Childsafe Scouting Statement

Scouts Victoria is a child safe organisation with zero-tolerance for any harm, abuse or neglect. We value the diversity of our members, including gender, sexuality, race, religion and ability.

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While we are Scouting at Home we have looked at how we can be a Child Safe Organisation. We have created resources to help our youth members, parents, families and Leaders. 

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Visit our Scouting at Home resources page for our Child Safety advice for parents, youth members and Leaders. We even have manuals on how to run safe and enjoyable meetings online.

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If you are a Joey, Cub, Scout or Venturer and unsure what to do, you can speak to a trustworthy adult for help by calling

1800 870 772. This call is free from any phone including payphones, prepaid mobile phones and your home phone.

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Information for parents, guardians, carers, adult members (including Rovers) and the wider community.

If anyone is in immediate danger, always call 000 first.

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For information on reporting child abuse, harm or neglect, please click here.

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You can find reporting forms here

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How do we make our organisation safe for everyone?

We understand that making our organisation Child Safe isn’t as simple as saying that it is. Here are a selection of the things that we do to make our organisation safe for children:

• All of our adult members (anyone registered as a member and over the age of 18, regardless of whether their role results in their having contact with children) are required to hold a Working With Children Check (WWCC). This includes Adult Helpers, committee members and Rover Scouts, as well as employees

• All Leaders (that is, anyone that wears a leader uniform – the one with navy blue sleeves) and Adult Helpers are required to undergo a National Police Records Check

• All Leaders, when applying for membership, must provide three referees, regardless of whether they are already a member of Scouting. These referees are each asked a number of questions about the applicants suitability for the role

• All adult members must agree and adhere to the Code of conduct for adults in Scouting and Code of Ethics. Any breach of these codes can result in a termination of membership

• ‘Two adult leadership’ – Leaders are expected to ensure that there are at least two Leaders present on any activity, with more as required by the appropriate leader/ youth ratio for the age group, except for activities where – appropriate to the maturity of the young people and the type of activity – young people are taking part without adults present at all

• ‘Within sight, out of hearing’ – Leaders are expected to avoid any situation where they are alone with a child, except where strictly necessary. They are taught to keep in sight, but out of hearing, whenever one-on-one conversations are necessary

• All of our adult members are required to undertake training, including training in Child Safe practices

• Any reports of child abuse are taken seriously and dealt with promptly

• We are currently working to ensure details on how to report any instances of abuse are both accessible and readily available to all of our members and the wider community, both through this webpage, our written publications, and readily displayed in all our halls and meeting places

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For Further information, please visit the Scouts Victoria Childsafe page