What Is
Safeguarding?
Safeguarding is often misunderstood as merely an alternative term for child protection. However, they are not the same, and conflating the two and only focusing on child protection can expose individuals and organisations to other child safety risks.
Both uphold children’s fundamental rights to safety but differ in scope. Safeguarding takes a proactive, preventative approach, addressing the safety and well-being of all children, while child protection is reactive, focusing specifically on protecting children who are at risk of or suffering from abuse or neglect. Together, they create a comprehensive framework that protects and supports all children. Hence, both are required to be child safe.
Safeguarding
Safeguarding is a proactive, holistic approach to child safety that also protects staff and organisations by addressing potential harm before it occurs. It covers the full spectrum of vulnerability, working to prevent risks of harm and abuse in both physical and online environments. While it includes child protection, safeguarding goes beyond its reactive focus.
Crucially, safeguarding enables the early identification of risks and ensures that any risks that cannot be fully eliminated remain low-level, preventing them from escalating or becoming entrenched. It is a shared responsibility across the workforce, involving proactive practices that promote well-being for everyone and aim to prevent harm, including abuse.
Child Protection
Although safeguarding includes child protection, the reverse is not true. Child protection refers to the actions taken to protect a child or young person who is believed to be suffering from, or at risk of, abuse or neglect.
Child protection is primarily reactive, as it usually involves responding to harm that has already occurred or to immediate risks of serious harm. Concerns related to abuse and neglect are high-risk and can be life-threatening. Due to the severity of these risks, organisations have a responsibility to report child protection concerns to government agencies such as Oranga Tamariki or the Police.
Typically, these decisions rest with the organisation’s management or, where available, designated child safety staff. However, under Section 15 of the Oranga Tamariki Act 1989, any person who believes that a child or young person has been, or is likely to be, harmed, ill-treated, abused, or neglected may report their concerns directly to child protection services.
Child safety risks aren’t confined to a child’s personal environment. They can also arise within organisations, and no part of the children’s workforce is immune from having case examples.
Child Safe Organisations don’t just happen. They must be actively created.
As experts in organisational safeguarding, we support a wide range of establishments through various approaches to child safeguarding and protection. Whether you need to evidence compliance with legislative and sector requirements, embed essential safeguards that go beyond basic compliance and strengthen other key practice areas, or fully integrate best practice Child Safe Organisation Principles to foster a strong safeguarding culture, we are here to help.
Let us guide your organisation toward having the essential safeguards in place to become a truly child-safe organisation. Contact us today to learn more and take the first step towards embedding practical, tailored child safety at the heart of your operations.