Mon 03 Mar 2008			Recipient: 6123Ob11	
					REF:AGCYC3S1
TO:	Cr Denise WILTON	cc	The Hon Paul KELLY MLG
	MAYOR				KSAS-Au 
	MOSMAN MUNICIPAL COUNCIL	Affected Bodies SHOROC

	CHILD DUTY OF CARE-COMMONSENSE TO PREVAIL ?

Dear Madam Mayor and Councillors

We are very pleased to note that Cr Simon MENZIES, now that he 
has a 3 year old daughter, has used his position as a Councillor to 
issue a Notice of Motion NM/5 04 Mar 2008 "Child Safety - 
Memorial Park Playground Fence" 

A	"Commonsense dictates"
B	Two new Council Policy documents
C	Council web forms NOT pdf formats

A	"COMMONSENSE DICTATES" 

This Notice of Motion states: 

"There is no rule that says Council must provide child safety fences 
surrounding Children's playgrounds.

However, commonsense dictates that fences are installed were 
(sic) the playground is located close to traffic.

It is my view that Council has a duty of care in this instance to 
install a safety fence at this location."

We are very confident that, when Cr MENZIES's daughter starts 
playing junior sport, he will appreciate the efforts and 
persistence of the Mosman older parents in encouraging Mosman 
Council to understand its Duty of Care to Mosman Junior Sports
players, their Parents and SHOROC Ratepayers.

B	TWO NEW COUNCIL POLICY DOCUMENTS

We note that Mosman Council has 79 Policies on its website.

We would suggest that two more Policies to added to the list:

1 	Child Duty of Care - Playgrounds - ensure appropriate 
	gates and fencing is provided

2 	Child Duty of Care - Junior Sport - ensure audits of 
	the Volunteer Child Protection documents are carried 
	out by the Junior Sports Clubs

These Policies will help allay any parents and ratepayers 
concerns on Child Protection and Council's liability.

In addition we would suggest that the Policies are web-pages 
rather than pdf files that have to be downloaded to be read.

C	WEB FORMS RATHER THAN PDF FILES

We also note that Mosman Council has 66 forms in pdf fomat 
which ratepayers have to download, print and fax back, some with 
payment details, to Council.

Each one of these forms requires the address of the applicant 
hence the importance of a standard Address format.

We would suggest that it would save the Council a considerable 
amount of paper and money if these forms were converted to on-
line forms so that the applicant details go straight into the 
Council's computer system.

In addition it would enable Mosman Parents and Ratepayers to 
quickly draw Council's attention to other Council Duty of Care 
concerns rather than wait for a Councillor to issue a Notice of 
Motion. 

D	NEXT STEPS

KSAS-2088 warmly supports Cr MENZIES initiative for this Notice 
of Motion on Child Safety.

Yours sincerely


Stephen GOULD				
Hon Secretary				
KIDS SAFE-AT-SPORT NETWORK

E:   stephen.gould@ksas-au.net
M:   0416-009-468