Introduction
Hireup recognises the importance of fostering positive interactions with the children and young people we work with. Everyone at Hireup is responsible for supporting their safety, participation, wellbeing and empowerment.
You are to interact and communicate with children and young people in a professional and ethical way and meet the highest possible standards of care at all times. You must also show respect for each child as an individual.
You must adhere to the Hireup Child Safe Policy at all times and abide by Hireup’s commitment and obligation to creating a child safe organisation.
Scope
Everyone employed or engaged by Hireup regardless of having contact with children and young people, or not.
Responsibilities
In providing support to children and young people you must ensure that their physical and emotional wellbeing are safeguarded and your own behaviour is guided by a duty of care in and beyond the environment where you provide disability support, and that the children you work with have adequate protection against harm.
As a support worker you must:
- value their ideas and opinions and treat children and young people with respect
- take all reasonable steps to protect children from abuse
- be vigilant to signs of abuse
- challenge unacceptable behaviour and report all allegations or suspicions of abuse immediately to Hireup.
- provide support in an open and transparent way
- not ignore or disregard concerns, suspicions or disclosures of child abuse
Prior to commencing work with Hireup you must disclose any charges, convictions of abuse and all of your offence history in accordance with our Criminal Record Check policy.
The privacy of children and their families must be respected and information is only to be disclosed in accordance with Hireup’s Privacy Policy and privacy legislation.
In your role of providing support to children and young people your relationships with them must be appropriate. You must not be violent or handle children roughly, nor should you pull or grab children, particularly by their arms, legs or neck, or swing or pick up children by the arms or make unnecessary physical contact. Nor should you act in a way that may be considered to be inappropriate.
Also you must not:
- put children at risk of abuse
- conduct a sexual relationship with a child or young person
- take part in any form of sexual contact with a child or young person
- have open mature discussions in the presence of children
- use inappropriate, offensive, harassing, abusive, sexually provocative, demeaning, culturally inappropriate or discriminatory language when speaking with, or in the presence of, a child or young person
- discriminate against any child for any reason
- use a computer, phone, video or digital camera to exploit or harass children or expose children to offensive or sexualised content
- share personal contact details with a child (phone number, social media, email) unless necessary
- have contact with a child client or their family outside of Hireup, unless for example, to provide details to a family member regarding support.
All Hireup staff and support workers must adhere to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, including that no child will be subjected to any form of corporal punishment or unreasonable discipline.
Reporting
You are obliged to report to Hireup any suspicion that the physical or emotional wellbeing of a child is at risk or has been compromised or that a child has been harmed, regardless of whether the suspicion relates to the safety of the child in their home.
Where a reportable allegation has been made, it will be managed according to Hireup’s Reportable Incidents and Mandatory Reporting Procedure. It may also be referred to the police.
Breaches
Failure to comply with the principles or the spirit of this Code will be considered a breach of Hireup policy and may trigger an investigation, where necessary and appropriate.
A breach may result in disciplinary action, ranging from a warning through to the termination of your employment and/or legal proceedings for serious breaches.
Review
This Code must be reviewed during induction as part of your employment and used as a reference document throughout your engagement with Hireup.
It is also to be read in conjunction with all other Hireup Codes of Conduct, policies, procedures, statements and guides.