Greg was chairperson for today’s club meeting at Cilantro. Ron performed invocation and Tony performed the loyal toast. John read the poem by John McCrae called " In Flanders Field" to commemorate Remembrance Day. Glenda and Karin joined the meeting via Zoom. A buffet breakfast was catered by Holmesglen Certificate IV students as part of their Certificate IV Commercial Cookery course.
PRESIDENT ANNOUNCEMENTS – President Margaret
- President Margaret welcomed Ken Mirams, our District 9810 Youth Protection Chair. She reminded everyone of the evening meeting on 30/11 where John Le Marshall will be our guest speaker. This will be a fellowship evening and friends and family are welcome.
GUEST SPEAKER – Ken Mirams – District 9810 Youth Protection Chair
- Ken provided a PowerPoint presentation titled Youth Protection Club Training to explain the current Rotary Youth Protection policies and procedures for clubs and Rotarians when engaging in youth programs involving youths under the age of 18. Below are some of the main points and requirements covered:
- Prior to the program
- Risk Assessment submitted to the club board and district
- The youth program must have board approval and be recorded in the board meeting minutes
- All participating Rotarians and volunteers require a WWCC (Working with Children Certificate) and receive training in the current requirements of the Rotary Youth Protection Policy.
- Volunteers and new Rotarians require a signed Volunteer form, provide names of 3 referees and be checked, be club approved and be trained
- A record must be kept of all participants in the program - Ken provided an example of a Risk Assessment Report and explained the various elements making up the risk assessment, explaining the focus should be on High Risk and developing an action plan to help mitigate and reduce the risk. 3 or 4 members should participate in the Risk Assessment.
- 5 main steps need to be carried out if a child reports an incident:
- Protect the child from further abuse
- Report the incident to police – which is a requirement of the law
- Remove the accused adult from all contact with youth
- Report the incident to Rotary International within 72 hours
- Protect the privacy of all parties involved in the incident - Reporting and Online Safety
- Rotary now has an online reporting option on the Rotary Website for reporting incidents. - Youth Online Programs
- Zoom meetings with youths are permissible with the following provisos:
- Need to consider the risks and actions
- Obtain parental consent
- The Zoom Host must control the online meeting process - Our Youth Protection Policy and Processes are designed to Protect Children, they align with Rotary Values and Brand, and It is the Law.
- Statistics show the number of reported incidents Australia wide is rising: 2015-2016 – 356,000; 2016-2017 – 379,000 and 2017-2018 – 396,000. - Updates for Victorian Child Safe Standards 2016
- The Victorian Child Safe Standards were established in 2016 and had the following updates released in July 2022:
- The requirement to Involve and inform families in decisions how their child will be managed in an youth program; a greater focus on the safety of aboriginal, disabled and ethnic children and their cultural needs in Rotary programs. Managing the risk of child abuse in online Rotary programs. Rotary Youth policies need to be easy to understand and follow. - Training
- The district runs Youth Protection Workshops and all Rotarians involved in Youth programs must read, understand and adopt the Rotary Australian Youth Policy for all activities involving youths under 18. It is important to understand our obligations and the law.
- Online training is available for all Rotarians and Ken invited members to contact him for any assistance. Ken concluded his presentation by answering questions from club members. - Greg added our club is well placed with required documentation and risk assessments of club youth programs stored for reference if required.
ROSTERS – upcoming rosters were announced
CLUB ANNOUNCEMENTS
- Club meeting 7/12 – will be held at Moorabbin Airport with an option to tour the Aviation Museum after the meeting. Club members need to advise if planning to attend for catering purposes.
- Club meeting 30/11 – will be an evening meeting at Cilantro with guest speaker John Le Marshall. Club members need to advise if planning to attend for catering purposes.
- Club Board Nominations – the club AGM will be held on 23/11 - however Greg will announce nominations for the various board positions at next week’s meeting
MEETING CLOSE
- President Margaret closed the meeting with this current Rotary theme – Engage Rotary
