I'm on a local tennis club committee and we are trying to ensure we
are providing a safe environment for our junior players. (Safe as in
safe from sexual abuse or predatory behaviour.) We are considering
introducing police checks on all parents who supervise or transport
the children but that is very involved and expensive as well as being
a fairly heavy handed approach. And we want to do this without
offending anyone. (I know that people shouldn't be offended, but some
believe it's overkill and are talking about not making themselves
available for supervision or transport which puts a lot of pressure on
the other parents.) We've no reason to believe we have a problem,
we're just wanting to introduce some preventative 'duty of care'
measures, and we're wondering if there is a list of appropriate
actions that we could follow. We're all volunteers and our club is in
Australia. What are other clubs or associations are doing to protect
these youngsters from the scourge of child abuse. Is there a pro forma
or agreement format that we could get all parents and supervisors to
sign? Any suggestions?

I volunteer regularly at my children's school, and was informed today
that because one of the activities I volunteer for is state funded
(Ohio Reads, our state's literacy program), I have to be fingerprinted
and registered with state law enforcement officials.  *Fingerprinted*.
 To be allowed to teach reading to kindergarten through fourth grade.

The policy there is "Better safe than sorry."  You may find that such
policies are becoming the norm all over, no matter who may take
offense at them.

--Missy

I'm at a bit of a loss to suggest what might be legal or otherwise
appropriate for you in Australia.

Here in the US, it is widely required that anyone who has
**unsupervised access to minors** (under age 18) to undergo a criminal
background check. The criminal background check requires that the
person be fingerprinted. The prints are run through state and often
also through federal databases to ensure that he or she has not been
convicted of certain sorts of crimes, those of a sexual or child-abuse
nature. The results are reported to a representative of the
organization who may herself have gone through a criminal background
check in order to qualify to view the "CORI" (Criminal Offender Record
Information) of employees or volunteers. (I have myself been qualified
to review CORI for one organization in which I was involved.)

One place to check is your club's insurance companies -- in specific,
the insurance company providing you with liability coverage that would
pay if you were sued by a parent for abusing her child. What does that
company suggest, or even require? No such insurance coverage? Well,
here in the US, I would not want to be in such a position, but there
in Australia it may be a different story.
Beyond that, you may wish to consider a handbook or agreement that
outlines your policy with respect to a proper relationship between the
adults and the junior players. It's possible to find generic employee
handbooks that include that sort of policy and that you can modify to
meet your needs.