Commonwealth Child Safe Framework compliance statement

A Statement of Commitment to child safety

Professional Services Review (PSR) currently has no direct interactions with children in our day-to-day business activity, however we recognise that it is the shared responsibility of all government agencies to prevent child exploitation and abuse. The welfare of children will always be a priority. PSR has zero tolerance for child abuse and exploitation, and any allegations and concerns for safety of children and young people will be treated most seriously. The Director has an obligation under section 106XA of the Health Insurance Act 1973 to refer a matter to the relevant State or Territory authority if the Director, a Committee, or the Determining Authority, come across material in the course of their duties that indicates that a practitioner’s conduct or failure to act. PSR believes that all children have a right to feel safe, respected, valued and protected from harm. PSR will not knowingly engage – directly or indirectly – with anyone who poses a threat to children.

If any PSR activity is determined to have an impact on children an assessment of child safety risk will be completed and, depending on the level of risk identified, the appropriate child safety measures will be applied to manage the risk.

PSR has completed a child safety risk assessment.  PSR notes that there could be high consequences should there be an occurrence and therefore assigns a risk rating of medium.   

Such a risk rating requires the development and implementation of a range of controls to manage or mitigate the risk. Controls include any policy, procedure, practice, process, technology, technique, method, or device that modifies the risk. All patient records are securely stored and are only available to staff who require access to perform their duties. Should children of staff be in the office we require the parent to monitor the children at all times.

In considering the need to undertake a risk assessment in future years, PSR will consider any types of contact and interactions with children and young people that may occur including:

• direct physical contact
• face-to-face contact
• third party contact
• oral communication
• written communication
• electronic communication.

If in the future PSR employees are required to undertake any type of activity where there will be a direct interaction with a child, or interactions with children, risk assessments will be conducted and appropriate strategies put in place to manage the identified risks.

PSR has taken reasonable and necessary steps to be ‘child safe’. There are four core requirements under the Commonwealth Child Safe Framework and actions against each requirement are outlined in the table below:

This Statement of Commitment was approved by the PSR Director (Accountable Authority) on 29 September 2023.