Visiting Clergy and Religious

Clergy and religious wishing to visit this Archdiocese to carry out a Ministry or Apostolate must advise the Institute for Professional Standards and Safeguarding (IPSS) of their impending visit.

The advice to be provided is as follows:

For clergy and religious without an Australian Catholic Ministry Register Number (ACMR) or a Greater Sydney Ministry Card.

  1. Download and complete the following forms:
  2. Forward completed Declaration forms and details of your Working with Children and/or Vulnerable People check as outlined in the table below to IPSS at ipss@cg.org.au.

For clergy and religious with an ACMR or a Greater Sydney Ministry Card.
For those with both cards – the ACMR is to be provided in preference to the Greater Sydney Ministry Card.

  1. Forward your ACMR number and details of your Working with Children and/or Vulnerable People check as outlined in Table 1 to IPSS at ipss@cg.org.au or
  2. Forward details of your Greater Sydney Ministry Card and your Working with Children and/or Vulnerable People check as outlined in Table 1 to IPSS at ipss@cg.org.au.

Table 1. Details to be provided to enable verification of Working with Children and or Vulnerable Person Clearance:

State/Territory Details Required

New South Wales

(WWC clearance)

 Surname (as appears on WWC Clearance)
WWCC Number
Date of Birth

Northern Territory

(WWC Card or Ochre card)

 Given Name
Surname
Clearance Notice Number or Date of Birth

Queensland

(Blue card)

 Provide photocopy Blue Card ensuring the following is visible:
Name
WWCC Blue Number
Expiry date

South Australia

(Child related Employment Screening)

 Name
Date of Birth
Screening Type
Screening reference Number and/or clearance date

Tasmania

(Registration to work with Vulnerable People)

 Provide photocopy of Card ensuring the following is visible:
Family Name
WWC Card Number

Victoria

(Working with Children Check)

 Provide photocopy of Card ensuring the following is visible:
Family Name
WWC Card Number

Western Australia

(Working with Children Check)

 Provide photocopy of ensuring the following is visible:
Family Name (as appears on WWC Card)
WWC Card Number

 

OUR ARCHDIOCESE

On receipt of the documentation and prior to the planned visit, IPSS will review the documentation provided and once the relevant verifications are completed, IPSS will issue a confirmation email to:

  1. The Parish Priest (and his parish secretary) where the visit will take place; and to
  2. The visiting Clergy and/or Religious

to advise of your clearance to perform ministry in a parish/with a religious movement/group at a certain date and time.

IPSS will keep a record of all clearances for visiting Clergy and Religious within the Archdiocese.

OUR PARISHES

Parishes (as well as IPSS) will save and permanently archive all confirmation emails for visiting Clergy and Religious for compliance and auditing purposes.

FACULTIES

Visiting clergy with faculties for this Archdiocese who’s clearance/registration to work with children and/or vulnerable people is not held in NSW and/or the ACT, are required to inform IPSS every time they visit the Archdiocese to perform Ministry.

Each visit is recorded to ensure that the number of exemptions to perform Ministry without the relevant ACT/NSW screening registration/clearance does not exceed the maximum allowed under the relevant NSW and/or ACT legislation. Please refer to the following links on exemptions or call IPSS if you have any questions.

Exemptions:
NSW: Exemptions from the Working with Children Check
ACT: Working with Vulnerable People (WWVP) Registration

Need more information:

Please contact the Institute for Professional Standards and Safeguarding:

Meg Lillicrap    IPSS Visiting Clergy Contact     6239 9803
Maria Hicks     IPSS Manager                            6239 9806
or email to ipss@cg.org.au