The children and young persons policy sets out a basic framework and the major risks that individual dojos need to address through written procedures for their own particular operations as many things are quite site-specific. Some sample policies have been suggested in the appendix as a guide and may be adopted or modified by individual dojos.
Incidents involving children or the accusation of such can be damaging and highly emotive. Criminology statistics suggest that the greatest danger to children comes not just from strangers but also from people they know and those who are in positions of authority. Our association’s insurance policy needs to guard against this and the accusation of such, though of course we hope all members adopt a similar outlook whether or not part of the group policy.
Additional sample child related-policies (see appendix), at the time of writing (2008), we believe can meet the requirements of the Queensland Government working with young people guidelines when coupled with a “Blue card” suitability check. Requirements in other states will vary Victoria currently has requirements for a police check and NSW does not. The children and young persons commission in Queensland does not provide advice on what constitutes ‘compliance’ with their requirements. Therefore we are unable to make any guarantees and so provide these policies in good faith and recommend each dojo make their own determination and assessment.