Manager – Compliance and Child Safety

Join the Y Team!

At the Y, we believe in the power of inspired young people. Here at Y Ballarat we provide a wide range of programs and services to over 100 communities across Victoria, including rural and remote communities. We currently have over 700 staff across the state and continue to grow and develop our passionate workforce.

Our children’s services operations include the management of kindergartens, early learning centres and before and after school care. We have over 90 services across Victoria. Our Youth programs have an increased presence in Ballarat through our Youth hubs, workshops and in our ReCranked and JumpStart programs.

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Help shape safer services and stronger practice for children and young people.

• Lead compliance and child safety improvement across approximately 110 services.
• Build staff capability through education, coaching and practical resources.
• Make a meaningful contribution across early childhood, OSHC and youth services.

About Y Ballarat

At the Y, we believe in the power of inspired young people. Y Ballarat provides early childhood education and care, Outside School Hours Care and youth services across Victoria.

Our vision is a better world, with and for young people. Our values of Belonging, Excellence, Honesty, Nurturing and Respect guide our commitment to safe, high-quality services and supporting our people.

The Opportunity

We are seeking an experienced Manager – Compliance and Child Safety to lead a significant, organisation-wide improvement program over a 12-month fixed-term appointment.

Reporting to the Executive Manager – Child Safety and Compliance, you will work alongside operational leaders and service teams to strengthen compliance systems, embed safeguarding into everyday practice and build sustainable organisational capability.

This role combines strategic leadership with practical support. You will identify risks, develop clear processes and help teams understand and meet their responsibilities. Education is central to the role, with opportunities to develop training, deliver coaching and create resources that translate complex requirements into achievable actions.

Your key responsibilities

• Lead a compliance and child safety improvement program across approximately 110 services.
• Assess current compliance performance and coordinate targeted improvements.
• Develop practical frameworks, tools, assurance processes and escalation pathways.
• Embed Child Safe Standards and safeguarding considerations into compliance monitoring and incident reviews.
• Coordinate Assessment and Rating preparation, support and follow-up.
• Strengthen regulatory notifications and responses to serious and reportable incidents.
• Facilitate incident reviews and root-cause analysis, sharing learning to reduce recurrence.
• Develop and deliver education, coaching and guidance for leaders and staff.
• Analyse compliance, incident and safeguarding data to identify emerging risks and systemic issues.
• Report on performance and improvement priorities and monitor corrective actions through to completion.

About you

You are a collaborative leader who builds trusted relationships and turns complex requirements into clear, practical guidance. You bring sound judgement, strong analytical skills and a commitment to helping teams improve.

You will have:

• Relevant tertiary qualifications in education, compliance, risk, governance, quality management, law, business or a related discipline.
• Demonstrated experience in compliance, child safety, quality assurance, regulatory operations, risk or governance in a complex, highly regulated environment.
• Experience leading organisational improvement and developing compliance frameworks, assurance systems and corrective action processes.
• The ability to integrate safeguarding and child safety into systems and operational practice.
• Experience in incident review, root-cause analysis and translating findings into organisational learning.
• Proven ability to influence leaders and build staff capability through education, training and coaching.
• Strong communication skills, including preparing clear reports and recommendations for executive and governance audiences.

Experience in early childhood education and care, the National Quality Framework, Child Safe Standards, Assessment and Rating and regulatory incident management is highly desirable.

Why join Y Ballarat?

This is an opportunity to shape a significant improvement program with a clear purpose. You will work across a substantial service portfolio, helping create safer environments and equipping teams with the systems, knowledge and resources to deliver high-quality services.

Employment requirements

The successful applicant will be required to undertake a National Police Check, maintain a valid employment Working with Children Check and hold a current Victorian Driver’s Licence.

Apply now

Submit your resume and a cover letter outlining your relevant experience and how you would contribute to compliance, child safety and staff capability at Y Ballarat.

Applications close: 22 October 2026

For further information, please contact Kim Porter at [email protected].