Child Safety Our College
Our Commitment to Child Safety and Wellbeing
St Rita's College is committed to providing education and care to children and young people to assist them to develop into high achieving, supported students, positively connected to each other and to the communities in which they live and which they will serve.
The College is committed to ensuring the safety and wellbeing of our students and is dedicated to protecting them from harm.
At St Rita's College we have zero tolerance for child abuse. Our child protection responsibilities are of the utmost importance for the College and, as such, the College is committed to providing the necessary resources to ensure compliance with all relevant child protection laws, regulations and standards, and to maintain a safe and supportive environment for all children and young people.
Read our full Commitment to Child Safety and Wellbeing
Read our Child Safety Policy
Read our Child Safe Code of Conduct
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The Queensland Child Safe Standards
St Rita’s College is committed to embedding the Queensland Child Safe Standards and the Universal Principal across our College.
The Child Safe Standards require organisations like ours to make children’s safety and wellbeing a top priority in everything we do. This means we must create environments where children feel safe, respected, and able to speak up if something is wrong.
To meet these standards, we must:
- Put children’s rights and best interests first in our policies, decisions and everyday practice
- Listen to children and take their views seriously
- Ensure all staff and volunteers are carefully screened, trained, and supported to work safely with children
- Create clear processes for responding to concerns, complaints, or allegations in a timely and appropriate way
- Build a culture where child safety is understood by everyone and is everyone’s responsibility
For families, this means you can expect transparency, open communication, and a strong focus on protecting your child from harm while supporting their wellbeing and development.
The Reportable Conduct Scheme
Queensland now has a Reportable Conduct Scheme that requires St Rita’s College to have processes in place to respond to any allegations of abuse or serious harm by a College employee, volunteer or anyone who we engage with on a professional basis.
There are six types of reportable conduct;
- a child sexual offence
- sexual misconduct committed in relation to, or in the presence of, a child
- ill-treatment of a child
- significant neglect of a child
- physical violence committed in relation to, or in the presence of, a child
- behaviour that causes significant emotional or psychological harm to a child
- We take concerns about possible reportable conduct very seriously and have processes in place including;
- Ways for students, families and the community to raise concerns with us
- Process to respond to alleged reportable conduct concerns
Our Policies and Procedures
We have a number of child safety-related policies and procedures. To read more about our child safety and student protection practices and processes click here.
Raise a Concern
If you have concerns that you or a child is in immediate danger, contact the Queensland Police Service on 000.
If you need to report a concern in relation to alleged reportable conduct by a St Rita’s College employee, volunteer or someone else we engage with on a professional basis please contact our Principal, who is the College’s Senior Student Protection Contact, by phoning 07 3862 1615 or emailing principal@stritas.qld.edu.au.
Our Student Protection Processes provide detailed guidance for staff, contractors, parents, volunteers, third parties, and the community on how to identify key risk indicators of child abuse and how to report concerns of this nature to one of our Student Protection Contacts. It also contains detailed procedures for reporting of child abuse and harm incidents to the relevant authorities.
Reporting a Concern Anonymously
Every student has the right to feel safe, respected, and free from harm at our College. Ensuring a secure and welcoming school environment is a shared responsibility. If you see or experience anything that threatens this sense of safety, please speak up. We provide dedicated care and support to everyone involved, always prioritising the welfare and best interests of our students.