​Child Safety at Leichhardt Saints

Every child who plays, referees or volunteers at Leichhardt Saints has the right to feel safe. We take that seriously, and we’d rather hear a concern that turns out to be nothing than have someone stay quiet because they weren’t sure.

This page explains what to do if you’re worried about a child – whether that’s your child, someone else’s, or something you’ve seen at a game.

You do not need to be certain. You do not need proof. And you do not need to come to the club first.

If a child is in immediate danger

Call 000.

Don’t wait to contact the club. Don’t wait to be sure. Call the police first, and tell us afterwards.

If you think a child is being abused or neglected

Call the NSW Child Protection Helpline on 132 111. It operates 24 hours a day, every day.

This applies whether the concern relates to football or to something happening in a child’s life outside the club that you’ve become aware of through football.

You don’t need evidence. Assessing a concern is the Helpline’s job, not yours. Your job is to pass it on.

If you’re comfortable doing so, please also tell us, so we can support the child and take any steps needed at our end.

If you’re worried about how an adult is behaving toward a child at the club

This covers things you might not call abuse but that don’t sit right: an adult seeking time alone with a particular child, private messaging, gifts, favouritism that isolates a child, comments about a child’s body, or ignoring a child’s boundaries.

Contact us at Member Protection Officer

Please raise it early, even if it seems minor. Patterns are how these things get noticed, and one small observation can be the piece that completes a picture. Nobody will be criticised for raising something that turns out to be innocent.

If a child tells you something

Children usually tell whoever happens to be there, not the person with the title. If that’s you:

Do

• Listen. Let them tell it their way, at their pace.
• Tell them you believe them and that they were right to tell you.
• Reassure them they’re not in trouble and haven’t done anything wrong.
• Be honest – say you need to tell someone whose job it is to help. Don’t promise to keep it secret.
• Write down what they said, in their words, as soon as you can afterwards.
• Report it the same day.

Don’t

• Push for detail or ask leading questions. You’re not investigating, and questioning can damage a later investigation.
• Promise confidentiality you can’t deliver.
• Show shock or anger – a child may think it’s aimed at them.
• Discuss it with other parents, the team, or on the sideline.
• Confront the person the child has named. This can put the child at greater risk.

What we will do

• We will take any concern seriously and treat it confidentially.
• We will not investigate suspected child abuse ourselves. Where a matter needs to go to the police or the Child Protection Helpline, we will report it and cooperate – we won’t delay that in order to run our own process first.
• Where a concern involves someone in a club role, we will act to keep children safe while it is resolved. Any step we take at that point is protective, not a finding against anyone.
• We will keep you informed of what’s happening, within the limits of what we’re allowed to share. Where police or child protection authorities are involved there will be things we can’t tell you, and we’ll say so rather than going quiet on you.
• We will acknowledge your concern within two days.

That last point is about our response, not your options. The urgent pathways above are open 24 hours and never depend on us.

You will not be penalised for speaking up

Nobody at Leichhardt Saints will be disadvantaged for raising a concern in good faith. Not their child’s selection, not their playing time, not their role at the club.

Pressuring or retaliating against someone who has raised a concern, or against the child involved, is a serious breach of our Code of Conduct and will be treated as one.

If you’d rather not come to us

You never have to. You can contact any of these directly, at any time, without telling us.

Working with Children Checks

Anyone in a paid or volunteer role working with children in NSW must hold a valid Working with Children Check. This applies to our coaches, managers, ground officials and committee members in child-related roles.

If you have a question about our Working with Children Check requirements, contact us using the details above.

What we’re working on

We’re currently developing a full Child Safe Policy for Leichhardt Saints, aligned to the ten NSW Child Safe Standards, along with a privacy policy. Both will be published on this site once adopted by our Committee.

We’ve published this page now rather than waiting, because knowing what to do if you’re worried about a child shouldn’t have to wait for a document to be finished.

If you’d like to be involved in that work, or you think there’s something we’ve missed, we’d like to hear from you.