When your child is doing an activity with another adult — like a coach, tutor, instructor, or community leader — that person can act as their Mentor with your approval. Mentors help encourage, support & guide your child through the activity & confirm when they’ve completed it.
In a family-led Compass journey, parents provide overall supervision, but where another adult is involved in delivering or guiding an activity, that adult may become the Mentor.
Participants should choose their Mentor at the beginning of each activity. As the Parent Facilitator, you’ll help your child identify the right person and ensure they understand the role. Mentors should not be close family members unless no suitable alternative exists.
Mentor Role & Responsibilities
The Mentor does not need to supervise every session, but they must stay in contact and check progress throughout the journey.
The Code of Conduct applies to any adult over the age of 18 who supports your child’s Compass Award journey — including parents, mentors, coaches, tutors, and other supervisors.
All Mentors must be adults who are skilled or experienced in the activity area, and who can offer appropriate guidance.
If your child is doing an activity outside the home, you are responsible for ensuring that any adult involved has the right experience and meets basic safety requirements. In most cases, Mentors should hold a current Working With Children
Check (WWCC) or equivalent, especially if the activity involves ongoing unsupervised contact.
Before starting, all Mentors must read and sign the Compass Code of Conduct.
By signing, Mentors agree to:
We provide a printable version of the Code of Conduct in your Parent Facilitator Toolkit and your child’s Record Book.
Awards Victoria Ltd is committed to being a child safe and child friendly organisation. It recognises, respects and promotes children’s rights and is committed to protecting and empowering children who come into contact with the organisation. At Awards Victoria Ltd children are to be listened to, taken seriously and treated with sensitivity and compassion.
Awards Victoria Ltd acknowledges that children’s safety is the responsibility of the whole community and recognises its own responsibilities in keeping children safe from abuse. It has a zero-tolerance approach to child abuse.
Awards Victoria Ltd values diversity and will not tolerate discriminatory practices. It recognises the vulnerabilities of particular groups of children and pays particular attention to the cultural safety of Aboriginal children and children from culturally and/or linguistically diverse backgrounds, and the safety of children with a disability.
