12 SepIt’s ok to share, you could make a difference
The Child Information Sharing Scheme (CISS) aims to assist professionals to better support positive child wellbeing and safety outcomes. It does this by enabling specified government agencies and service providers, known as Information Sharing Entities, to share information about children (personal, health or sensitive information), their families or relevant third parties that will:
- improve early risk identification and intervention
- change a risk-averse culture in relation to information sharing
- increase collaboration and integration between child and family services
- support children’s participation in services.
To promote awareness of the CISS, the Victorian Department of Education (DE) commissioned Early Learning Association Australia (ELAA) to develop practical resources to support the Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) sector to feel more confident about their role and responsibilities under CISS and FVISS.
ELAA has developed two resources, The ABCs of CISS Practice Guide and CISS & FVISS Online Learning Tool, to address the key questions early childhood teachers, educators and leaders need answered to be able to participate in the scheme with confidence.
These resources were developed to provide practical and contextual information, supporting authorised ECEC workforce to use the Reforms. The resources are intended to be used in conjunction with the legally binding documents, the CISS Ministerial Guidelines, the Family Violence Information Sharing (FVISS) Guidelines and Family Violence Multi-Agency Risk Assessment and Management Framework (MARAM), as well as other resources relevant to the Reforms.
Services must complete the DET training to ensure they can respond to and make information sharing requests appropriately and effectively. To access training, please register for an account on the Information Sharing and MARAM Online Learning Management System.
Through proactive sharing, the scheme enables a range of allied health and community services to coordinate strategies and ensure greater success for children’s wellbeing and safety in care environments.
To access your copy of the practice guide CLICK HERE.
To access the online training tool CLICK HERE.
