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Child Abuse (including grooming) – Identification and Response

Policy

The purpose of this policy is to:

  • describe how school staff identify and respond to child safety concerns and child abuse, including grooming
  • ensure staff use the 4 Critical ActionsExternal Link to identify and respond to child abuse, including grooming, based on the source of abuse
  • ensure school staff are aware of and comply with their reporting and legal obligations, including mandatory reporting and reportable conduct obligations, to protect the safety and wellbeing of children and young people
  • explain training requirements for school staff. For links to 4 Critical Actions posters, reference guides and training resources refer to the Resources tab.

Note: All references to 'schools' in this topic include school boarding premises.

Summary

School staff have a vital role in protecting students. School staff must know and comply with child safety frameworks and their legal obligations.

Details

All school staff have an important role to:

  • prevent child abuse (including grooming) in the school or during school activities
  • identify and respond to child abuse.

Child abuse (including grooming) and reportable conduct can occur in any physical or online environment.

4 Critical Actions

All staff must use the 4 Critical ActionsExternal Link to identify and respond to child abuse. The 4 Critical Actions to identify and respond to child abuse are:

  • identify child abuse
  • support students in the school
  • refer student to community services
  • report abuse to authorities.

At all times schools must:

All staff must use the 4 Critical Actions based on the source of abuse:

Links to detailed guidance on the 4 Critical Actions for each source of abuse is on the Guidance tab.

Abuse by an adult engaged by the school (including grooming)

Schools must use the 4 Critical ActionsExternal Link in relation to any child sexual abuse allegations against any adult working at the school (whether as an employee, volunteer or contractor), or who previously worked at the school.

All allegations, complaints, disclosures and concerns of abuse (including grooming) by an adult engagement by a school must be reported to the Conduct and Integrity Division. Refer to: Reportable and Notifiable Conduct.

To make a report:

Allegations, complaints, disclosures and concerns that an adult in a school may be abusing a child must also be recorded as an incident by:

Relevant areas of the department, including the Sexual Harm Response Unit, will be notified when the school reports allegations to ISOC and the Conduct and Integrity Division.

Sexual Harm Response Unit

The Sexual Harm Response Unit ensures that appropriate supports are offered to impacted students, staff, and families.

Working with the relevant school/s and other areas of the department, the Sexual Harm Response Unit will assist with an appropriate community response where allegations against an adult who works or worked in a school result in criminal charges or where an allegation involving a sexual offence against, with or in the presence of a student is substantiated following a Reportable Conduct investigation. For example, where criminal charges are laid, the Sexual Harm Response Unit will ensure that appropriate communications are issued to the school community to notify them. In some cases, parents of former students will also be notified, where contact details are still available and where there is a risk that former students may have been impacted.

Taking a proactive, transparent approach to informing the school community about any criminal charges relating to child sexual abuse by an adult who worked in a school is an important part of meeting duty of care and child safety obligations.

Student-to-student abuse and harmful sexual behaviour

School staff may be the only adult in a position to identify student-to-student child abuse.

Schools must use the 4 Critical Actions to identify and respond to student-to-student abuseExternal Link .

For harmful sexual behaviour see: Student-to-Student Abuse and Harmful Sexual Behaviour.

If you need advice about student-to-student abuse or harmful sexual behaviour, contact your local sexual assault or harmful sexual behaviour serviceExternal Link .

They will provide advice and support to help manage incidents between students.

Family violence or significant concerns for the wellbeing of a child

Guidance on actions to take if there is family violence, a significant wellbeing concern, or the family is struggling with the care, wellbeing or development of a child is available at: 4 Critical Actions to identify and respond to child abuse in the familyExternal Link .

Historical sexual abuse

Guidance on responding to historical child sexual abuse perpetrated by an adult working at a Victorian government school is available at: Historical Child Sexual Abuse in Victorian Government Schools.

Local child abuse response policy and procedures

To meet the requirements of the Child Safe Standards, as set out for schools in Ministerial Order 1359, all schools must have a local document available on their website setting out their school’s procedures for responding to complaints or concerns relating to child abuse, including grooming.

Schools must adopt the department’s Child abuse (including grooming) identification and response policy and procedures template (staff login required)External Link . The template policy and procedures is available on the School Policy Templates PortalExternal Link .

This local policy and procedures must be published on the school’s website.

In the school’s local policy and procedures, the school must identify their child safety contacts. Child safety contacts work with staff and school leadership to ensure the relevant 4 Critical Actions and PROTECT guidance are followed in response to any complaints, allegations or concerns of child abuse (including grooming).

Escalating concerns

Using the 4 Critical Actions ensures that school staff take all the necessary steps where there is a concern about abuse (including grooming).

If any staff member is concerned that these processes have not been followed they must:

To report any allegations or concerns of abuse (including grooming) by a child safety contact, staff must notify the principal.

To report any allegations or concerns of abuse (including grooming) by a principal, contact:

School staff have a vital role in protecting students. School staff must know and comply with their legal obligations and child safety frameworks. These are outlined below.

Duty of care

  • All school staff must take reasonable steps to minimise risks of harm to students in their care that are reasonably foreseeable.
  • Refer to: Duty of Care.

Child Safe Standards

  • Victoria's Child Safe Standards help schools create and maintain a child-safe organisation and protect children and young people from harm and abuse.
  • All Victorian schools and school boarding premises must comply with Ministerial Order 1359 (PDF)External Link . Ministerial Order 1359 sets out the actions schools must take to implement the Child Safe Standards.
  • Refer to: Child Safe Standards.

Reportable Conduct Scheme

  • The Reportable Conduct Scheme is a child safety mechanism that provides central oversight of how organisations respond to allegations of reportable conduct by a person engaged by the school.
  • Refer to: Reportable and Notifiable Conduct.

Mandatory reporting

  • If a mandatory reporter, while doing their job, forms a belief on reasonable grounds that:
    • a child has suffered, or is likely to suffer, significant harm as a result of physical and/or sexual abuse and

    • the child’s parents have not protected or are unlikely to protect the child from harm of that type

      they must report to Child Protection as soon as practicable.

  • Mandatory reporters include:
    • Victorian Institute of Teaching (VIT) registered teachers, including principals, and early childhood teachers
    • school staff who have been granted permission to teach by the VIT
    • registered medical practitioners, nurses and midwives
    • registered psychologists
    • youth justice workers
    • school counsellors, including staff who provide mental, emotional, or psychological support:
      • school health and wellbeing staff
      • student wellbeing coordinators
      • mental health practitioners
      • chaplains
      • Student Support Services staff.
  • Failure to disclose
    • All adults must report to Victoria Police if they have a reasonable belief that an adult has committed a sexual offence against a child in Victoria.
  • Failure to protect
    • The offence applies where there is a substantial risk that a child under the age of 16, under the care, supervision or authority of a relevant organisation, will become a victim of a sexual offence committed by an adult associated with that organisation.
    • A person in a position of authority in the organisation will commit the offence if they know of the risk of abuse and have the power or responsibility to reduce or remove the risk, but negligently fail to do so.
  • Information sharing
    • Victorian schools can share confidential information under the Information Sharing Schemes, including the Child Information Sharing Scheme (CISS) and Family Violence Information Sharing Scheme (FVISS).
    • Under CISS, schools can share relevant information about any person to promote the wellbeing or safety of a child or group of children. Under FVISS, schools can share relevant information to assess or manage risk of family violence.
    • Refer to: Child and Family Violence Information Sharing Schemes
  • Family Violence Multi-Agency Risk Assessment and Management for family violence (MARAM)
    • MARAM sets a consistent, shared approach across Victoria’s service system to identify and respond to family violence. The FVISS enables schools to meet their obligations under MARAM.
    • Refer to: Family Violence Support.

For more information, refer to: Legal obligations and child safety frameworksExternal Link .

Training requirements

Child Safe Standard 8External Link and Ministerial Order 1359 (PDF)External Link require school staff to be equipped with the knowledge, skills and awareness to keep children and young people safe.

Refer to the guidance page: Training requirements.

Refer to the Resources tab for links to posters and training materials.

Definitions

Definitions related to child safety can be found at: Child Safe Standards: definitionsExternal Link .

Relevant legislation

Information on how school staff identify and respond to child safety concerns and child abuse, including grooming and ensure staff use the 4 Critical Actions to identify and respond to child abuse.

Reviewed 24 March 2026

Policy last updated

24 March 2026

Scope

  • Schools

Contact

Wellbeing, Health and Engagement Division

child.safe.schools@education.vic.gov.au
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