Dealing with Minors/Child Protection

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Dealing with Minors/Child Protection

Defence owes a duty of care to all Defence personnel, volunteers, visitors and any other persons where it is reasonably foreseeable that such persons may be affected by Defence's conduct. In discharging this duty, Defence must ensure that it meets the appropriate standard of care required in relation to each of those persons.

In particular, the standard of care required in relation to minors is a very high standard because the law recognises that minors fall into a class of person described as ' vulnerable'.

Additionally, some persons who have contact with minors are required to undertake 'working with children' checks. Each State and Territory has different legislative requirements relating to these checks, including who must undertake them, and in what circumstances. Generally speaking, ADF members and Defence APS employees in Australia are not currently required by State or Territory legislation to specifically undertake these or other types of police checks in order to supervise minors completing work experience placements in Defence.

That said, Defence still has a duty of care in respect of any minors under its supervision. This includes putting in place processes to ensure that Defence personnel selected to supervise minors are suitable and do not pose a risk to those minors, for example, by confirming that supervisors have already undergone police checks as part of their initial security clearance and ensuring appropriate gender balances ( eg. female supervisors for female minors , male supervisors for male minors, etc).