Member Protection
Life Saving Victoria is committed to the health, safety and wellbeing of all its members and is dedicated to providing a best practise approach to ensure a safe environment for those participating in lifesaving activities.
Life Saving Victoria is a unique organisation that has multiple purposes including community service, sporting, education and leadership opportunities and programs. Each of these individual aspects inter-relate with each other. It is due to the multifaceted nature of Life Saving Victoria, that members 18 years of age and over interact with children across a broad spectrum of activities, that this policy must be broadly applied.
To request support regarding a member protection issue please email member.protection@lsv.com.au
SLSA Member Protection Policy
WWC Check FAQs
Member Policies
Member Protection Officer (MPO)
Life Saving Victoria is committed to health, safety and wellbeing of all its members and is dedicated to providing a safe environment for those participating in lifesaving activities and events. We want lifesaving to be fun, enjoyable and safe for all. Lifesavers are nurtured in and environment that values safety, trust, respect, caring and responsibility. The environment encourages acceptance, confidence and educated risk taking.
Clubs – Member Protection Officer
All clubs are required to have an appointed MPO and communicate to all members, who they are, how to contact and their role. We strongly advise Clubs to appoint an MPO to be independent and where possible not directly reside on the Committee, this avoids conflict of interested perceived or actual.
It is important that your MPO is skilled and exhibits behaviour consistent to those of the role, including high level of integrity, ability to maintain confidentiality and treat matters with independence and sensitivity.
People with a background in counselling, teachers, police officers, or similar skills often make good MPO’s.
LSV can assist with identifying independent MPO’s if clubs are unable to identify a resource for the role. We also strongly encourage clubs to work with other clubs in their area, local sports and emergency services to share resources.
The Role of an MPO
The role of the MPO is to support members and protect them and the club’s wellbeing, to provide member welfare education and support.
Their primary role includes:
- Provision of confidential support and assistance to other members who wish to raise a concern or grievance, or who have had a grievance lodged against them.
- Provide Triage; act as initial contact for members; their role is to prioritise actions, needs and urgency based on assessed risk, need and grievance/complaint.
- Investigate and manage complaints and moderate mediation conferences or refer such matters to appropriate person.
- Provide support and education around safeguarding children to other members.
- Refer matters to Life Saving Victoria and/or police as outlined in Member Protection Policy
Position Description: LSV MPO Club Position Description V2.0
The Complaints Resolution Policy outlines clear steps for complainants, respondents, and complaint handlers when complaints arise.
The Complaints Resolution Policy can be accessed via Surf Life Saving Australia website. Members are encouraged to log in to the SLS Members Area, select ‘Document Library’ from the home page menu and select ‘Governance/Policies’ from the categories menu. LSV has adopted the SLSA Complaints Resolution Policy.
All complaints are being handled under this policy. LSV and SLSA are very happy to assist clubs and members with questions that arise out of this policy.
Before lodging a formal complaint under the policy, we encourage you to reach out to your Club’s MPO, LSV on member.protection@lsv.com.au or SLSA on integrity@slsa.asn.au.
MPO Training;
Sport Integrity Australia with Play by the Rules hosts the PBTR online training modules on the Sport Integrity Australia e-learning hub.
Sport Integrity Australia – e learning hub
A key recommendation of the Wood Review proposed a single identifiable education and outreach platform be established to develop and coordinate education, training and outreach courses.
Hosting the Play by the Rules online training modules on the Sport Integrity Australia e-learning hub creates a single destination for all sporting codes and administration staff to access educational materials and training in one convenient location.
Member Protection Information Officer Course
Member Protection Information Officers play an important role in sport. They provide information and guidance on complaints procedures – they are the ‘go to’ person if you want to discuss problems at your club/association, particularly if you are considering making a formal complaint.
The Member Protection Information Officer course is aimed at people seeking to become recognised MPIO officers in their State. The course contains 7 core modules. The modules are:
- Introduction
- The MPIO Role
- Complaint resolution procedures
- Member Protection and the Law
- Child Protection
- Harassment and Discrimination
- Ethical and Practical Considerations
MPIO Certification
Please note: there are two parts to qualifying as an MPIO.
- MPIO Part 1 – Complete a national MPIO online course via the e learning hub
- MPIO Part 2 – attend a local face-to-face workshop run by LSV
For MPIO Part 1 – To access the online course via the e learning hub click here:
Access the e-learning hub now
For MPIO Part 2
LSV runs workshop opportunities for Club Members, these workshops are intended to assist club officers to undertake and be confident in their roles.
Life Saving Victoria facilitates Member Protection Officer workshops between August and March annually. The workshops are available on various dates, both prior online and in person, delivered by Morgan Lander.
We strongly encourage Club President’s, Member Protection Officers, Grievance Officers and applicable club committee roles to attend.
Member Protection Officer (MPO) Workshop
| Workshop |
Date & Duration |
Registration |
| Member Protection Officer Training
|
2022 Dates to be confirms |
Register Here |
New MPIOs and Existing MPIOs (only those who have already completed MPIO Training Part 1 and Part 2)
If you are a new MPIO who has completed MPIO Part 1 and MPIO Part 2 training – you may sign up to the National MPIO Register here – MPIO Register – Play by the Rules – Making Sport inclusive, safe and fair
If you are an existing MPIO – and have recently repeated the MPIO training and would like an updated certificate – please use the contact us form here.
You can only join the National Register once and so any subsequent requests will need to be dealt with manually by the PBTR Team.
If you are an existing MPIO you may also access the MPIO resources here:
| Workshop |
Date & Duration |
Registration |
| Member Protection Officer Training
|
2022 Dates to be confirmed |
Register Here |
| 2022 Dates to be confirmed |
| Complaints Handling Training
|
| 2022 Dates to be confirmed |
| Safer Clubs – Creating a Child Safe Culture |
2022 Dates to be confirmed |
| 2022 Dates to be confirmed |
| Safer Clubs – Zero tolerance for Bullying, Sexual Harassment & Discrimination |
2022 Dates to be confirmed |
| 2022 Dates to be confirmed |
PRESENTER: MORGAN LANDER, FOUNDER & PRINCIPAL
Morgan’s passion for protecting the vulnerable is second to none. Whilst undertaking a Bachelor Degree in Applied Science (Leisure & Health) through Sydney University, Morgan worked in disability, aged care and children’s residential facilities including Stewart House and Royal Far West Children’s Hospital on Sydney’s northern beaches. From this experience he developed a keen interest in human rights, risk management and the essential professional standards that are needed when working with vulnerable clientele.
From a young age and throughout his eight year front-line career, he developed and facilitated informative peer learning in a range of risk management areas. This resulted in a transition to Project Officer roles in the NSW public service including within the NSW Sport & Recreation – Child Protection & Employment Screening Unit, NSW Commission for Children & Young People and the Office of the Children’s Guardian.
Since 2006 he has developed and facilitated insightful and engaging adult learning seminars to a diverse range of industries within the human services and volunteer sectors. His delivery style and risk management knowledge are among his key strengths. Morgan has held recurrent contracts with both the NSW Office of Sport and Queensland Government in Member Protection and Complaint Handling facilitation since 2012.
Morgan continues to be an independent representative on the National Reference Group for Play By The Rules, a role that begun in 2006; has assisted the Australian Sports Commission in risk management, complaint handling and member protection since 2011 and is considered to be one of the leading practitioners in this field.
Morgan holds a Bachelor of Applied Science (Leisure & Health) and Certificate IV in Training & Assessment.
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