The Reportable Conduct Scheme covers sensitive topics, including child harm and abuse. We encourage anyone affected by, or with concerns about, child sexual abuse or other types of child abuse to access advice and support on our Wellbeing and support services page.
Our Reportable Conduct Scheme resources provide an introduction to the Reportable Conduct Scheme. They reference key elements of the Child and Youth Safe Organisations Act 2023. They do not fully detail the legislation and is not legal advice.
We suggest starting with Understanding the Reportable Conduct Scheme.
For the complete set of resources, see the Reportable Conduct Scheme Practice Workbook.
Understanding the Reportable Conduct Scheme
By the end of this section, you’ll understand:
- if the Reportable Conduct Scheme applies to your organisation
- what the Reportable Conduct Scheme is and how it works
- how and when you would notify the OIR.
Identifying reportable conduct
By the end of this section, you’ll understand:
- what the different types of reportable conduct are
- how to assess different scenarios and determine whether they are reportable conduct or not
- what lawful justification or excuse and minor, trivial, or negligible mean when it comes to physical violence.
Supporting children and young people to raise concerns
By the end of this section, you’ll understand:
- the supports and practices that help children and young people feel confident to raise concerns
- the barriers children and young people may face when raising concerns, including those that could exist in your organisation
- how your current practices may already promote safety and trust, and how they can be further strengthened.
Access Supporting children and young people to raise concerns here
Identifying and managing immediate risks
By the end of this section, you’ll understand:
- what to consider when identifying and assessing immediate risks to children and young people
- how to write down risks and outline clear and practical ways to
reduce those risks - what a proportionate risk response means and looks like.
Identifying and managing conflicts of interest
By the end of this section, you’ll understand:
- the different conflict of interest types
- how well and poorly handled conflicts of interest can impact on the integrity of an investigation
- how to identify and consider whether conflicts of interest are present
- how to practically manage different conflicts of interest
Child-centred practices during investigations
By the end of this section, you’ll understand:
- what it looks like when an investigation is centred on children and young people
- how your current investigation practices may already reflect a child-centred approach
- practical steps to strengthen a culture of centring children and young people during investigations.
Upholding procedural fairness
By the end of this section, you’ll understand:
- what procedural fairness is
- why procedural fairness is important in reportable conduct investigations
- how procedural fairness principles apply in reportable conduct investigations.
Weighing evidence and determining outcomes
By the end of this section, you’ll understand:
- the difference between strong, moderate, weak, and irrelevant evidence
- what the balance of probabilities means in practice
- how to use evidence to decide investigation outcomes
- the various possible outcomes in a reportable conduct investigation.
Learning and improving from investigations
By the end of this section, you’ll understand:
- how to use those findings to strengthen organisational practices,
policies, and environments - how to identify practical next steps and prevent similar incidents in the future.
Seeking help?
We encourage anyone affected by, or with concerns about, child sexual abuse or other types of child abuse to access advice and support on our Wellbeing and support services page.