Child safe environment compliance (CSEC) statements

In South Australia, certain organisations (including sole traders) providing services to children and young people must provide child-safe environments and:

  • have a child-safe environments policy /procedures in place and at a minimum, review them once every 5 years
  • meet Working with Children Check obligations, and
  • lodge a child-safe environments compliance statement with the Department of Human Services and lodge a new statement each time policy/procedures are reviewed and updated.

Lodging a compliance statement is free.

Who must lodge a compliance statement

All organisations providing services to children and young people must lodge a compliance statement. This includes (but is not limited to):

  • health services including allied health practitioners
  • accommodation or residential services for children (including school camp providers)
  • services or activities provided by religious organisations
  • childcare or child-minding services
  • child protection services
  • coaching or tuition services for children
  • disability services for children
  • commercial services provided directly to children (including recreational, entertainment, photographers and others)
  • clubs and associations with a significant membership of children who provide sporting, recreational, cultural or artistic services or activities
  • education services
  • transport services for children
  • any other service or activity declared by section 7 of the Child Safety (Prohibited Persons) Act 2016.

This includes state authorities, non-government organisations, sole traders and people working in partnerships.

Section 6 of the Child Safety (Prohibited Persons) Act 2016 tells you which organisations are included.

An easy online form

A child-safe environment compliance (CSEC) statement is an online form that is easy to complete.

A penalty of up to $10,000 may apply if your organisation does not complete a compliance statement.

You are not required to upload your child safe environment policy/procedures when completing your compliance statement. However, we may request copies of them at any time and you must provide them within 7 days.

Your child safe environment policy/procedures must meet minimum South Australian legislative requirements and align with the National Principles for Child Safe Organisations.

Lodge your compliance statement

When lodging your compliance statement, there are 3 types of lodgements you can choose from:

  • Sole trader (also includes partnerships)
    • A sole trader is a person who is the only owner who controls and manages a business
    • A partnership is an arrangement between two or more parties to manage a business.
  • Single organisation
    • A single entity formed as a company or corporation.
  • Representative body
    • An organisation that represents smaller-sized enterprises or, for sporting clubs, a representative body is the overarching peak organisation that represents affiliated sporting member clubs.
    • Where a representative body lodges a statement on behalf of its member organisations, it must satisfy itself that the organisations it represents have adopted the policies of the representative body.

To lodge your compliance statement, select a link from below that best suits your business:

Sole trader

Single organisation

Representative body

After you have lodged your compliance statement

Once you have completed your compliance statement, you will receive email confirmation with a PDF copy of your compliance statement attached.

We strongly recommend you save a copy of the PDF compliance statement for your records in case your organisation is asked to provide it.

Contact us

Phone 1800 371 113
Email dhs.childsafe@sa.gov.au

Page last updated 16 July 2025