We have aligned our policies and practices to the National Model Code and Guidelines, developed by ACECQA and all Governments, to promote a child safe culture when it comes to taking, sharing and storing images or videos of children.
These include:
- Personal devices (such as tablets, phones, digital cameras, smart watches) and personal storage or file transfer media (such as SD cards, USB drives, hard drives, and cloud storage) of staff as well as visitors, students, volunteers and contractors, must be kept in a secure location and never in the possession of any person while working with children. Any exceptions for limited, essential purposes must be authorised in writing by the Centre Director.
- We only ever use Goodstart-issued devices when taking images or videos of children. We only share images with the informed and explicit consent of parents/guardians.
- Visitors working or volunteering with children are only permitted to use business/employer issued devices (i.e. laptops and tablets) where it is required to perform their professional functions (i.e. taking notes/observations, filling in forms, part of a child’s therapeutic treatment such as speech therapy applications etc.) where it would impede their ability to carry out their professional function without it. Risk mitigation protocols are in place, including:
- No business/employer issued phones are permitted for use by visitors working or volunteering with children when in Goodstart learning environments.
- The approval to use a business/employer issued device is granted and recorded by the Centre Director.
- The camera of the approved business/employer issued device (laptop or tablet) is physically covered for the duration of the visit.