Report Concerns or Make A Complaint

If you believe a child or vulnerable adult is in immediate danger or in a life-threatening situation, contact the Police immediately on 111.

• We will treat any allegation of abuse or neglect promptly, seriously and with a high degree of sensitivity.
  
  
• All people working with an NZTE in a paid or unpaid capacity have a duty to report any concerns to the appropriate authorities, following the steps outlined below.

Step 1: Receive the allegation

• If a child or vulnerable adult raises with you an allegation of abuse or neglect that relates to them or to another child/vulnerable adult, it is important that you listen, stay calm and be supportive.

Step 2: Report the allegation

• Immediately report any allegation of abuse or neglect, or any situation involving a child or vulnerable adult at risk of harm, to the police and/or the relevant child protection agency. You may need to make a report to both.
• Contact the relevant child protection agency or police for advice if there is any doubt about whether the allegation should be reported.
• If the allegation involves a person to whom the Tennis Participant Protection Policy applies, then also report the allegation to a Protection Information Officer (if not already involved in the process) so that they can manage the situation.
• A concern/incident form can be found here

Step 3: Protect the child and manage the situation

• A Member Protection Information Officer will assess the immediate risks to the child/vulnerable adult and engage with appropriate individuals responsible for governance and administration of relevant NZTEs to enable interim steps to ensure the child/vulnerable adult’s safety and the safety of any others. This may include the NZTE redeploying the alleged respondent to a position where there is no unsupervised contact with children, supervising the alleged respondent or removing/suspending him or her until any investigations have been concluded. Legal advice should be sought before any interim steps are made if the person is in paid employment with an NZTE.
• The Member Protection Information Officer will consider what services may be most appropriate to support the child or vulnerable adult and their parent/s or guardian/s.
• The Member Protection Information Officer will consider what support services may be appropriate for the alleged respondent.
• The Member Protection Information Officer will support relevant NZTEs to put in place measures to protect the child or vulnerable adult and the alleged respondent from possible victimisation and gossip.

Step 4: Take internal action

• Different investigations could be undertaken to examine allegations that are made against a person to whom this policy applies, including:
  • a criminal investigation (conducted by the police)
  • a child protection investigation (conducted by the relevant child protection agency)
  • a disciplinary or misconduct enquiry/investigation (conducted by Tennis New Zealand or an NZTE).
• Regardless of the findings of the police and/or child protection agency investigations, the NZTE will assess the allegations to decide whether the alleged respondent should return to his or her position, be dismissed, be banned, or face any other disciplinary action.
• A Member Protection Information Officer of the NZTE will consider all information relevant to the matter - including any findings made by the police, the child protection authority, and/or court - and then recommend actions and the rationale for those actions, which the NZTE will then progress to a natural resolution.
• If disciplinary action or any formal resolution is recommended, the NZTE will follow the procedures set out in the Tennis Participant Protection Policy.
• The NZTE will provide the relevant government agency with a report of any disciplinary action taken, where this is required.

All people working for an NZTE in a paid or unpaid capacity have a duty to report any concerns relating to the safety of a child or vulnerable person to the appropriate authorities.

It is important to note that it is unlikely a child or vulnerable person will be able to make a complaint themselves so the procedure will most often be followed by either a parent, support person or a nominated safeguarding officer.

Any person may make a complaint about a person to whom the Tennis Participant Protection Policy (TPPP) applies if they consider that a person has, or may have, breached any part of the policy. 

Any complaint relating to children or vulnerable people can be made in any format, but once received, will be refined using the Concern or Incident Report Form so it is encouraged that this form is used for the initial complaint where possible. 

The complaint is to be forwarded to a Member Protection Information Officer (MPIO).  This could be someone designated to safeguarding within the club, regional organisation, or at Tennis NZ.

Complaints will be progressed by the MPIO in accordance with the TPPP, with the MPIO engaging with relevant NZTEs as appropriate. 

Full details of the Complaints, Hearings and Appeals process can be found in Part IV of the TPPP (pages 22-31)

Other organisations providing training and advice include: