The Western Australian Council of Social Service (WACOSS) strongly supports the implementation of the National Child Safe Principles in Western Australia and works closely with key stakeholders in WA (including the Department of Communities, Royal Commission Implementation Team, Department of Premier & Cabinet, WA Commissioner for Children & Young People, WA Ombudsman, Council of Aboriginal Services WA, and Lotteries West) to build knowledge and awareness, provide and curate resources, and implement a training and capacity-building program for frontline community services.
More information on the WA Child Safe Project can be found at: https://www.wacoss.org.au/wa-childsafe-project/
Resources and links are also available via the WA Government Child Safe Organisations Hub at: https://www.wa.gov.au/organisation/department-of-communities/child-safe-organisations
WACOSS participates in and represents the WA community sector on the National Child Safe Sector Leadership Group (convened by NOCS) and the National Coalition on Child Safety and Wellbeing (convened by Families Australia to contribute to Safe and Supported: The National Framework for Protecting Australia’s Children).
We also participate in the Supporting Communities Forum, the Child Safe Organisations Working Group at the state governance level, and work closely with the Network of Child Sexual Abuse Therapeutic Services and Indigenous Healing Services (CSATS & IHS) to support the codesign and commissioning of frontline services for victims of child sexual abuse and harmful sexual behaviours among young people, and to build their knowledge, skills, and capability.
We welcome the opportunity to discuss these issues further and follow up on any questions or concerns. We also note that sector surveys, workshop questionnaires, and feedback from metropolitan and regional consultations are likely to be key sources of information for monitoring and evaluating the implementation of the National Principles in WA.
In this context, we are happy to work with NOCS and the team developing the framework to explore how we can share useful data and improve data collection to better meet the sector’s needs.
