Child Safety Statement of Compliance 2025
This statement sets out our work to achieve compliance with the Commonwealth Child Safety Framework (the Framework) and details of the National Library of Australia’s:
- Commitment to child safety
- Outcomes of our child safety risk assessment
- Compliance with the framework
- 2025-26 Child safety initiatives.
Commitment to child safety
The National Library of Australia (the Library) is committed to the safety and wellbeing of children and young people. Our focus is to maintain a safe, respectful, welcoming and inclusive environment where children and young people can engage with our collections and services.
Our interaction with children
The Library collects and preserves material relating to Australia and the Australian people and makes it available to the public. The Library’s vision is to connect all Australians with the collections, to enrich understanding about who we are and our place in the world. Through access to the collection, the Library aims to enhance learning, knowledge creation, enjoyment, and contribute to Australian life and society.
As a place of education, learning and enjoyment, the Library is frequently used by children and young people. Our building in Parkes Place, Canberra offers large public spaces, including our modern and comfortable reading rooms for research and study. We also provide a more informal space which is very popular with students.
The Library has developed curriculum-based school programs for years 5 to 12. These programs draw on the Library's exhibitions, collections and reading rooms and act as a springboard to encourage students to find out more about Australian history and culture. We offer two programs that are tailored to the needs of primary and secondary school students which are delivered by our dedicated education staff. All our education staff are required to satisfy national police checks and hold a Working with Vulnerable People registration.
The education team also develops and delivers bespoke school holiday and other public programs for children that draw upon the Library’s collections, exhibitions and publications.
The Library provides a dedicated space in the Main Reading Room where parents and guardians can access and read age-appropriate books, or participate in craft activity with the young people in their care.
The library also offers a vibrant range of public programming events designed to support Library objectives. These public programs include launch events for the children’s books we have published. They also include working with strategic partners to promote children’s reading, showcase the abilities of young people, and entertain and delight children and their families.
The Library welcomes Australians of all ages. Daily tours of the Library are undertaken by Library volunteers and the security team and library staff are on hand to effect child safety policies and support a safe and welcoming environment for all.
For all these activities, parents and guardians must attend with the children under their supervision.
Outcomes of our annual risk assessment
In accordance with the Commonwealth Child Safety Framework, the Library conducted a comprehensive risk assessment. The assessment, to which staff from across the Library contributed, found that while the Library’s overall risk rating was medium, treatment strategies could reduce this rating to low.
These treatment strategies include:
- A comprehensive update of the Library’s Child Safety and Wellbeing Policy.
- New requirements for Library staff that may, in the course of their duties, interact with children, to complete a new child safety training package and attain a Working with Vulnerable People registration.
- A new requirement for all Library staff to complete an online training module on the Commonwealth Child Safety Framework.
- A review and update of the Library’s public WiFi service to align content filtering settings with the Library’s ‘Acceptable use of Electronic Resources Policy’.
The Library has worked towards implementation of these strategies throughout 2025. This work will continue throughout 2026.
Compliance with the framework
The Library has considered the four key requirements of the Commonwealth Child Safe Framework. Following is a summary of the Library’s compliance with these requirements.
| Core requirement | Compliance level |
|---|---|
| Undertake risk assessment reviews annually in relation to activities of the entity, to identify the level of responsibility for, and contact with, children, evaluate risks to child safety, and put in place appropriate strategies to manage identified risks. | Compliant. A risk assessment has been completed and strategies developed to address risk. These strategies have been incorporated into the Library’s comprehensively updated Child Safety and Wellbeing Policy. |
| Establish and maintain a system of training and compliance, to make staff aware of, and comply with, the Framework and relevant legislation, including Working with Children Checks (WWCCs)/Working with Vulnerable People (WWVP) Checks and mandatory reporting requirements. | Compliance in progress. The Library’s Child Safety and Wellbeing Policy has been comprehensively updated and includes new training which will be implemented in 2026. |
| Adopt and implement the National Principles for Child Safe Organisations. | Compliant. The Library’s new Child Safety and Wellbeing Policy sets out the National Principles and includes actions that the Library will adopt to implement them. |
| Publish an annual statement of compliance with the framework, including an overview of the entity’s child safety risk assessment (conducted under Requirement 1). | Compliant. |
2025-26 Child safety initiatives
In October 2021, the Library implemented a Child Safety and Wellbeing Policy which detailed the Library’s commitment to maintaining safe physical and online environments for children. Commencing in the second half of 2024, this policy was comprehensively reviewed and updated to achieve compliance with the Commonwealth Child Safety Framework. The new policy was endorsed by the Library Executive in late 2025.
A comprehensive risk assessment was conducted to inform the development of the new policy and treatment strategies were developed to address unacceptable risks. These treatments were included in the new policy and timelines for their implementation have been agreed. These are scheduled to be completed by the end of 2026.