Records Management

Chapter 11: Recordkeeping – child safety and wellbeing

Recordkeeping and the Child Safe Standards

The Child Safe Standards are compulsory minimum standards to ensure organisations that provide services to children are well prepared to keep children and young people safe from harm and abuse. Ministerial Order 1359 – Implementing the Child Safe Standards – Managing the risk of child abuse in schools (PDF) outlines how the Child Safe Standards apply in Victorian schools.

Schools must understand and follow their recordkeeping obligations under this policy to comply with Child Safe Standards. Child Safe Standard 2 (Ensure that child safety and wellbeing are embedded in school leadership, governance and culture), which requires schools to create, maintain and dispose of records relevant to child safety and wellbeing in accordance with Public Record Office Victoria Standards.

Schools must:

• maintain records relevant to child safety and wellbeing and keep them organised in a way that ensures they are searchable and retrievable
• store child safety and wellbeing records securely, protected from unauthorised access
• retain student safety and wellbeing records for a minimum of 75 years
• retain all records documenting the reporting and investigation of sexual abuse incidents, allegations and disclosures for a minimum of 99 years
• retain screening records for school staff applicants, such as working with children checks as per the School records retention guide.

Refer to the School records retention guide (XLSX) (staff login required) for the retention requirements of all student safety and well-being records.

For more information, visit:

• Child Safe Standards
• PROTECT