Our Policies

INTRODUCTION

Keilor Park Soccer Club (KPSC) is committed to ensuring that children and young people who participate in its activities have a safe and happy experience. KPSC supports and respects children, young people, staff, volunteers, and participants.

The aim of KPSC’s Child Safe Policy (the Policy) is to protect the safety of children in our care and prevent abuse from occurring, and in the event that allegations are raised in relation to child abuse, to ensure that the allegations are properly addressed. All complaints will be treated seriously and fully investigated and handled with maximum confidentiality and discretion.

Should a person wish to make any enquiries in relation to this Policy, please contact the Member Protection Information Officer at [email protected].

POLICY STATEMENT

KPSC is committed to providing the highest level of safety for all involved with football/soccer. This includes protecting members’ privacy, promoting positive behaviours and attitudes, protecting the health, safety and wellbeing of members (particularly children), and delivering KPSC’s activities while acting in the best interests of children in the sport.

Specifically, KPSC considers that the health, safety, and well-being of children take priority over all other competing considerations. This is necessary to ensure the welfare of all members and protect the image and reputation of the sport, KPSC, and its members.

KPSC has a zero-tolerance approach to child abuse and is committed to promoting and protecting children from abuse and neglect to the greatest extent possible. All children have equal rights to protection from abuse, regardless of gender, religion, disability, sexual orientation, or sex characteristics.

Child protection is a shared responsibility between KPSC, its employees, associates, parents/guardians, coaches, spectators, volunteers, and members of the KPSC community. Everyone participating in KPSC’s activities is responsible for the care and protection of children and reporting any information about abuse.

KPSC supports the active participation of all children. It listens to and respects their views, involving them when making decisions that directly affect them, especially regarding their safety.

KPSC is also committed to the cultural safety of Aboriginal children and those from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds, as well as providing a safe environment for children living with disabilities.

KPSC promotes fairness and consideration for all staff, volunteers, and participants. For further details, please refer to the KPSC Member Protection Policy.

SCOPE

This Policy applies to everyone involved in or connected to KPSC, including (but not limited to) participants, parents, spectators, contractors, officials, coaches, referees, and staff across all KPSC events and activities.

This Policy also applies retrospectively to any person following the cessation of their association or employment with KPSC.

RELATED DOCUMENTS & LEGISLATIVE REQUIREMENTS

This Policy must be read in conjunction with the laws of the Commonwealth and Victoria, including but not limited to:

  • Children, Youth and Families Act 2005 (Vic)
  • Child Wellbeing and Safety Amendment (Child Safe Standards) Act 2015 (Vic)
  • Crimes Act 1958 (Vic)
  • Working with Children Act 2005 (Vic)

KPSC policies and procedures include (but are not limited to):

  • Social Media Policy
  • Constitution
  • Codes of Behaviour
  • Grievance and Discipline Procedures

State Body Member Matter: Incidents that occur at state level or involve people operating at that level should be reported to and handled by Football Victoria.

How KPSC Will Manage Your Formal Complaint

The complaint will usually be managed by the Club MPIO or a KPSC Committee member. The MPIO will record all complaint details and explain your resolution options. Even with a formal complaint, informal strategies may still be available and will be explained.

Observation

Example:A coach uses derogatory terms during a training session. A secretary hears this and immediately addresses the coach about the inappropriate behaviour.

Education

Example: The President explains the club’s code of conduct to the coach and offers support for personal stress. They agree to review the matter in a week.

Counselling

Example: The secretary and coach discuss inappropriate language. The coach understands the impact and commits to change.

When Informal Strategies Don’t Work

If informal strategies are ineffective or inappropriate, formal complaint resolution may be necessary. This is especially the case when:

  • Informal attempts have failed
  • The complaint involves serious allegations
  • The allegations are denied
  • The complaint is against someone in a senior position
  • The complainant has been victimised
  • The complainant wishes to proceed formally

Three Steps to a Formal Complaint Resolution

1. Investigate

An impartial person (internal or external) will conduct the investigation. This could be the Complaints Handler, Officer, or another qualified individual.

2. Report

The investigator provides a report determining if the complaint is:

  • Substantiated
  • Inconclusive
  • Unsubstantiated
  • Mischievous, vexatious, or knowingly untrue

Recommendations may be made for actions in accordance with the Football Australia National Code of Conduct and Ethics or other relevant policies.

3. Mediation

Resolution through mediation may be pursued to reach mutual agreements without formal disciplinary actions. It allows both parties to be heard and come to a solution.

Formal Disciplinary Action

If mediation is not suitable and the complaint is substantiated, the Committee may convene a disciplinary sub-committee for formal action in accordance with the National Code of Conduct and Ethics.

Resources

Purpose

To ensure that the Keilor Park Soccer Club continues to strive toward access for diverse members and volunteers, and that all people associated with the club are treated equally and fairly, with dignity and respect on all occasions.

The club will:

  • Respect the rights, dignity, and worth of every person, and treat everyone equally, regardless of age, gender, race, ability, religious belief, sexuality and/or preferences, or social/economic status.
  • Value the diversity of its participants and welcome people of all abilities and backgrounds to participate in the club and all its activities.
  • Ensure equity is adopted across all areas of operations, including representation in decision-making. The development of consistent and transparent procedures for selection, grievance handling, etc., will support fair treatment for all associated with the club.
  • Recognise the role every person plays in making the club a success. Success is measured not only by on-field results but also by the culture, atmosphere, and overall spirit of the club.
  • Commit to everyone having the right to enjoy their sport in a friendly and positive environment, free from harassment, intimidation, and abuse. All club members are responsible for opposing discriminatory behaviour and promoting equal opportunities.
  • Deal seriously with any incidents of discriminatory behaviour, following the club’s disciplinary and grievance procedures in a transparent and consistent manner.
  • Help new members feel welcome by introducing them to others, providing relevant information, and showing them around the club.
  • Ensure that for junior participants, equal learning opportunities and playing time are prioritised over winning.

Relevant to this policy are procedures relating to selection, appointment of club positions, grievance and complaint procedures, junior coaching guidelines, and member and volunteer induction.

Purpose

The Keilor Park Soccer Club will make every effort to offer participation opportunities for all members, regardless of ability, gender, race, religion, age, sexual orientation, etc. On some occasions, this may not be possible, and de-registration and refund requests may be considered. As a club, we incur various costs throughout the season and calendar year (e.g. insurance, facility hire, utilities), and this refund policy accounts for these elements.

Policy Statement

The Keilor Park Soccer Club retains full and sole discretion regarding any refund of registration fees (either partial or full) in relation to this policy, and all such decisions are final.

Any refund of FV/FFA/Regional Association components will depend entirely on whether the club receives those fees back from the governing body. If no refund is issued to the club by the governing body, no refund will be given to the individual.

Please note that any registration fees funded by external supporting organisations, sponsors, or similar will not be refunded to individuals.

In the event of a season cancellation, several factors will be considered when processing refunds, including costs already incurred by the club, FFV registration and insurance fees, and the number of completed rounds.

Refund Entitlement

  • Deposits paid as part of the registration process are non-refundable.
  • If the club is unable to place you or your child into a team, you will receive a 100% refund of the registration fee, provided no fixtures were played and the club has not incurred any costs on your behalf (e.g. FV/FFA/Regional Association fees, pre-season cups, apparel, ground rentals).
  • If your child has been placed into a team and has commenced club activities (including training), but you decide to de-register before the competition begins, the club may refund up to 25% of the registration fee (minus any governing body fees and club-incurred costs).
  • If de-registration occurs after the competition has started, the club will unfortunately be unable to offer a refund.
  • If any uniform, apparel, or similar items have been provided, their value will not be refunded, and the participant may keep these items.

Once the club is satisfied with the refund application, the following will occur:

  • Written acknowledgment of a successful refund application will be provided.
  • The player will be notified of the expected timeframe for processing the refund.
  • The de-registration process will be initiated.
  • The refund will be processed via the nominated or preferred method of the club.

Form of Refunds

Refunds will typically be paid via direct debit, which is the club’s preferred method. However, the club will attempt to process the refund in the method requested by the participant, where possible.

Players approved for refunds under this policy will have their registration status updated to Inactive, Cancelled, or Refunded in the National Online Registration System.

In addition, the Club Committee reserves the right to consider exceptional circumstances and, at its discretion, issue refunds exceeding what is stated in this policy.

Privacy Policy

This document sets forth the Privacy Policy for Keilor Park Soccer Club (KPSC) and outlines our principles concerning the privacy of individuals.

Collection of Your Personal Information

There are many aspects of the site which can be viewed without providing personal information. However, to access certain future KPSC features, you may be required to submit personally identifiable information. This may include, but is not limited to, a unique username and password, or sensitive information for password recovery purposes.

Sharing of Your Personal Information

We may occasionally hire other companies to provide services on our behalf, including but not limited to customer support, transaction processing, or freight shipping. These companies will be permitted to obtain only the personal information they need to deliver the requested service. KPSC takes reasonable steps to ensure these organisations are bound by confidentiality and privacy obligations to protect your personal information.

Use of Your Personal Information

For each visitor to our site, we may collect non-personally identifiable information such as browser type, version and language, operating system, pages viewed, page access times, and referring website addresses. This information is used solely for internal purposes such as gauging visitor traffic, analysing trends, and delivering personalised content while you browse our site.

From time to time, we may use customer information for new, unanticipated uses not previously disclosed in our privacy notice. If our information practices change in the future, we will use the collected data only from the time of the policy change forward in accordance with our updated practices.

Changes to This Privacy Policy

KPSC reserves the right to make amendments to this Privacy Policy at any time. If you disagree with any part of the Privacy Policy, you should not access or use the site.

Accessing Your Personal Information

You have the right to access your personal information, subject to exceptions allowed by law. If you wish to do so, please contact us. For security reasons, you may be required to submit your request in writing. KPSC reserves the right to charge a fee for searching for and providing access to your information on a per-request basis.

Contacting Us

KPSC welcomes your comments regarding this Privacy Policy. If you have any questions or require further information, please contact us via the Contact Us page.