Child Safeguarding
Stymie strongly aligns with all 10 Child Safe Standards by providing a comprehensive, secure, and child-focused platform that:
- Empowers children to speak up safely.
- Ensures appropriate adults receive and respond to concerns.
- Creates accountability through clear documentation.
- Supports organisational child safety cultures.
- Provides ongoing education and improvement opportunities.
The platform essentially operationalises many of the Child Safe Standards, turning policy requirements into practical, everyday tools for protecting children in educational and organisational settings.
The principles, their aims, what schools should be doing and how Stymie can help.
Principle 1
Child Safety and wellbeing is embedded in organisational leadership, governance and culture
Child Safety and wellbeing is embedded in organisational leadership, governance and culture
Aim: Schools prioritise child safety in what they say and do.
What should schools do?
Demonstrate a commitment to child safety.
Recognise that child safety is a shared responsibility.
Make sure staff understand and engage with the schools Child Safe Code of Conduct.
Make sure staff understand their obligations in reporting, sharing information and keeping records.
How does Stymie help?
Stymie provides evidence of:
- Stymie provides evidence of the school’s commitment to child safety.
- Illustrates a leadership commitment in terms of championing a child safe environment.
- Practically encourages the shared responsibility of the students and school community to speak up and report harm.
- Provides evidence of staff and community responses to harm and sharing of information.
Principle 2
Children participate in decisions affecting them and are taken seriously
Children participate in decisions affecting them and are taken seriously
Aim: Children are encouraged to speak up and are believed.
What should schools do?
Make sure children are able to express their views and are given opportunities to participate in decisions that affect their lives.
Recognise the importance of friendships and encourage the support from peers to help children feel safe and less isolated.
Make sure children can access abuse prevention programs and information.
Make sure staff are attuned to signs of harm and abuse.
How does Stymie help?
- Empowering children by supporting them to take part in discussions about their safety is a reliable indicator that the school is child safe.
- Providing children with an anonymous platform to support their friends and family makes them feel less isolated and recognises the importance of friendship and community.
- Supports schools to capture student protection concerns.
- Education provided by Stymie teaches children how they can speak up about all forms of harm and abuse.
Principle 3
Families and communities are informed and involved
Families and communities are informed and involved
Aim: Schools actively engage with families and communities to support children.
What should schools do?
Families participate in decisions affecting their children.
Schools engage in open, communication about child safety approaches and relevant information is available.
Families and communities are informed about the schools operations and governance.
How does Stymie help?
- Schools tell us students often complete notifications together with their parents.
- Notifications carry the voice of the community and its members.
- Schools tell us notifications are often used in conversations with parents, and support networks.
Principle 4
Equity is upheld and diverse needs are taken into account
Equity is upheld and diverse needs are taken into account
Aim: Children are provided opportunities to participate to their full potential.
What should schools do?
Schools actively anticipate children’s diverse circumstances and respond effectively.
All children have access to information and support and know how to report a concern if they need to.
Schools pay particular attention to the needs of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children, children with disability and children from CALD backgrounds.
How does Stymie help?
- Stymie provides children with a tool to report concerns involving equity and diverse needs. This is also addressed in the Stymie Launch Days.
Principle 5
People working with children are suitable and supported
People working with children are suitable and supported
Aim: Schools attract, recruit, supervise and support staff to keep children safe.
What should schools do?
Recruitment emphasises child safety.
All staff receive appropriate induction and are aware of their child safety responsibilities, including reporting obligations.
Supervision and management of staff have a child safety focus.
How does Stymie help?
- Schools have told us that truthful, necessary and serious child protections issues involving staff have been reported through the platform.
- Schools have told us that truthful and necessary concerns about staff welfare have been reported through the platform.
Principle 6
Process to respond to complaints of child abuse (or other concerns) are child focused
Process to respond to complaints of child abuse (or other concerns) are child focused
Aim: Children are the priority when responding to complaints of abuse.
What should schools do?
Schools have a child-focused reporting process that is understood by children, staff, parents and caregivers.
Schools have an effective Child Safe Reporting Policy that clearly outlines obligations and processes around how to deal with different types of concerns.
Childrens concerns are taken seriously and responded to promptly and thoroughly.
Schools meet reporting, privacy and employment obligations.
How does Stymie help?
- Stymie provides schools with a reporting process and tool for students to use that meets privacy obligations, not only for the children, but also for the staff and the school. It helps schools capture harms to self, others and the community.
Principle 7
Staff are equipped with knowledge, skills and awareness to keep children safe through ongoing education and training
Staff are equipped with knowledge, skills and awareness to keep children safe through ongoing education and training
Aim: Schools invest in building staff skills, knowledge and confidence.
What should schools do?
Staff receive training on the nature and indicators of child maltreatment.
Staff receive training on the schools child safe practices.
Staff are supported in developing practical skills to protect children and respond to disclosures.
How does Stymie help?
- Stymie staff PD provides training in recognising and responding to abuse and disclosures.
- Staff are trained in the use of the notification platform and possible processes that may follow according to their wellbeing frameworks.
Principle 8
Physical and online environments promote safety and wellbeing while minimising the opportunity for children and young people to be harmed.
Physical and online environments promote safety and wellbeing while minimising the opportunity for children and young people to be harmed.
Aim: Risks to children in physical and online environments are identified and minimised.
What should schools do?
Risks in online and physical environments are identified and mitigated without compromising a child’s right to privacy and healthy development.
The online environment is used in accordance with the school’s Child Safe Code of Conduct and other relevant child safe policies.
How does Stymie help?
- Stymie provides education to children and young people about how to stay safe online and what their rights and responsibilities are.
- Stymie provides a safe online environment for children and young people to report harm
- Stymie provides education to staff
Principle 9
Implementation of the Child Safe Principles is regularly reviewed and improved
Implementation of the Child Safe Principles is regularly reviewed and improved
Aim: Schools continuously improve their child safe practices
What should schools do?
Schools regularly review and improve their child safe practices
Schools analyse complaints to identify causes and systemic failures, and inform continuous improvement.
How does Stymie help?
- Daily, Weekly and Yearly Stymie data is available for schools to be considered at an organisational level to improve child safe practices and any existing gaps in support.
- Stymie undertakes annual reviews and implements student and staff informed improvements.
Principle 10
Policies and procedures document how the school is child safe
Policies and procedures document how the school is child safe
Aim: Policies and procedures are championed by leaders, localised, understood by staff and clearly communicated.
What should schools do?
Child safe policies and procedures address all Child Safe Principles.
Child safe policies and procedures are accessible and easy to understand.
Best practice models and stakeholder consultation inform the development of child safe policies and procedures.
Leaders champion and model compliance
Staff understand and implement the policies and procedures.
How does Stymie help?
- Stymie is written into many schools’ wellbeing policies and procedural frameworks for child safety.
Practical tools for implementing the National Principles
Activity by state
Child Safety Standards – will come into effect from 1 October 2025 with all schools required to be compliant by 1 April 2026
WA Government is working to develop an independent oversight system that includes monitoring and enforcement of the National Principles.