Bare-Hugs is committed to continually strengthening its child-safe culture and practices and to implementing the National Principles for Child Safe Organisations across its activities and services.​

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​This policy applies to: Bare-Hugs Pty Ltd, its directors, employees, contractors, mentors, presenters, volunteers, ambassadors and other representatives.

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Bare-Hugs is committed to providing a safe, respectful, inclusive and supportive environment for children and young people who participate in our programs, online community, webinars, mentoring activities and digital services.

Bare-Hugs primarily supports young people aged 16–24. As some members and participants are under 18, Bare-Hugs recognises its responsibility to promote and protect the safety, wellbeing, dignity and rights of children and young people.

We are committed to the National Principles for Child Safe Organisations and to creating an environment in which young people feel safe, respected, heard and able to participate without fear of abuse, exploitation, harassment, discrimination or inappropriate behaviour.

Child safety is everyone's responsibility at Bare-Hugs.

This policy applies to all people representing or working with Bare-Hugs, including directors, staff, contractors, mentors, presenters, volunteers and ambassadors.

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1. Child safety and wellbeing is embedded in organisational leadership, governance and culture

Bare-Hugs is committed to embedding child safety and wellbeing into organisational leadership, governance, decision-making and everyday practice.

The leadership of Bare-Hugs will model respectful, professional and appropriate behaviour and will promote a culture in which the safety and wellbeing of young people is prioritised.

Everyone working with Bare-Hugs is expected to understand their responsibilities for maintaining a child-safe environment and to act consistently with this policy.

Bare-Hugs will:

• maintain a clear commitment to child safety and wellbeing;

• ensure leaders model appropriate and respectful behaviour;

• incorporate child safety considerations into organisational decision-making;

• ensure people working with young people understand their child safety responsibilities;

• maintain appropriate professional boundaries between adults and young people;

• take concerns about the safety or wellbeing of a young person seriously;

• provide appropriate pathways for raising concerns;

• identify and manage risks associated with online and face-to-face activities; and

• regularly review and improve child-safe practices.

Child safety is not the responsibility of one individual. Everyone involved with Bare-Hugs has a role in creating and maintaining a safe environment.

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2. Children and young people are informed about their rights, participate in decisions affecting them and are taken seriously

Bare-Hugs recognises that young people have the right to be safe, respected, heard and treated fairly.

Young people are encouraged to express their views and participate in decisions that affect their experience of Bare-Hugs. Bare-Hugs will:

• provide young people with age-appropriate information about their rights and responsibilities;

• explain how young people can raise concerns or make a complaint;

• provide opportunities for young people to provide feedback;

• listen to young people's views about programs, content and services;

• take concerns raised by young people seriously;

• involve young people in the development and improvement of relevant programs and resources where appropriate; and

• ensure young people are not disadvantaged for expressing a concern or providing feedback.

Bare-Hugs recognises that young people are experts in their own experiences. Their views can help identify risks, improve programs and strengthen the organisation's child-safe culture.

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3. Families and communities are informed and involved in promoting child safety and wellbeing

Bare-Hugs recognises the important role that parents, carers, families and communities can play in supporting the safety and wellbeing of young people.

Where appropriate and consistent with the young person's privacy and legal rights, Bare-Hugs will provide accessible information about its approach to child safety and wellbeing.

Bare-Hugs will:

• make this Child Safety and Wellbeing Policy publicly accessible;

• communicate information about child-safe practices through appropriate channels;

• provide information about how concerns can be raised;

• encourage constructive feedback from families and the broader community;

• consider the views of families and community stakeholders when reviewing child safety practices; and

• work with relevant community, education, youth and professional organisations where appropriate to strengthen safety and wellbeing.

Bare-Hugs recognises that young people aged 18 and over are adults and that privacy and confidentiality must be respected accordingly.

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4. Equity is upheld and diverse needs are respected in policy and practice

Bare-Hugs is committed to providing an inclusive environment in which young people are treated with dignity and respect.

All young people should be able to participate in Bare-Hugs regardless of their background, identity, culture, disability, location, socioeconomic circumstances or other personal circumstances.

Bare-Hugs will:

• promote equality, inclusion and respect;

• not tolerate discrimination, bullying, harassment or vilification;

• seek to make digital content and services accessible;

• consider the different needs and circumstances of young people;

• provide reasonable support for young people experiencing barriers to participation where practicable;

• respect cultural differences and individual circumstances;

• promote culturally safe practices; and

• consider the particular needs of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander young people and other groups who may experience additional barriers to safety or participation.

Bare-Hugs recognises that treating everyone fairly may require different forms of support depending on an individual's circumstances.

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5. People working with children and young people are suitable and supported to reflect child safety and wellbeing values in practice

Bare-Hugs takes reasonable steps to ensure that people working with young people are suitable for their roles and understand their responsibilities.

This includes mentors, presenters, staff, contractors, volunteers and ambassadors who may interact with young people.

Bare-Hugs will:

• carefully consider the suitability of people engaged to work with young people;

• undertake appropriate screening and background checks relevant to the role;

• require Working with Children Checks where legally required and appropriate to the role;

• communicate expectations regarding professional conduct and boundaries;

• provide relevant induction and child safety information;

• provide appropriate supervision and support;

• address conduct that does not meet Bare-Hugs' expectations; and

• take appropriate action where a person's suitability to work with young people is questioned.

Mentors and other people interacting directly with young people are expected to maintain appropriate professional boundaries and to never use their relationship with a young person for personal, inappropriate or exploitative purposes.

Safe recruitment, screening, induction and supervision are recognised as important elements of child-safe practice in WA.

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6. Processes to respond to complaints and concerns are child focused

Bare-Hugs encourages young people to speak up if something makes them feel unsafe, uncomfortable, threatened or disrespected.

Concerns may relate to behaviour by another participant, mentor, staff member, volunteer, presenter or any other person involved with Bare-Hugs.

Bare-Hugs will:

• provide accessible ways for concerns and complaints to be raised;

• take all concerns seriously;

• respond respectfully and without unnecessary delay;

• listen to the person raising the concern;

• protect the privacy of people involved, subject to legal and safety obligations;

• take appropriate action to protect a young person's safety;

• document and manage complaints appropriately;

• escalate matters where required;

• comply with applicable reporting and legal obligations; and

• provide appropriate information and support to people involved in a complaint where practicable.

Young people will not be blamed, punished or disadvantaged simply for raising a genuine safety concern.

Where a concern indicates that a child or young person may be at risk of harm, Bare-Hugs will take appropriate action in accordance with applicable Western Australian legislation and reporting requirements.

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7. Staff and volunteers are equipped with the knowledge, skills and awareness to keep children and young people safe

Bare-Hugs recognises that child safety requires ongoing education, awareness and professional development.

People working with young people will be provided with information and, where appropriate, training relevant to their responsibilities.

Training and information may include:

• recognising signs of abuse, exploitation, grooming or other harm;

• responding appropriately to disclosures;

• maintaining professional boundaries;

• online safety;

• privacy and confidentiality;

• appropriate communication with young people;

• responding to complaints and concerns;

• cultural safety and inclusion;

• understanding relevant reporting obligations; and

• understanding Bare-Hugs' Child Safety and Wellbeing Policy and Code of Conduct.

Bare-Hugs will encourage staff, mentors and volunteers to raise questions when they are uncertain about how to respond to a child safety issue.

People representing Bare-Hugs are expected to respond promptly, appropriately and respectfully when a child safety or wellbeing concern arises.

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8. Physical and online environments promote safety and wellbeing while minimising opportunities for harm

As an online-first organisation, Bare-Hugs recognises that digital environments present particular safety and privacy risks.

Bare-Hugs will take reasonable steps to identify, assess and manage risks associated with:

• online communities;

• websites and digital platforms;

• webinars and live online events;

• group discussions;

• direct communication between participants and mentors;

• user-generated content;

• collection and storage of personal information;

• inappropriate or harmful content;

• cyberbullying and harassment;

• grooming and inappropriate contact; and

• unauthorised sharing of personal information or images.

Bare-Hugs will seek to maintain safe online environments through appropriate measures, which may include:

• moderation and monitoring of relevant online spaces;

• clear community standards and acceptable-use expectations;

• appropriate supervision of online activities involving under-18 participants;

• appropriate screening and training of mentors and other adults interacting with young people;

• mechanisms for reporting inappropriate content or behaviour;

• appropriate review of content involving under-18 participants before publication;

• privacy and information-security measures;

• limiting the collection of personal information to what is reasonably required (we only collect names, age and emails);

• permanently deleting personal information when requested; and

• reviewing online risks as the platform and services develop.

Personal information belonging to young people will be handled in accordance with Bare-Hugs' Privacy Policy and applicable privacy laws.

Bare-Hugs will not knowingly publish identifying or sensitive content involving a child or young person without appropriate consideration of privacy, consent, safety and legal requirements.

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9. Implementation of the National Principles is regularly reviewed and improved

Bare-Hugs recognises that child safety is an ongoing process rather than a one-time exercise.

The organisation will regularly review its child-safe practices to identify emerging risks, areas for improvement and opportunities to strengthen the safety and wellbeing of young people.

Reviews may consider:

• feedback from young people;

• feedback from parents, carers and community stakeholders;

• complaints and concerns;

• incidents and near misses;

• feedback from staff, mentors and volunteers;

• changes to online platforms and technology;

• changes to relevant legislation or guidance;

• emerging online safety risks; and

• recommendations from relevant child safety authorities and professional organisations.

Where a review identifies an area requiring improvement, Bare-Hugs will consider appropriate changes to its policies, procedures, training, technology or practices.

The policy will be reviewed at least annually and following any significant child safety incident or material change to Bare-Hugs' services.

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10. Policies and procedures document how Bare-Hugs is safe for children and young people

Bare-Hugs' commitment to child safety is supported by documented policies, procedures and standards.

These documents will be made accessible to people who need to understand their responsibilities, including staff, mentors, volunteers and, where appropriate, young people and families.

Relevant documents may include:

• Child Safety and Wellbeing Policy;

• Child Safe Code of Conduct;

• Complaints and Concerns Procedure;

• Privacy Policy;

• Online Community Guidelines;

• Mentor and Volunteer Guidelines;

• Risk Management procedures;

• Incident Reporting procedures; and

• relevant recruitment, screening and training procedures.

Bare-Hugs will ensure that people working with young people understand how these policies apply to their roles.

Policies and procedures will be reviewed regularly to ensure they remain relevant, effective and consistent with applicable laws and recognised child-safe practice.

Documenting child-safe policies helps ensure that expectations are understood consistently across an organisation and allows practices to be reviewed and improved.

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Our commitment to young people

Bare-Hugs wants every young person who participates in our community to feel:

Safe. Respected. Heard. Included. Supported.

You have the right to:

• be treated with respect;

• feel safe when participating in Bare-Hugs activities;

• have your views listened to;

• ask questions;

• say no to inappropriate behaviour;

• raise a concern or make a complaint;

• have your privacy respected; and

• receive appropriate support when something goes wrong.

If something happens that makes you feel unsafe or uncomfortable, you can speak up.

Your concern will be taken seriously.​​​​

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Review and approval

Policy owner: Bare-Hugs The Club Pty Ltd
Approved by: Managing Director
Date approved: October 2026
Next review: October 2027

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