All Victorian organisations that provide services or facilities for children are required to comply with the Child Safe Standards.
Under the Child Wellbeing and Safety Act 2005, the Department of Families, Fairness and Housing is a sector regulator whose role is to promote, oversee and enforce the compliance of the Child Safe Standards for the organisations it regulates. These include but are not limited to:
- disability services
- early therapeutic intervention
- family violence or sexual assault services
- housing services or other assistance to homeless persons
- out-of-home care services
- support services for parents and families
The Human Services Regulator is responsible for operationalising the Department of Families, Fairness and Housing’s role as a sector regulator in relation to the Child Safe Standards. The Human Services Regulator uses a risk-based regulatory approach to assessing compliance. For more information about the Human Services Regulator see:
- The Human Services Regulator webpage
- Human Services Regulator regulatory strategy (pdf)
- Human Services Regulator regulatory strategy (word)
- Human Services Regulator compliance and enforcement policy (word)
- Human Services Regulator annual regulatory plan 2021-2022 (word)
For organisations regulated by the department, queries about Child Safe Standards can be directed to the Child Safe Standards email (see ‘Contacts’). Resources have been developed to help support organisations comply with the Child Safe Standards which can be access via the Resources for Child Safe Standards webpage.
All other organisations should seek advice through their existing sector regulator or contact the Commission for Children and Young People (see 'Contacts').