Reportable Conduct SchemeAustralia
New South Wales
NSWEstablished framework

New South Wales

Framework & Regulation

RegulatorOffice of the Children's Guardian (OCG)
LegislationChildren's Guardian Act 2019

Notification Timeframes

Initial Notification 7 business days; Final Report 30 calendar days (or a request for extension with an interim progress update).

Initial
7 business days
Final
30 calendar days

Training Requirements

OCG monitors training under the Child Safe Standards. While the Act specifies "regular" training, the OCG’s audit criteria evaluate whether frontline staff receive annual refreshers on identifying reportable conduct thresholds vs performance issues.

Child Safe Standards Induction

All new staff, volunteers and contractors before commencing child-related workOn induction (once), prior to any unsupervised contact

Foundational induction covering the organisation’s child-safe policy, code of conduct, professional boundaries, and how to raise a concern. Completion must be recorded against each worker.

Reportable Conduct & Threshold Recognition

All staff and volunteers; intensive for managers and the entity headAnnual refresher

Teaches the difference between a performance/HR matter and reportable conduct (sexual offences/misconduct, physical violence, significant emotional or psychological harm, and significant neglect of a child), and the legal duty to notify the regulator.

Mandatory Reporting & Identifying Harm

All workers in child-related rolesAnnual refresher

Recognising indicators of abuse and neglect and the separate obligation to report risk of significant harm to child protection or police, which runs alongside (not instead of) reportable conduct notification.

Code of Conduct & Professional Boundaries

All staff, volunteers and contractorsAnnual acknowledgement and refresher

Re-affirms acceptable and prohibited behaviours, online/communication boundaries, gift and physical-contact rules, and the consequences of breaches.

Cultural Safety & Inclusion

All staff and volunteersAnnual

Culturally safe practice for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children, children with disability, and children from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds, aligned to the National Principles for Child Safe Organisations.

Respect at Work

All staff, managers and leadersAnnual

Reportable Conduct Scheme program on preventing and responding to workplace sexual harassment and discrimination, and meeting the positive duty under the Sex Discrimination Act 1984 (Cth) introduced by the Respect@Work reforms.

Psychological Safety at Work

All staff, managers and leadersAnnual

Reportable Conduct Scheme program on building a psychologically safe workplace and identifying and managing psychosocial hazards in line with WHS psychosocial regulations and codes of practice.

Psychosocial Hazards in the Workplace

All staff, managers and leadersAnnual

Reportable Conduct Scheme program on identifying, assessing and controlling psychosocial hazards at work in line with the model WHS Regulations and the Managing psychosocial hazards at work Code of Practice.

Reportable Conduct vs Performance Management

All frontline staff and managersAnnual refresher (OCG audit expectation)

OCG audit criteria expect demonstrable annual training on distinguishing a reportable allegation from an ordinary HR or performance issue.

Child Safe Standards (NSW) Implementation

Safeguarding leads and governanceAnnual

Embedding the NSW Child Safe Standards and evidencing continuous improvement for OCG monitoring.

Whistleblowing & Public Interest Disclosure

All staff, managers and board; designated eligible recipients and whistleblower protection officersAnnual

Handling protected disclosures under the Public Interest Disclosures Act 2022 (NSW) for the public sector, including confidentiality, protection from detriment and reprisal, and the role of eligible recipients. It also covers the Commonwealth whistleblower protections in Part 9.4AAA of the Corporations Act 2001 (strengthened by the Treasury Laws Amendment (Enhancing Whistleblower Protections) Act 2019) for companies and not-for-profits, and the Public Interest Disclosure Act 2013 (Cth) for the Australian Government public sector.

Investigations

Under the Security Industry Act 1997 (NSW), any external consultant conducting fact-finding interviews or assessing witness credibility for commercial gain must hold a Class 2E (Private Investigator) Licence. Internal HR or safeguarding employees are exempt while acting within their employment scope.

Audits & Processes

  • OCG self-assessment against Child Safe StandardsAnnual

    Complete the OCG self-audit tools and retain evidence of policies, training records and complaint handling.

  • Reportable conduct file reviewPer matter and annual sampling

    Ensure each investigation applies the civil standard (Briginshaw), procedural fairness, and meets the 7-day notification and 30-day final-report timeframes.

  • Working With Children Check verificationAnnual and at renewal

    Confirm valid WWCC clearances for all workers and that bar/interim-bar notifications are actioned.