Do the standards apply to you?
Yes, almost certainly. The National Principles for Child Safe Organisations, endorsed by all Australian governments following the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, apply to any organisation that provides services to children. In New South Wales the Children’s Guardian Act 2019 makes the ten Child Safe Standards mandatory for child-related organisations, and the Office of the Children’s Guardian can require you to show how you implement them. In Victoria the eleven Child Safe Standards under the Child Wellbeing and Safety Act 2005 explicitly cover coaching and tuition services, with the Commission for Children and Young People as regulator. Queensland’s child safe organisations framework commenced from 2025–26 under the Child Safe Organisations Act 2024, with a reportable conduct scheme following. Even where enforcement is lighter, insurers, schools and parents now expect the same evidence.
The ten standards, translated for a tutoring business
Standard by standard: what it means and what to have
Based on the NSW Child Safe Standards (which mirror the National Principles). Victoria’s set adds an explicit standard on Aboriginal cultural safety.
- A signed child safe commitment statement on your website and in onboarding
- Child safety as a standing item in tutor meetings and your risk register
- Owner named as Child Safety Officer with a stated contact route
- A child-friendly ‘your rights and how to speak up’ one-pager given at the first lesson
- Student feedback captured each term, not only parent feedback
- Parents know your code of conduct, complaints process and who to contact
- Session notes shared after every lesson
- Inclusion statement; adjustments for disability and learning difference documented in the student profile
- Cultural safety expectations in the tutor code
- WWCC verified before the first lesson; identity, references and interview recorded
- Induction covering the code of conduct, boundaries and reporting; annual refresher
- Supervision and check-ins for in-home tutors
- A written complaints and concerns procedure that anyone – child, parent, tutor – can use
- Records of every concern, action and outcome
- Child-safe training at induction and annually (free modules exist from the OCG and CCYP)
- Recognising indicators of harm and grooming behaviours
- In-home lessons in a shared, visible space; no closed doors
- Online lessons on a platform with recording/logging; no private messaging apps between tutor and child
- Transport of students prohibited or strictly controlled
- Annual review of the standards against your practice, documented
- Incidents and near misses feed the improvement register
- Child Safe Policy, Code of Conduct, Recruitment & Screening, Complaints & Reporting, Online Conduct, Privacy – six documents, kept short and actually read
Working With Children Checks done properly
A WWCC is a clearance held by the individual, not by your business. Your obligations as the employer or engaging organisation are to verify the clearance against the register (in NSW via the OCG’s online verification, which also links the person to your organisation so you are notified if their status changes), to record the verification, to refuse child-related work to anyone barred or without a current clearance, and to monitor expiry. Contractors and volunteers are included. A tutor ‘applying’ for a clearance may be able to work in NSW while the application is processed only in limited circumstances – treat a pending application as not cleared unless you have checked the rules for your state.
Reporting obligations
Every adult in NSW has a general legal obligation to report to police if they know or believe a child abuse offence has been committed against a child, unless there is a reasonable excuse. Tutors are not statutory mandatory reporters in every state, but your policy should require any concern about a child’s safety to be reported internally immediately and escalated to the child protection helpline (NSW 132 111; Vic Child Protection intake) or police where there is risk of significant harm. Some organisations are covered by reportable conduct schemes (NSW, Vic, ACT, and Queensland from 2026) which require the head of the organisation to notify the regulator of allegations against workers; check whether your entity is captured – schools and some education providers are, standalone tutoring agencies often are not, but the position is changing.
Online tutoring risks – the new frontier
- Use a platform that records sessions or at least logs them; tell families sessions may be recorded for safety.
- All communication with a student goes through the platform or a parent-visible channel – never personal social media or messaging apps.
- Cameras on for tutor; clear rules on backgrounds and attire; a parent within earshot for younger students.
- Account access controlled and removed the day a tutor leaves.
- Screen-sharing and file-sharing rules to prevent exposure to inappropriate content.
Child-safe self-assessment
Tick what you can evidence today.
- Written child safe commitment on our website and in tutor onboarding
- Child Safe Policy and Code of Conduct signed by every tutor
- WWCC verified online and recorded before first lesson, with expiry tracked
- Child-safe induction and annual refresher recorded for every tutor
- Child-friendly ‘how to speak up’ information given to students
- Complaints and concerns procedure available to children and parents
- Online conduct rules: platform-only communication, no private messaging
- In-home lesson rules: visible space, no transport, parent present for younger students
- Reporting procedure with the current child protection helpline and police contacts
- Annual review of our child-safe practice recorded
- Office of the Children’s Guardian (NSW) – Child Safe Standards, A guide to the Child Safe Standards, Working With Children Check – obligations of employers
- Commission for Children and Young People (Victoria) – Child Safe Standards (11 standards, from 1 July 2022)
- Australian Human Rights Commission – National Principles for Child Safe Organisations
- Queensland Family and Child Commission – Child Safe Organisations Act 2024 implementation
- Crimes Act 1900 (NSW) s 316A – failure to report child abuse offence
General information only, not legal, financial or tax advice. Rules change; confirm current requirements with the regulator or a qualified professional.
Why Nemco
Built properly, priced once, owned by you – and who signs off every build.
Since 2013
Consulting, marketing and applications since 2013. A setup is that experience, packaged.
Fixed price
One number, three milestones. No hourly rates, no surprise invoices.
You own 100%
Entity, brand, site, documents, systems – yours outright. No royalties, ever.
Honest by design
No income claims. No guaranteed approvals. If it isn’t a fit, we say so on the call.
Christian Nehme · Founder & Principal Adviser
Lead Auditor
ISO 9001:2015 – trained to run the audits, not just pass them.
NDIS Internal Auditor
NDIS Internal Auditor Course – the Practice Standards from the assessor’s side.
Audit & risk in government
3+ years in audit and risk management roles in government.
Bachelor of Medical Science
A clinical-science grounding for health, disability and aged-care work.