Early Learning and Out of School Hours care services exist to uphold children’s rights and honour their childhood. Recent ABC reporting has laid bare failures that have enabled egregious breaches of trust and safety in some of those services.
We share the outrage of the community at these and other reports of child sexual abuse, and our thoughts are with the children and families affected. We remain committed to working with the NSW government to do everything possible to keep children safe.
While State and Commonwealth Governments have taken significant action to address child safety, it’s clear more is required to build a system that works seamlessly to ensure strong child safety and quality outcomes, from service planning and approvals, to who gets to work in the sector, to how regulators work with providers to address issues when they arise.
As a purpose-driven organisation, we reaffirm our unwavering commitment to child safety and wellbeing. We have a culture where safeguarding children is not just a regulatory obligation – it is a moral imperative shared by every person who works with us. In response to the issues raised, Big Fat Smile stands for and commits to the following:
- Embedding a Culture of Vigilance: Child safety is at the heart of every decision, policy, and practice in our services. We are committed to fostering environments where vigilance is second nature and where every adult understands their role in protecting children.
- Strong Governance and Accountability: Our organisation embeds robust, transparent governance frameworks that ensure accountability at every level. We invest in and demand rigorous recruitment, induction, and supervision processes, and zero-tolerance of misconduct.
- Ongoing Professional Development: We make substantial investments in continuous professional learning to ensure our educators and staff are equipped to recognise, prevent, and respond to signs of grooming and abuse. This includes rigorous and ongoing mandatory child protection training.
- A Culture of Speaking Up: We are committed to creating psychologically safe workplaces where staff feel empowered and supported to raise concerns without fear of reprisal. We provide strong protections for whistleblowers and mandatory reporters, and support efforts for sector-wide protections.
- Listening to Children: We recognise that children are often the first to disclose harm. We train and resource our staff to listen carefully and act swiftly and appropriately on any concerns raised by children in our care.
- Sector-Wide Reform: We support the government in their stewardship role to provide oversight, drive continuous improvement, and ensure that child safety is never compromised.
We want to reassure our families that every educator, teacher, cook, and head office staff member at Big Fat Smile holds a verified Working With Children Check and undergoes comprehensive screening, induction, and ongoing supervision. Our internal audits and external assessments continually test and strengthen our safety practices.
Our approach aligns with the National Principles for Child Safe Organisations, ensuring our policies, environments, and culture uphold the highest standards of care and accountability.
As families place significant trust in our sector, we uphold it through consistent action, transparency, and an unwavering commitment to continual improvement. Child safety is a shared responsibility, so we invite families to speak with us about concerns so we can protect and empower every child in our education and care environments.
Kind regards,
Kim Bertino
CEO, Big Fat Smile
