been carried out by a student, the matter must be reported promptly to the Campus Manager.
• The College recognises that reporting suspected child abuse can be stressful, and encourages those who wish to do so to seek access to confidential counselling services through an external organisation provided for by ITC.
• Provided such reports are made in good faith, no civil, criminal or disciplinary proceedings may be brought against any person making such a report.

Confidentiality

• All actions taken must be with appropriate care to maintain confidentiality.
• The Privacy Act 2020, Health Information Privacy Codeand the Oranga Tamariki Act 1989 allow information to be shared where there is good reason to do so, such as where there is a serious risk to individual health and safety

Document management and control

Prepared by: Senior Management team

Owned by: Quality Manager
Approved by: CE
Date approved:  May 2023
Review date: Annually