The Y has been on a significant safeguarding journey dating back to 2009 when we first engaged the Australian Childhood Foundation to help us review our safeguarding practice.

We commit to continually putting the safety and wellbeing of children and young people above everything else we do and ensuring that all children and young people can feel safe and be safe at the Y,

in their families and in their communities.

Over the last 12 years, we have transformed our approach to safeguarding children and young people by creating and maintaining safe cultures, operations and environments at all of our Member Ys.

The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse handed down their final Report four years ago, outlining recommendations for organisations across Australia to improve their responses to the safety and wellbeing of all children and young people.

Since the Report, the Y has continued to set industry benchmarks in our safeguarding practice, of which we are pleased to share with you in this Progress Report.

We have learnt that we must always see the world through the eyes of children and young people and must intentionally put the needs of children and young people first, something we are very proud to

acknowledge we are doing. We’ve also learnt that we must hear the voices of survivors of child abuse and enact their wishes to ensure no child or young person ever should experience any form of abuse.

We’re also extremely proud of the progress we have made since last year’s report to the Royal Commission.

This year we saw our National Safeguarding Unit’s transition to Y Safeguarding, the Y’s first safeguarding charity with harm prevention status; and the development and implementation of our new Safeguarding Children and Young People

Licensing Standards.

Childhood is a time to have fun, be carefree, splash around, play games – and we’re working hard to make sure that the Y is a great place to enjoy being a child or young person.

We will continue to prioritise safeguarding at the Y to enable childhood to be enjoyed, as it should, in our programs and our communities.

Link to the Y’s 2021 Royal Commission Report here.

Ben Hubbard, President, Y Australia, and Chris Lewis, President, Y Safeguarding