Grovedale Toy Library

Member Participation

Each member is required to:

  • Complete Volunteering at a session approximately once a term.
  • Help out at annual stocktake/toy cleaning session.

BORROWING CONDITIONS

Loan Period
Toys are borrowed for 2 weeks only.
If for some special reason you cannot return your toys on time, you can phone or email the duty leader from the Roster, and gain a renewal for two weeks

Damaged Toys
If you have broken something, DON’T PANIC!  We realise that some toys will break as a result of normal wear and tear. Members should report damaged toys to the duty leader. Normal wear of the toys is expected but if the toy is damaged in another way the member may be asked to pay for the cost of repairs or replacement at the discretion of the toy library committee.

Lost Pieces
Any member who loses pieces from a toy will be asked to re-borrow the toy for 2 weeks and continue looking for the piece, and missing piece will be recorded against their membership.  If the piece is essential to the working of the toy and not easily replaced from spare parts, the member may be asked to pay for a replacement piece at the discretion of the toy library committee.  Members can only borrow their limit of toys including the one they are looking for the missing piece.

Fundraising
1-2 fundraising activities are held each year to raise money to purchase new toys and to replace old ones. Members are requested to participate in one activity.

Cleanliness
All toys must be wiped clean before returning. Toys for babies and bath toys MUST by washed in disinfectant.  If not clean on return, there are supplies in the cupboard and must be attended to before putting on shelf.

Rostered duty

As our toy library is run for the members by the members, everyone is required to do 4 volunteer activities per year. One activity equals one toy library borrowing session, or appoximately 2 hours.

Volunteering is a great way to see the huge variety of toys the library has on offer, and meet other carers.

IF UNABLE TO ATTEND YOUR ROSTERED DUTY DAY, IT IS YOUR RESPONSIBILITY TO RING OTHER MEMBERS TO FIND A REPLACEMENT. Keep a copy of the current roster just in case you need to ring other members. Please notify the Roster Officer of all swaps.
Members are not required to do duty for 3 months after the birth of a baby.

Stocktake
A Stocktake is carried out in the middle of each year.
On this day all toys are counted, cleaned, checked for damage and missing pieces followed up. It is appreciated if members can assist on this day.  If you help on this day you can borrow a large toy for the school holidays.

Overdue Toys
In light of the challenging situations faced by families with the COVID-19 pandemic, and general illness being more of an issue than previously, we are very flexible about returns. If you are unable to return toys on due date you may phone or email the duty leader for that week and gain a two week extension.  At the discretion of the committee, if you have overdue toys that have been requested by other members or are deemed popular and high rotation, the committee may require return of specific toys if overdue.


GROVEDALE TOY LIBRARY    
  
WAIVER, RELEASE & INDEMNITY FOR BICYCLE & SCOOTERS  
  
The Grovedale Toy Library ("Provider") is pleased to make bicycles and scooters available to subscribers ("the Service").  
As a subscriber to the Service you acknowledge that there are dangers and risks inherent with bicycle and scooter riding (the “Activity”) to which any child under your supervision ("Your Child") may be exposed.  
The Provider does not provide protective clothing or bicycle helmets and it is your responsibility to ensure that Your Child wears a helmet at all times and is otherwise appropriately attired when participating in the Activity. You agree that Your Child will participate in the Activity at your own risk. You also agree to voluntarily assume responsibility for supervising the Activity and any injury, death or property damage you or Your Child may suffer or cause as a result of participating in the Activity.  
To the maximum extent possible at law, you (both in your personal capacity and on behalf of Your Child) agree to release, hold harmless and indemnify the Provider and its respective officers, employees, servants, agents and contractors (the “Indemnified Persons”) against all actions, claims, suits, costs, expenses, demands and damages suffered or incurred by the Indemnified Persons or any one or more of them by reason of, or in respect of, or in any manner whatsoever arising out of, or caused by, your use of the Service or Your Child's participation in the Activity.  
You agree that you are subscribing to the Service on the express condition that the Provider:  
will, under no circumstances be liable or responsible in any manner whatsoever for any death, loss, accident, damage or injury to you, Your Child or any of your servants, agents, contractors, visitors or invitees or any other person whatsoever (“Related Party”) which may happen as a result of your use of the Service or Your Child participating in the Activity; and  
Will not incur or be under any liability whatsoever to you, Your Child, or to any Related Party for any loss, damage or injury to or in respect of any of your property or of any Related Party’s property.  
The Provider is not liable to you, Your Child or any Related Party in respect of any indirect or consequential loss. For the avoidance of doubt, ‘consequential loss’ means loss or damage arising from a breach of contract, tort (including negligence), under statute or any other basis in law or equity of an indirect or consequential nature including, but without limitation, loss of profits, loss of revenue, loss or denial of opportunity, loss of goodwill, loss of business reputation, future reputation or publicity, damage to credit rating and indirect, remote, abnormal or unforeseeable loss, or any similar loss whether or not in the reasonable contemplation of the parties.  


Child Safe Policy

Our commitment to child safety 

Our organisation is committed to child safety. 

We want children to be safe, happy and empowered. We support and respect all children, as well as our staff and volunteers. 

We are committed to the safety of all children.

We have zero tolerance of child abuse, and all allegations and safety concerns will be treated very seriously and consistently with our robust policies and procedures.

We have legal and moral obligations to contact authorities when we are worried about a child’s safety, which we follow rigorously. 

Our organisation has robust recruitment practices for all staff and volunteers.

We have policies, procedures and education in place that support our staff and volunteers to achieve these commitments. 

If you believe a child is at immediate risk of abuse phone 000. 

Our staff and volunteers

This policy guides our staff and volunteers on how to behave with children in our organisation. 

Children should never be left unsupervised in the care of toy library staff or volunteers. Parents/guardians should always supervise their children at the toy library. Wherever feasible toy libraries should implement the ‘two-person rule’ – ensuring there are two people present when the toy library is open.

All of our staff and volunteers must agree to abide by our code of conduct, which specifies the standards of conduct required when working with children. 

Our organisational culture aims for all staff and volunteers to feel confident and comfortable in discussing any allegations of child abuse or child safety concerns. Education is important to ensure that everyone in our organisation understands that child safety is everyone’s responsibility.  All staff receives training on our code of conduct.

Any inappropriate behaviour will be reported through appropriate channels, including the relevant government department or police, depending on the severity and urgency of the matter.

Training and supervision

Training and education is important to ensure that everyone in our organisation understands that child safety is everyone’s responsibility. 

Our organisational culture aims for all staff and volunteers (in addition to parents/carers and children) to feel confident and comfortable in discussing any allegations of child abuse or child safety concerns. We train our staff to identify, assess, and minimise risks of child abuse and to detect potential signs of child abuse. 

New employees and volunteers will be supervised regularly to ensure they understand our organisation’s commitment to child safety and that everyone has a role to play in protecting children from abuse, as well as checking that their behaviour towards children is safe and appropriate (please refer to this organisation’s code of conduct to understand appropriate behaviour further). Any inappropriate behaviour will be reported through appropriate channels, including the, relevant government department or police depending on the severity and urgency of the matter.

Recruitment

We take all reasonable steps to employ appropriately skilled people to work with our members. We develop selection criteria that clearly demonstrate our commitment to child safety and an awareness of our social and legislative responsibilities. 

We carry out reference checks and working with children checks for any paid staff members to ensure that we are recruiting the right people. Please see the Working with Children Check website for further information 

Fair procedures for personnel

The safety and wellbeing of members is our primary concern. We are also fair and just to personnel. The decisions we make when recruiting, assessing incidents, and undertaking disciplinary action will always be thorough, transparent, and based on evidence. 

We record all allegations of abuse and safety concerns using our incident reporting form, including investigation updates. All records are securely stored. 

If an allegation of abuse or a safety concern is raised, we provide updates to children and families on progress and any actions we as an organisation take. 

Privacy

All personal information considered or recorded will respect the privacy of the individuals involved, whether they are staff, volunteers, parents or children, unless there is a risk to someone’s safety. We have safeguards and practices in place to ensure any personal information is protected. Everyone is entitled to know how this information is recorded, what will be done with it, and who will have access to it. 

Legislative responsibilities

Our organisation takes our legal responsibilities seriously, including:

  • Failure to disclose: Reporting child sexual abuse is a community-wide responsibility. All adults in Victoria who have a reasonable belief that an adult has committed a sexual offence against a child under 16 have an obligation to report that information to the police.
  • Failure to protect: People of authority in our organisation will commit an offence if they know of a substantial risk of child sexual abuse and have the power or responsibility to reduce or remove the risk, but negligently fail to do so.
    • Any personnel who are mandatory reporters must comply with their duties. 

Risk management

In Victoria, organisations are required to protect children when a risk is identified (see information about failure to protect above). In addition to general occupational health and safety risks, we proactively manage risks of abuse to our children.

We have risk management strategies in place to identify, assess, and take steps to minimise child abuse risks, which include risks posed by physical environments (for example, any doors that can lock), and online environments (for example, no staff or volunteer is to have contact with a child in the organisation on social media). 

Regular review

This policy will be reviewed every two years and following significant incidents if they occur. We will ensure that families and children have the opportunity to contribute. Where possible we do our best to work with local Aboriginal communities, culturally and/or linguistically diverse communities and people with a disability. 

Allegations, concerns and complaints

Our organisation takes all allegations seriously and has practices in place to investigate thoroughly and quickly. 

We work to ensure all families, staff and volunteers know what to do and who to tell if they observe abuse or are a victim, and if they notice inappropriate behaviour. 

We all have a responsibility to report an allegation of abuse if we have a reasonable belief that an incident took place (see information about failure to disclose above).

If an adult has a reasonable belief that an incident has occurred then they must report the incident. Factors contributing to reasonable belief may be:

  • A child states they or someone they know has been abused (noting that sometimes the child may in fact be referring to themselves)
  • Behaviour consistent with that of an abuse victim is observed
  • Someone else has raised a suspicion of abuse but is unwilling to report it
  • Observing suspicious behaviour.