Child Safe Compliance

The Commonwealth Child Safe Framework 2022 (CCSF) sets minimum standards for creating and maintaining child safe culture and practices for Australian Government entities, and is mandatory for all Commonwealth non-corporate entities.

Under Requirement 4 of the CCSF, Commonwealth entities are required to publish an annual statement of compliance with the Framework, including an overview of the entity’s child safety risk assessment. Entities with minimal interaction with children may have a simple, high‑level statement of commitment.

Statement of Compliance

The Productivity Commission is committed to the safety of children and safeguarding children from abuse, neglect and exploitation. The Commission seeks to create and maintain behaviours, practices and an organisational culture that acknowledges the importance of child safety and wellbeing.

The Commission is the Australian Government's independent research and advisory body on a range of economic, social and environmental issues affecting the welfare of Australians. The nature of our work means that we have minimal and infrequent direct interactions with children across our activities and functions. Accordingly, the Commission considers the overall risk to child safety associated with its work program is low.

Throughout 2021-22, on the limited occasions we engaged with children, we ensured that this was done respectfully, sensitively and responsibly. We have been guided by experts when engaging with children to ensure that children’s safety and wellbeing is our highest priority. We also undertake pre-employment criminal history screening, and employees are subject to an enduring integrity framework.

We acknowledge the importance of being a child safe organisation. In 2022-23, the Commission is actively working towards full compliance with the Commonwealth Child Safety Framework and is committed to achieving this by:

• Conducting an evaluation to ensure that any risks to children are proactively identified and managed. This work will be used to inform future inquiry work, including the review and refinement of training modules and policy.
• Establishing a process for conducting an annual risk assessment in line with the Commonwealth Child Safe Framework.
• Embedding child safety and wellbeing in organisational leadership, governance and culture.
• Integrating oversight of child safety arrangements into the Commission’s Compliance Framework.