Incident, injury, trauma and illness policy

Early Learning Victoria is committed to the safety, health and wellbeing of children. We have clear processes, procedures and practices to ensure that all our staff have the skills and knowledge to prevent and effectively respond to any incidents, injuries, trauma or illnesses of children in our care. Consistent implementation of this policy, effective risk management and ongoing professional development will maintain these capabilities among our staff.

1. Scope

This policy applies to children, families, staff, management and visitors of Early Learning Victoria centres. This includes volunteers, students on placement and contractors or labour hire employees of Early Learning Victoria.

This policy applies to incidents, including emergencies, that occur during or after operating hours:

• at Early Learning Victoria centres
• offsite during excursions and activities
• at any other location where there is subsequent impact on the children or Early Learning Victoria staff.

2. Policy statement

We recognise that it is important for families to feel confident that if their child is affected by an incident, injury, trauma or illness, Early Learning Victoria staff and volunteers know how to respond quickly and effectively to ensure their child is safe and receives the support they need.

This policy describes the requirements and procedures that ensure that staff can effectively prevent, manage and report incidents, injury, trauma or illness affecting children, staff, volunteers and contractors.

2.1 Requirements

All Early Learning Victoria staff have a duty of care to all children being educated and cared for in our centres. This includes our legal obligation to provide a safe environment free of foreseeable harm, to take reasonable steps to prevent incidents and accidents, and to provide effective supervision of children at all times. Under the Education and Care Services National Law Act 2010 (the National Law) and Education and Care Services National Regulations 2011 (the Regulations), Early Learning Victoria must ensure that staff and volunteers have the skills, knowledge and resources necessary to implement this policy.

This includes ensuring:

• policies and procedures provide sufficient information for centre staff and volunteers to understand their roles and responsibilities and respond appropriately if a child is injured, becomes ill or suffers trauma
• families are notified in the event of a serious incident, injury, illness or trauma relating to their child as soon as possible (and within 24 hours of the occurrence)
• an accurate Incident, Injury, Trauma and Illness Record is kept and stored confidentially until the child is 25 years old (Regulation 183(2)) and in accordance with the Privacy policy and the Records management policy for:
  • an incident in relation to a child
  • an injury received by a child
  • a trauma to which a child has been subjected

In addition, all identified hazards, minor injuries and ‘near misses’ involving staff, volunteers, visitors, contractors and members of the public must be reported in eduSafe Plus.

Risk management policy and procedure

Early Learning Victoria implements risk management planning to identify any possible risks and hazards in its centres and programs. Where possible, risks have been minimised in the design and development phase (for example, of the indoor and outdoor play areas). Our centre staff are also trained and supported to regularly scan for, minimise and eliminate risks as they are identified.

Medical emergencies procedure

Medical emergencies may include asthma, anaphylaxis or diabetes related emergencies, as well as fractures, choking and seizures.

In some cases, there are additional policies that provide guidance on particular situations. For instance, see policies and procedures on Managing medical conditions: Asthma; Anaphylaxis and allergic reaction; Diabetes; and Epilepsy and seizures.

In a medical emergency, all staff are responsible for:

• calling an ambulance on 000 if needed
• administering first aid, and providing care and comfort to the child before their family or ambulance arrives
• implementing the child’s current Medical Management Plan
• notifying families as soon as possible of any serious medical emergency, incident or injury involving their child (and requesting that the family arranges for the child to be collected from the centre and/or informing the family that an ambulance has been called)
• ensuring ongoing supervision of all children at the centre
• accompanying the child in the ambulance when the child’s guardians or carers are not present, provided that staff-to-child ratios can be maintained at the centre
• notifying ISOC and Early Learning Victoria central office staff of the medical emergency, incident or injury as soon as possible
• notifying the Regulatory Authority through the NQA IT System within 24 hours, and completing an incident report through Kidsoft following a serious incident involving a child
• completing a report through eduSafe Plus following a serious incident involving a child (if relevant)
• completing a report on eduSafe Plus and WorkSafe (if relevant) following an incident involving a staff member.

Managing illness procedure

Centre management and educators will not accept a child into an Early Learning Victoria centre for the day if the child:

• has a contagious illness or infectious disease
• is unwell and unable to participate in normal activities or requires additional attention
• has had a temperature and/or has been vomiting in the past 24 hours, as reported by their family (best-practice recommendation)
• has had diarrhoea in the past 48 hours
• has started a course of antibiotics in the past 24 hours
• has been given medication for a temperature before arriving at their centre (for example, Panadol).

When a child appears unwell, or develops symptoms of illness while at their Early Learning Victoria centre, all staff members must:

• call an ambulance on 000 if a child appears very unwell or has a serious injury that needs urgent medical attention. This includes if the child has sustained a knock or injury to the head
• observe the symptoms of the child’s illness or injury and systematically record and share this information with families (and medical professionals where required)
• ensure that the nominated supervisor contacts the child’s family or authorised emergency contact
• request that the child is collected from the centre if the child is not well enough to participate in the program, or if the child has diarrhoea or vomits at the centre
• ensure that they separate the child from other children and have a staff member remain with the child until the child recovers or is collected by their family or other emergency contact person
• ensure that the child is returned to the care of the guardian or authorised emergency contact person as soon as practicable
• ensure that where medication, medical or dental treatment is obtained, the guardians are notified as soon as practicable and within 24 hours, and are provided with details of the illness and subsequent treatment administered to the child
• ensure that the Incident, Injury, Trauma and Illness Record is completed as soon as practical and within 24 hours of the occurrence.

If the child develops a high temperature or fever at an Early Learning Victoria centre:

• for infants under 3 months old, families will be notified immediately of any fever over 38°C for immediate medical assistance. If families are uncontactable, emergency contacts will be contacted. If the family and emergency contacts are uncontactable and emergency medical assistance is required, the centre will follow the Administration of first aid policy and procedure and contact emergency services where required
• educators will notify families when a child registers a temperature over 38°C and request that they collect their child as soon as possible
• educators will complete an Incident, Injury, Trauma and Illness Record, including recording other symptoms that may have developed along with the temperature (for example, a rash or vomiting)
• emergency services will be contacted:
  • if the child has trouble breathing
  • if the child becomes drowsy or unresponsive
  • if the child suffers a convulsion for longer than 5 minutes
  • if staff have any other major concerns for the health or safety of the child
• in the event of any child requiring ambulance transportation and medical intervention, the nominated supervisor will work with Early Learning Victoria central office to report a serious incident to the Regulatory Authority through NQA IT System.

Infection controlhttps://www.acecqa.gov.au/resources/national-quality-agenda-it-system

Early Learning Victoria is committed to minimising the spread of infectious diseases (see the Infection control and immunisation policy). This is achieved by following recommendations in the National Health and Medical Research Council 2024 guidelines Staying Healthy: Preventing infectious diseases in early childhood education and care services (6th edition).

Early Learning Victoria is guided by decisions about exclusion periods and notifications of infectious diseases by the Department of Health and Local Public Health Units as per the Public Health and Wellbeing Act 2008. When a child has been diagnosed with an illness or infectious disease, Early Learning Victoria will refer to information about recommended exclusion periods from the Staying Healthy guidelines and the Department of Health’s exclusion table for primary schools and children’s services.

Centre management can notify families and require them to take their child home if they appear unwell due to illness, to prevent the spread of contagious illnesses.

Centre management are to notify families and visitors of any notifiable infectious diseases by displaying a notice at the centre entrance stating that there has been an occurrence of an infectious disease at the service premises. Families of children in the impacted room will also be notified through Kidsoft.

Missing or unaccounted-for child procedure

A child may only leave the Early Learning Victoria centre premises:

• if in the care of their family (a guardian, an authorised nominee named in the child’s enrolment record, or a person authorised by a guardian or authorised nominee) – this includes during excursions or evacuations outside the centre premises
• if the child requires medical or hospital care (for example, being transported in an ambulance)
• due to an emergency.

Nominated supervisors and educators must ensure that:

• the attendance record is accurate and regularly checked against attendance to ensure all children signed into the centres are accounted for. The nominated supervisor can sign children in or out to ensure accuracy of records to meet regulatory requirements
• children are adequately supervised at all times
• visitors to the centres are not left alone with children at any time.

An incident that involves a child missing or unaccounted for while in the care of Early Learning Victoria staff is deemed to be of ‘extreme’ severity. These incidents must be formally reported to the department’s Security and Emergency Division via ISOC within one hour of their occurrence. In addition:

• the nominated supervisor will notify all centre staff of the missing child
• educators will ensure all children are accounted for and maintain adequate supervision of other children, including considering educator-to-child ratios
• educators must take the following steps and report to the nominated supervisor to:
  • confirm the number of children in attendance
  • check the sign-out register to ensure the child has not been collected or signed out by a guardian or authorised person
  • confirm the name of the child who is missing.
• if safe to do so, centre staff who are not supervising children must:
  • ensure all exit doors and gates are closed and locked and conduct a comprehensive, coordinated search of the premises (including of storerooms and cupboards), and in the areas outside the premises
  • if offsite, for example on excursion, conduct a search of the immediate area
• if the missing child has not been found during the first sweep of the premises and immediate area or within 5 minutes, whichever comes first, the nominated supervisor will contact emergency services
• the nominated supervisor (with support from Early Learning Victoria central office) will:
  • contact the child’s family as soon as possible
  • notify the Regulatory Authority through the NQA IT System within 24 hours of becoming aware of the missing child
• the nominated supervisor will ensure that the Incident, Injury, Trauma and Illness Record is completed as soon as possible and within 24 hours of the occurrence
• relevant educators and staff in the missing child’s room must complete a detailed statement, explaining the incident. This must be done on the same day, include the date and time, and be signed by the person who has written the statement.

3.1 Responsibilities of families

Families are responsible for:

• providing authorisation in the child’s enrolment form for staff to seek medical treatment for the child from a doctor, hospital or ambulance service
• notifying Early Learning Victoria upon enrolment of any specific health care needs of the child, including any medical conditions and allergies and any medical management plans to be followed
• providing up-to-date medical information and emergency contact details, including current medical management plans
• being contactable, either directly or through emergency contacts listed on the enrolment form, in the event of an incident requiring medical attention
• collecting the child as soon as possible when notified of an incident, injury, trauma or illness
• notifying Early Learning Victoria centre staff:
  • of any infectious disease or illness that has been identified when the child has not attended the centre
  • if there has been a change in the condition of the child’s health, or of recent accidents or incidents that may impact the child’s care
  • when the child is ill and will be absent from their regular program (via phone or email)
• adhering to recommended periods of exclusion if their child has a virus or infectious illness
• providing evidence, as required, from doctors or specialists that the child is fit to return to care
• completing and acknowledging details and documentation as required (including Incident, Injury, Trauma and Illness Record; Administration of medication record)
• covering all costs incurred when an ambulance service is called to attend to their child at the centre. Early Learning Victoria may consider covering the costs for families that do not have insurance or ambulance cover (e.g. for families that are experiencing disadvantage and/or vulnerability or receiving the Additional Childcare Subsidy).

3.2 Responsibilities of staff

4. Resources

Legislation and standards

Relevant legislation and standards include:

• Australian Standards AS3745–2002, Emergency control procedures for buildings, structures and workplaces
• Education and Care Services National Law Act 2010
• Education and Care Services National Regulations 2011
• National Quality Standard, especially quality areas 2 (Children’s health and safety), 3 (Physical environment) and 7 (Governance and leadership)
• Occupational Health and Safety Act 2004
• Occupational Health and Safety Regulations 2007
• WorkSafe Victoria Compliance Code: First aid in the workplace (2008)
• Public Health and Wellbeing Act 2008
• Public Health and Wellbeing Regulations 2009
• Therapeutic Goods Act 1989

Related policies

• Administration of first aid policy and procedure
• Administration of medication policy and procedure
• Enrolment and orientation policy
• Management of medical conditions policy and procedure
• Medical conditions: Anaphylaxis and allergies policy and procedure
• Medical conditions: Asthma policy and procedure
• Medical conditions: Diabetes policy and procedure
• Medical conditions: Epilepsy and seizures policy and procedure
• Infection control and immunisation policy
• Privacy policy
• Records management policy
• Guidelines for managing conduct and unsatisfactory performance in Early Learning Victoria centres
• Reportable Conduct (department corporate policy, login required)

Links

• Ambulance Victoria
• Incident, injury, trauma and illness policy guidelines (ACECQA)
• Notifying the early childhood Regulatory Authority about incidents, complaints and other circumstances
• Staying Healthy: Preventing infectious diseases in early childhood education and care services (6th edition) (National Health and Medical Research Council)

Definitions

Duty of care: A legal concept that refers to the responsibility of all staff members in any Victorian early childhood service to take reasonable steps to protect children in their care from harm that is foreseeable.

Emergency: An incident, situation or event where there is an imminent or severe risk to the health, safety or wellbeing of a person at the service. For example, a flood, fire or situation that requires the service premises to be locked down.

Emergency services: Includes ambulance, fire brigade, police and state emergency services.

Hazard: Anything with the potential to cause harm, injury, illness, loss or damage.

Illness: Any sickness and/or associated symptoms that affect the child’s normal participation in the program at the service.

Incident: An event that has led to or could have led to an injury, ill-health, damage or other loss. Incidents include ‘near misses’, accidents and injuries.

Incident, Injury, Trauma and Illness Record: Contains details of any incident, injury, trauma or illness that occurs while the child is being educated and cared for by the service. The Approved Provider must ensure an Injury, Trauma and Illness Record is kept in accordance with Regulation 87 and kept for the time specified in Regulation 183.

Injury: Any physical damage to the body caused by violence or an incident.

Medical attention: Includes a visit to a registered medical practitioner or attendance at a hospital.

Medical emergency: An injury or illness that is acute and poses an immediate risk to a person’s life or long-term health.

Medication: Medicine within the meaning of the Therapeutic Goods Act 1989. Medicine includes prescription, over-the-counter and complementary medicines. All therapeutic goods in Australia are listed on the Australian Register of Therapeutic Goods, available at Therapeutic Goods Administration.

Minor incident: An incident that results in an injury that is small and does not require medical attention.

Notifiable incident: Any incidents that seriously compromise the safety, health or wellbeing of children. The notification needs to be provided to the Regulatory Authority and guardians within 24 hours of a serious incident. The Regulatory Authority can be notified online through the NQA IT System.

Regulatory Authority: The Regulatory Authority is established by the National Law. It regulates providers of early childhood education and care services to ensure they protect children’s safety, health and wellbeing and comply with the Child Safe Standards. The department is the Regulatory Authority for early childhood services in Victoria under a range of regulatory schemes.

Reportable Conduct Scheme: The Reportable Conduct Scheme is provided for in the Child Wellbeing and Safety Act 2005, which outlines worker and volunteer conduct and how organisations investigate and respond to allegations of child abuse. The scheme aims to improve the response of organisations to allegations of child abuse and to help identify people who pose a risk of harm to children. The scheme applies to all employees, contractors or volunteers who are engaged by an Early Learning Victoria centre.

There is an allegation of Reportable Conduct under the scheme where a person has a reasonable belief that there has been:

• a sexual offence committed against, with or in the presence of a child
• sexual misconduct committed against, with or in the presence of a child
• physical violence committed against, with or in the presence of a child
• behaviour causing significant emotional or psychological harm to a child
• significant neglect of a child.

Serious incident: For the purposes of the definition of serious incident in section 5(1) of the National Law, each of the following is prescribed as a serious incident:

1. the death of a child:
   • while that child is being educated and cared for by an education and care service, or
   • following an incident occurring while that child was being educated and cared for by an education and care service
2. any incident involving serious injury (such as a broken limb) or trauma to a child occurring while that child is being educated and cared for by an education and care service:
   • which a reasonable person would consider required urgent medical attention from a registered medical practitioner, or
   • for which the child attended, or ought reasonably to have attended, a hospital
3. any incident involving serious illness of a child occurring while that child is being educated and cared for by an education and care service for which the child attended, or ought reasonably to have attended, a hospital (for instance, for a severe asthma attack, seizure or anaphylaxis reaction)
4. any emergency which emergency services attended
5. any circumstance where a child being educated and cared for by an education and care service:
   • appears to be missing or cannot be accounted for, or
   • appears to have been taken or removed from the education and care service premises in a manner that contravenes these Regulations, or
   • is mistakenly locked in or locked out of the education and care service premises or any part of the premises.

Trauma: An emotional wound or shock that often has long-lasting effects; or any physical damage to the body caused by violence or an incident.