Adsafe and Adventist Schools Australia (ASA) have partnered to launch an important child safety project.
The PEACE (Protecting Every Adult and Child in Education) Project is a national child safety framework for Adventist schools, providing consistency in how they manage child protection issues across their jurisdictions within Australia. The framework is aligned with the 10 National Principles for Child Safe Organisations recommended by the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse.
Adsafe general manager Ann Wooldridge said The PEACE Project arose out of intentional stakeholder consultation and thorough assessment of school needs in this space.
“Having worked in child protection for the past 30 years, the most instrumental thing I’ve learned in achieving child protection compliance is partnerships to achieve common goals,” she said.
“No one agency can manage child protection issues, hence interagency responses are integral for achieving optimum outcomes. Partnerships within our Church organisation and its affiliated entities are vital for creating safe environments.”
Each conference and school company across Australia is working with compliance and policy specialists CompliSpace to implement a child safety program that aligns with the national framework and state and territory legislation. The program will require all school staff and volunteers to undertake module-based online learning.
Adventist Schools (South Queensland) launched the project on February 10, with all Adventist schools expected to roll it out by the end of 2021.
“Ultimately The PEACE Project will help all Adventist schools to manage their child safety obligations so that education leaders, teachers and support staff can appropriately and confidently address these issues while also focusing on their core activities of teaching, learning and caring for our students and school communities,” Ms Wooldridge said.
