All children and young people who come to Mary MacKillop College have a right to feel and be safe. We are committed to the safety and wellbeing of all children and young people. We are committed to providing a child safe and child friendly environment, where children and young people are safe and feel safe, and are able to actively participate in decisions that affect their lives.

We have a zero tolerance for child abuse and other harm and are committed to acting in students’ best interests and keeping them safe from harm.

The College regards its child safeguarding responsibilities with the utmost importance and is committed to providing the necessary resources to ensure compliance with all relevant child protection laws and regulations and maintaining a child safe culture.

Each member of the College community has a responsibility to understand the important and specific role that they play individually, and collectively, to ensure that the wellbeing and safety of all students is at the forefront of all that they do, and every decision that they make.

Our staff are all Mandatory Notifiers and have undertaken relevant RAN training and have up to date Working with Children Checks. As do all of our coaches and volunteers.

The Program deals specifically with creating and maintaining a child safe organisation, including child protection issues. It is designed to ensure compliance with the South Australian requirements for a child safe environment as prescribed by the Children and Young People (Safety) Act 2017 (SA) (Safety Act), the Child safe environments: Principles of Good Practice (Principles of Good Practice), the National Catholic Safeguarding Standards published by Catholic Professional Standards Ltd. and related child protection laws. Broader child safety issues arising from our common law duty of care are dealt with through our Student Duty of Care Program.

We have also implemented an Anonymous Reporting Tool on SEQTA to enable our young people to report any behaviour or interaction that they find concerning. These reports are followed up by our Pastoral Care Coordinators and Leadership Team.

Students will also participate in the Keeping Safe Curriculum Program through Extended Pastoral Care. This rigorous program will ensure that our young people can recognise warning signs and keep themselves safe at all times.