The importance of the retention of child safety records
The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse (RCIRCSA) published a report called ‘Final Report Volume 13 – Schools’ in 2017. It recommended that records relating to child sexual abuse, which has occurred or is alleged to have occurred, be retained for at least 45 years after the incident.
Since 1st July 2022, private schools in Victoria now need to adhere to a new Ministerial Order No. 1359 aligning records management policies with the Public Records Office Victoria (PROV). Files containing child safety information need to be retained at least 45 years after the incident, however, the PROV says that they may need to be kept longer for future legal proceedings. (Source: Creating, Managing and Retaining Records for Current or Future Child Sexual Abuse Allegations, by The Public Record Office Victoria). This is in part driven by the fact that it takes on average 23 years before children report abuse. Hence the need to ensure records are protected and accessible long term. For government schools in Victoria it has just been extended to 75 years! (Source: https://prov.vic.gov.au/about-us/our-blog/new-rda-victorian-government-schools )
In NSW, reference is made to ‘Volume 8 Recordkeeping and information sharing’ of the Final Report of the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, which made several recordkeeping recommendations including ‘Recommendation 8.1’. It states that to allow for delayed disclosure of abuse by victims and to take account of limitation periods for civil actions for child sexual abuse, institutions that engage in child-related work should retain, for at least 45 years, records relating to child sexual abuse that has occurred or is alleged to have occurred.
How can Private Schools best comply with these requirements for the retention of Child Safety Records?
Many Private Schools around Australia are aware of the need for compliance, however sometimes they are not completely sure how to manage their education records correctly, securely and efficiently to comply with these requirements. There are several aspects to consider:
- Long term retention & protection of records: a solution is needed that will protect & maintain the records for more than 45 years or indefinitely. One solution is to digitise these child records and to hold several digital backups off-site, to avoid original paper-based documents deteriorating from usage, old age, or destruction by fire or flood.
- Privacy & integrity of the records: the sensitive nature of the content of these records makes them highly confidential and they can provide critical information in a future court case. It is therefore essential to ensure that they are not leaked, stolen nor altered in any way. One reliable way to restrict access to the records and make sure only those people with the required authority can do so, is to use secured digital access.
The digitisation of these records is done through careful scanning and digital filing & storage on secure servers for easy retrieval at a future date. The retention period can be adjusted to meet the compliance requirements.
Additional benefits of digitising a wider range of education records
Beyond securing the long-term retention of Child Safety records, the digitisation of other education records can bring further benefits.
Schools regularly manage a whole range of student education records, which if digitised, can then provide increased efficiencies to a school’s processes through automated alerts & reminders.
Examples can include the following:
- Enrolment documents – an automated checklist to other departments
- Student Education Reports – reminders for the completion or update of reports
- Medical reports – reminders for overdue vaccinations etc
- School excursion form – reminders to parents to complete the forms
- Emergency contact details – renewal notifications
There are also the School HR Records which are important to manage effectively, and document digitisation could also be the answer. The records can range from interviews, onboarding, performance management, compliance documents and Offboarding/termination. Taking compliance documents as an example, such as ‘Working with Children Checks’, Visa and Police Checks, once digitised, renewal and missing document notifications can easily be set up for when these are overdue.
So, while your school reflects upon the need to comply with these new Child Abuse Record requirements, it might be the time to also consider the wider opportunities brought by the digitisation of your education records.
Want expert advice and help with digitizing and accessing your important documents more efficiently & effectively? Compu-Stor is an Australian owned family business specialising in information and records management solutions and services, which already works with Private Schools to help them with their record keeping in education. From document, media & data storage to digital scanning, business process automation and consulting services, Compu-Stor provides a wide range of solutions using the latest technologies & methodologies to deliver secure & efficient services.
Through its Digital Transformation Solutions, Compu-Stor helps maximise the accessibility and flow of information within organisations. With offices across Australia, Compu-Stor works with its customers to provide cost-effective and secure solutions tailored to their needs.
Contact us today for a free initial exchange to see how we can help you: 1300 559 778
For more information, visit our website at https://www.compu-stor.com.au/ .
