Child Safety Policy and Code of Conduct

Hollier Sports
Last updated: 23 November 2026. Next review: 23 November 2026 + 12 months.

Our Commitment

Hollier Sports exists to develop great players and good people, and none of that matters if children aren't safe with us. The safety and wellbeing of every child in our programs comes before everything else. We're committed to being a place where children are protected from harm, listened to, and treated with respect, and where families can trust the people we put in front of their kids.

This policy sets out how we keep children safe and what we expect from everyone who works with them. It applies across all of our programs, including development classes, after-school programs, holiday programs and the Academy, for every child aged 5 to 15 in our care. It applies to every coach, employee, contractor and volunteer, whether they work with children directly or not.

We follow the ACT Child Safe Standards, which became a legal requirement for organisations working with children on 1 August 2024. The sections below are how those standards show up in the way we actually run Hollier Sports.

The Standards We Hold Ourselves To

Child safety is built into how we lead and run the business, not treated as a box to tick. The head of Hollier Sports holds overall responsibility for child safety, and we've nominated a Child Safety Officer as the first point of contact for any concern.

Children are told about their rights, encouraged to speak up, and taken seriously when they do. We let kids know that it's always okay to tell a coach if something doesn't feel right, and we listen when they do.

Families and the wider community are part of keeping children safe. We keep parents and guardians informed, we welcome questions, and we make our policies easy to find and easy to read.

Equity is upheld and every child's needs are respected. We make our programs work for children of all backgrounds and abilities, including children with additional needs through our Individualised Soccer Support Plan, and we're committed to being culturally safe and welcoming for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and families, and for children from all cultural backgrounds, faiths and identities.

The people who work with children are suitable and supported. Everyone in a coaching or supervisory role holds a current Working with Vulnerable People registration before they start, and we check references and induct every new staff member into this policy and our code of conduct.

Our process for responding to concerns is built around the child. We take every concern seriously, we act on it, and we keep the child's safety and voice at the centre of how we respond.

Our staff have the knowledge and skills to keep children safe. Coaches are inducted into this policy, hold a current first aid qualification, and know how to recognise and respond to signs that a child may be at risk.

Our physical and online spaces are set up to reduce the chance of harm. We think about supervision, sightlines, drop-off and pick-up, and how we use photos and social media, so that children are safe both in person and online.

We review how we're doing and keep improving. We review this policy at least once a year, and after any significant incident, and we update it as our programs grow.

We document how we keep children safe. Our policies, our incident records and our staff requirements are written down, kept up to date, and followed in practice.

Our Code of Conduct

Everyone who works with children at Hollier Sports agrees to this code. It's the line between the coaching and care we want, and behaviour that has no place in our programs.

Our coaches and staff will:

• Treat every child with respect, patience and encouragement, and coach in a positive way that builds confidence.

• Put each child's safety and wellbeing first, in every decision, on and off the pitch.

• Keep their interactions with children open and observable, and avoid being alone with a child out of sight of others wherever possible.

• Use physical contact only when it's needed for coaching a skill, for safety, or for first aid, and do it with care and with the child's awareness.

• Listen to children, take their concerns seriously, and pass on anything that worries them.

• Hold a current Working with Vulnerable People registration and follow this policy at all times.
  
  

Our coaches and staff will not:

• Use physical punishment, or any discipline that frightens, humiliates or demeans a child.

• Use inappropriate, aggressive or sexualised language around children.

• Form a private or secret relationship with a child, including private messaging or contact on social media or personal phones.

• Share images of a child outside the consent and channels set out in our Photo and Media Consent.

• Transport a child on their own, or take a child away from the group or the venue, except in a genuine emergency.

• Ignore, cover up or fail to report a concern about a child's safety.
  
  

A breach of this code is treated seriously and may lead to a staff member being stood down or removed, and to a report being made to the relevant authority.

If You're Worried About A Child

If your child is ever seriously injured or unsafe in our care, we will act first to keep them safe, call an ambulance if it's needed, and contact you as soon as we can.

If you ever have a concern that a child is being harmed or is at risk, whether at Hollier Sports or anywhere else, we want to hear it and we will act on it. You can raise it with our Child Safety Officer, Daniel Hollier-Smith, at coachdan@holliersports.com or 0450 078 401. We won't dismiss it, and we won't make you feel awkward for speaking up.

Some matters we are required to take further, and we will:

• If a child is in immediate danger, we call the police on 000.

• If we believe a child is being abused or neglected, we contact ACT Policing on 131 444 or Child and Youth Protection Services.

• If a concern involves the conduct of one of our own staff or volunteers, we report it to the ACT Ombudsman under the Reportable Conduct Scheme, alongside any report to police, and we cooperate fully with any investigation.
  
  

Our coaches understand these pathways and treat reporting as an obligation, not a choice. Raising a concern in good faith is always the right thing to do, and no one will be disadvantaged for doing it.

How We Handle Concerns and Complaints

If you have a worry, a question or a complaint about your child's experience with us, you can reach us through our feedback and complaints process or by contacting the Child Safety Officer directly. We treat every concern respectfully and deal with it promptly, with the head coach involved where needed, and we keep the focus on the child throughout. This sits alongside our Behaviour Management Plan, which covers how we support and respond to children's behaviour in sessions.

Keeping Information Safe

When you share information about your child with us, including health and additional-needs information, we handle it with care and keep it within our coaching team. How we collect, use and protect personal information is set out in our Privacy Policy.

Who's Responsible and How to Reach Us

Child Safety Officer: Daniel Hollier-Smith
Email: coachdan@holliersports.com. Phone: 0450 078 401.

If you'd like to talk to someone outside Hollier Sports, you can contact the ACT Human Rights Commission, which oversees the ACT Child Safe Standards, or the ACT Ombudsman about reportable conduct.