If a child is in immediate danger, call 000 first. Then notify our Child Safety and Governance Lead as soon as it is safe to do so.
Yarra Plenty Waves and Yarra Swim School are committed to creating a safe, respectful, inclusive and supportive environment for every child and young person. Our purpose is to develop and inspire a life long love of swimming, and children should be able to learn, build confidence, and enjoy being part of our community.
We have zero tolerance for child abuse. We work to prevent harm, respond to concerns, and support children and young people to feel safe, heard, and respected.
Our Safeguarding Principles
How We Keep Children Safe
In line with Victoria's Child Safe Standards and our Club values, YPW and YSS will:
Respect and include every child, including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and children from diverse cultural, linguistic, or other backgrounds.
Listen to children and young people, value their views, and involve them in decisions that affect them.
Put safety and wellbeing first in our leadership, programs, activities, and everyday decisions.
Support families and communities to understand and contribute to child safety.
Engage suitable people to work with children, and provide them with the screening, training, and support they need.
Provide safe ways to raise concerns, with children and adults treated respectfully and protected from victimisation.
Create safe physical and online environments, and respond when risks are identified.
Keep improving, learning from concerns, incidents, and feedback.
Who's Responsible
Child safety is a shared responsibility, it doesn't rest with one person or role. The Committee holds overall responsibility, and elects a Child Safety and Governance Lead each year to coordinate safeguarding oversight. Our Head Coach, YSS Manager, coaches, instructors, and volunteers all have their own responsibilities under our policies.
Report a Concern
You can raise a concern with our Child Safety and Governance Lead, a coach or instructor, the Secretary, or any other trusted adult or Club staff member. Concerns will always be handled respectfully, and you'll be supported and protected for speaking up.
Swimmer Safety and Wellbeing Survey
We run a regular survey so swimmers and families can tell us how things are going, including anything that's made them feel unsafe or unsupported.
Our Policies
Our full Safeguarding Document Suite covers everything from screening and training through to photography and travel. Key policies include:
Code of Conduct
Complaints and Participant Protection Policy
Photography, Filming and Image Use Policy
Onboarding, Screening and Training Procedure
Photography and Consent
We take care with how photos and videos of children are used. Photos from YPW squad training and events may be used for the website and promotional material, and parents can opt out at any time. Photos from Yarra Swim School Learn to Swim classes are only ever used with specific, opted-in consent from a parent or carer.
Diversity Statement
Everyone Belongs Here
Yarra Plenty Waves and Yarra Swim School welcome everyone. Our community includes people of different cultures, beliefs, abilities, bodies, sexualities, ages and genders, and every member should feel safe, respected, and that they belong.
First Nations Commitment
Yarra Plenty Waves acknowledges the Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung people as the Traditional Owners of the Country where we swim, train, and learn. We honour the history of the Yarra River, known as Birrarung, meaning River of Mists, and pay our respects to Elders past, present, and all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people connected with our Club.
Living our values means keeping every member safe while they build a life long love of swimming.