Child Safe Framework

Guide Dogs NSW/ACT Annual Child Safety Statement of Compliance.

Statement from Guide Dogs NSW/ACT

June 2026.

Guide Dogs NSW/ACT is committed to creating safe, inclusive and empowering environments for children and young people. Every child has the right to be safe, respected, heard and supported, and to access services and information in ways that are inclusive, accessible and responsive to their needs.

This is our first Child Safety Annual Statement of Compliance. It reflects our commitment to transparency, accountability and continuous improvement as we establish and embed a stronger organisation-wide approach to child safety. We have zero tolerance for child harm or abuse in any form.

How children and young people engage with us.

Children and young people are an important part of the Guide Dogs NSW/ACT community. They may engage with us as clients, prospective clients, family members, visitors, volunteers, supporters, students or participants in our services, programs, events, education activities, community engagement, fundraising, puppy raising and guide dog training activities.

We provide low vision and blindness services that support children and young people to participate fully, build confidence and independence, and make choices about the life they want to lead. We also provide education and awareness activities that help children and young people understand disability and interact respectfully with people with low vision or blindness.

Our interactions may take place in person, online, by telephone, by email, through written and digital communications, or at community venues and events. We recognise that every interaction carries a responsibility to keep children and young people safe.

What we are doing to strengthen child safety.

From 1st July 2026, we have introduced a Guide Dogs NSW/ACT Child Safe Framework aligned to the Commonwealth Child Safe Framework and the National Principles for Child Safe Organisations.

As this is a newly implemented framework, our current focus is on building strong foundations and progressively embedding child safe practices across all parts of the organisation.

We are strengthening child safety by:

• adopting and implementing the National Principles for Child Safe Organisations;
• strengthening child safe policies, procedures and guidance;
• supporting our people to understand their child safety responsibilities;
• setting clear expectations for safe and respectful engagement with children and young people;
• improving how concerns, complaints, incidents and allegations are reported and managed; and
• embedding child safety into governance, risk management, business planning and continuous improvement.

How we identify and manage risks.

We have commenced an organisation-wide annual child safety risk assessment process. This helps us identify where risks related to a child or young persons safety may arise and how we can reduce them.

As our Child Safe Framework is implemented, our risk management approach will continue to mature. We will regularly review and refine our processes to ensure they are effective and proportionate to the way we work with children and young people.

Strengthening capability and safeguards.

We are progressively strengthening child safety practices across Guide Dogs NSW/ACT. This includes:

• helping children, young people and families understand their rights and how to raise concerns in accessible ways;
• strengthening screening and recruitment, including Working with Children Checks and Working with Vulnerable People registrations where required;
• providing targeted child safety training, guidance and awareness for employees, volunteers and leaders;
• clarifying expectations for safe conduct, boundaries, consent, supervision and communication;
• streamlining response, reporting and escalation processes for child safety concerns, complaints, incidents and allegations; and
• reviewing and updating relevant policies, procedures and guidelines.

These measures are being progressively embedded to support a consistent and practical approach to child safety.

Continuous improvement and reporting.

Building and maintaining a child safe organisation is ongoing. We will continue to monitor how our framework is working in practice and make improvements informed by experience, feedback, risk assessment outcomes and emerging better practice.

Each year, we will publish an annual Child Safety Statement of Compliance on our website. Future statements will outline our progress, key activities undertaken during the year, and the steps we are taking to further strengthen child safety at Guide Dogs NSW/ACT.

Our goal is for every child and young person who engages with Guide Dogs NSW/ACT to feel safe, heard, respected and empowered to live the life they choose.