Department staff should familiarise themselves with the following child protection policies and guidelines.

The guidelines apply to all schools in South Australia including government, Catholic and independent. The department has an agreement with the non-government schooling sectors to jointly develop child protection related guidelines.

Safeguarding children and young people policy

The safeguarding children and young people policy (PDF 245 KB) outlines the department's policy on child protection.

The safeguarding policy is complemented by the mandatory notification procedure (PDF 233 KB) . The procedure supports staff and volunteers who work for or with the department to enact their responsibilities as mandated notifiers.

For questions about safeguarding children and young people email education.kcs@sa.gov.au.

Protective practices for education and care staff and volunteers

The protective practices for education and care staff and volunteers guidelines are how we create positive, caring and respectful relationships with children and young people.

For questions about protective practices email education.kcs@sa.gov.au.

Information sharing guidelines

The Department for Child Protection's information sharing guidelines gives staff guidance for sharing information between agencies.

For questions about information sharing guidelines email education.kcs@sa.gov.au.

Managing allegations of sexual misconduct

Managing allegations of sexual misconduct in SA education and care settings (PDF 946 KB) provides site leaders with practical guidelines about handling sexual misconduct allegations appropriately and effectively.

The guidelines include:

• the legislative framework surrounding mandatory notification and disclosure of identity
• managing allegations
• the importance of note taking
• immediate action to take
• further action to take
• checklists and sample letters for parents.

For questions about managing allegations of sexual misconduct email education.IMDIntake@sa.gov.au.

Responding to online safety incidents in South Australian schools guidelines

The responding to online safety incidents in South Australian schools guidelines (PDF 455 KB) help school staff:

• respond consistently to online safety incidents
• recognise which online incidents need to be escalated for additional support
• identify which online safety incidents need cross sectoral and interagency coordination.

An online safety incident includes behaviour by:

• children and young people
• adults (excluding staff misconduct).

For questions about online safety incidents email education.behaviourpolicy@sa.gov.au.

Sexual behaviour in children and young people procedure and guideline

The sexual behaviour in children and young people procedure and guideline (PDF 1 MB) provides the immediate and necessary actions when responding to children and young people’s sexual behaviour.

The guideline provides additional information, good practice considerations and resources to support medium to longer term responses.

It's mandatory in the government and Catholic education and care sectors and is highly recommended for independent schools. All sectors are encouraged to use the guideline.

For questions about sexual behaviour in children and young people email education.behaviourpolicy@sa.gov.au.

Suicide response and postvention guidelines

The suicide response and postvention guidelines help staff support their school community when they respond to a student’s traumatic death. The student’s death might be a suspected suicide.

The guidelines are a checklist of the immediate and longer term steps site leaders and staff should take when responding to a traumatic death.

Any school can use the guidelines. This includes high school, primary school and preschool.

The guideline has been developed collaboratively by the Department for Education, Catholic Education South Australia and the Association of Independent Schools South Australia.

For questions about suicide response and postvention guidelines email education.wellbeing@sa.gov.au.