Introduction

Hireup upholds the right of all children to feel safe and protected and actively listens to and empowers children who come into contact with us.

Hireup has zero tolerance for harm, risk of harm, violence, abuse, neglect, exploitation and discrimination and rigorously follows our legal and moral obligations to take all allegations of reportable conduct and safety concerns very seriously. We ensure such conduct is dealt with in accordance with Hireup policies, procedures and the law.

Our commitment to promoting a culture of child safety is supported by robust human resources, recruitment and screening processes. We also provide Support Workers and Incident Response team members with training and education on violence, abuse, neglect, exploitation and discrimination so they are equipped with practical skills for responding to disclosures and reporting suspicion of harm.

We are committed to promoting cultural safety for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and cultural safety for children from culturally and/or linguistically diverse backgrounds. We do not tolerate harassment, bullying or discrimination.

We expect everyone at Hireup to uphold these commitments and comply with this policy.

Scope

This policy applies to everyone at Hireup including our Support Workers, Support Office staff, the Executive Team, the Board, volunteers and anyone engaged by Hireup. 

All activities at Hireup that involve children or relate to contact with children are covered by this policy.

This policy should be read in conjunction with the policies listed at the end of this document. This policy is available to all members of the Hireup Community and general public via the Help Centre on our webpage at hireup.com.au. 

Principles

• Everyone at Hireup is responsible for creating a child safe environment.
• Children and young people who receive services through Hireup can expect to be treated respectfully and kept free from harm.
• We will display appropriate standards of behaviour at all times.
• The concerns of children and young people will be listened to and taken seriously.
• All reasonable steps will be taken by Support Workers to ensure the health, safety and wellbeing of the children and young people they support.
• Intervention for children and young people who may be at risk of harm, violence, abuse, neglect, exploitation and discrimination will be timely and effective.
• All reports of safety concerns in relation to children or young people will be taken seriously and immediate action will be taken in line with our policies and procedures, including the reporting of such concerns to the relevant state-based agency.
• Risk minimisation strategies, supported by clear policies and procedures, will help to ensure practices at Hireup are child safe.

Responsibilities

When interacting with or providing support to children and young people, your relationships with them must be appropriate. This includes the avoidance of any unnecessary physical contact or behaviour which may be considered to be inappropriate.

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.
• be violent or handle children roughly
• pull or grab children, particularly by their arms, legs or neck
• swing or pick children up by the arms.

All Hireup staff and Support Workers must adhere to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.

Participation

We invite children, young people and their Account Managers, carers and families to share their experiences at Hireup through feedback at the end of support shifts, completing on-line Support Worker reviews, completing an Incident Report or Complaint Form, via periodic surveys, participating in Hireup’s Community Advisory Group, and directly with our Community Support Team via phone or email.

 

Hireup Recruitment Screening

All Support Workers and Support Office staff, regardless of whether they are in direct contact with children or not, are required to hold an NDIS worker screening checks or meet the transitional arrangements. All Support Office staff and any Support Worker that works with a Client under 18 must also hold a Working with Children Check (WWCC) relevant to their state. The WWCC must be provided to Hireup for verification. Hireup will actively monitor compliance to this requirement and proactively manage the expiry of WWCCs for employees to ensure they are valid at all times. Note: there may be additional checking requirements depending on which state you are in.

Prior to activating a Support Worker’s account, checks that are able to be verified are verified by Hireup or our third party document partner Cited. Support Workers and Support Office staff then complete five online induction modules including Working Safely and Preventing Abuse & Neglect.

 

How Account Managers & Clients can choose Support Workers

Once Hireup has obtained and verified the necessary checks including WWCC, the verified status of these checks is visible on the Support Worker’s profile. Once the Support Worker has been approved to work on the platform, they are required to complete paid mandatory training. This enables Account Managers to have complete control over booking Support Workers who have the appropriate checks, knowledge, skills and training to provide safe, person-centered support for the children they represent.

Hireup encourages all Account Managers to include the child or young person they represent in their decision making where appropriate.

Hireup advises that children and young people be involved in “Meet & Greets” with potential Support Workers to ensure that the child or young person feels safe and comfortable with the Support Worker prior to them joining their Support Team.

Training, support and supervision

Training in relation to child safety and prevention of harm is contained within Hireup’s paid mandatory training modules which are completed when Support Workers are approved to work on the platform. Support Workers are informed of new modules as they are developed through platform or system notifications, newsletters, social media or emails. A record of completion for all training modules is kept on each Support Worker’s file

Reporting a child safety concern or incident 

We endeavour to ensure all children, families and staff at Hireup understand their obligations and know who to tell if they observe or suspect risk of harm, harm, bullying, harassment, abuse, neglect or violence; are a victim of such behaviours, or if they notice inappropriate behaviour. 

We take all allegations or suspicion of harm to a child or reportable conduct seriously and are committed to ensuring allegations are addressed in accordance with Hireup’s processes for responding to and reporting suspected harm to children.

In addition to the above, Hireup and its employees have mandatory reporting obligations. If Support Workers or Support Office staff suspect on reasonable grounds that an incident has occurred they must immediately report this to the relevant agency or authority including the police in the instance of a criminal offence. Contact details for the relevant state-based agencies and authorities can be found at Hireup’s Mandatory Reporting Contact Numbers article.

Once mandatory reporting obligations have been met, Hireup must also be informed through our online incident form (which is monitored by our Incident Response Team 24 hours a day), calling on (02) 9113 5933 or via email on hello@hireup.com.au. 

The following conduct must be reported:

• A sexual offence committed against, with or in the presence of a child
• Sexual misconduct, committed against, with or in the presence of a child
• Physical violence committed against, with or in the presence of, a child
• Any behaviour that has the potential to cause emotional or psychological harm to a child
• Significant neglect of a child.

To maintain Child Safe Standards, Hireup may collect personal information. Any disclosure of information will be managed in accordance with our Privacy Policy and the Privacy Act (1988

 

Complaints Management and Reporting

All Hireup Clients, Account Managers and Support Workers have the opportunity to lodge complaints and report incidents through our online incident form, which is monitored by our Incident Response Team 24 hours a day. Our Community can also use our Complaint Form which is available on the website. These can also be made to our Community Support Team by email hello@hireup.com.au or phoning 02 9113 5933 Monday to Friday 8am to 5.30pm.

Complaints will be managed in line with Hireup’s Statement on Complaints. Once the complaint has been resolved, Hireup will communicate the outcome to the extent that it is appropriate for us to do so. This may include a summary of the process, confirmation as to whether the complaint was substantiated or not, confirmation on whether action has been taken in response to a substantiated policy or code of conduct breach (however, we will not share the details of the action), and any steps that have been taken to ensure any problem that has been identified does not happen again. 

If the Account Manager or the child’s support people are dissatisfied with the outcome of the complaint, they can request for it to be reviewed. We will communicate the anticipated timeframes for the review. The outcome of the review will be final.

If the Account Manager or the child’s support people are not comfortable with any part of the Hireup complaints process, proposed actions, or do not feel comfortable making a complaint directly to Hireup, a list of external agencies that can be referred to are contained in our Statement on Complaints. 

All incident reports are kept strictly confidential, however Hireup may be required to share these with third parties including the police or a regulatory body to support their investigations. We only involve relevant stakeholders in the communications, management and resolution processes, which may include the Account Manager, family members, any witnesses and an advocate if one is appointed.

We analyse all incidents and complaints to identify any changes that need to be made to policies, procedures or our response processes. The Executive Leadership Team receives comprehensive quality and safety monthly reports which include details on incident and complaint trends. The Board has oversight of the safety performance of the organisation through the Risk and Safety Committee. Information is only shared in accordance with Hireup’s Privacy Policy.

 

Access  to  information

Hireup is open and transparent with our information, including policies and procedures. Our information can be accessed anytime and by anyone, including children, by visiting our Help Centre at: help.hireup.com.au.

Other legislation, industry standards, policies and procedures

In the development of policies and procedures to protect children, Hireup is guided by the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989) and the National Principles for Child Safe Organisations and welcomes input from Clients, their families and support networks on what is important to them in keeping children and young people safe.

This policy should be read in conjunction with other Hireup documents, including:

• Hireup Code of Conduct
• Privacy Policy
• Statement on Incident Response
• Statement on Complaints
• Statement on Violence, Abuse, Neglect, Exploitation and Discrimination
• Responding to Incidents of Abuse, Neglect, Exploitation and Discrimination
• Policy on employment lifecycle for Support Workers 
• Statement on suspension and termination for Support Workers 
• Reportable Incidents and Mandatory Reporting Procedure