NSW Child Safe Standards
The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse recommended 10 Child Safe Standards, drawing on its findings, research and consultation about what makes organisations child safe.
The Child Safe Standards are a benchmark against which the Archdiocese assesses our child safe capacity and sets performance targets. The Standards provide tangible guidance for us to drive a child safe culture, adopt strategies and act to put the interests of children first, to keep them safe from harm. These were accepted by the NSW Government in 2022.
Below are the 10 Child Safe Standards as well as examples of how the Archdiocese is meeting them:
- Establishment of Professional Standards Advisory Panel
- Archdiocesan Code of Conduct provided to all staff and volunteers with additional copies available on website
- Parish Safeguarding Volunteer pilot programme
- Safeguarding Policy
- Integrity in Ministry
- Integrity in the Service of the Church
- Privacy and Information Sharing
- Safeguarding Contacts
- ACSL – https://www.cpsltd.org.au/
- ACBC – https://catholic.org.au/
- Canon Law changes
- Youth ministry
- ‘Voice of our Children’ pilot programme
- National Child Protection Week
- Safeguarding Sunday and National Child Protection Week
- https://www.catholicvoice.org.au/the-gift-of-our-children/
- https://www.catholicvoice.org.au/heads-of-agencies-gather-for-child-protection-week/
- https://www.catholicvoice.org.au/protecting-our-children-into-the-future/
- https://www.catholicvoice.org.au/helping-kids-at-risk/
- Training in Child Safe Practices provided for parish/Catholic communities.
- Support and oversight for parishes/Catholic communities to ensure that leaders and volunteers adhere to Working with Children, Working with Vulnerable People and/or Code of Conduct requirements.
- Communication with bodies organising retreats and religious events to ensure they are aware of obligations and have adequate WWC/WWVP requirements met.
- Requirement for preparation of Risk Management plans for parish/community events.
- IPSS easily contactable for advice.
- Guidelines and procedures in place for monitoring visiting clergy to the Archdiocese and Archdiocesan clergy visiting other Dioceses.
- Marriage Family & Relationships
- Safeguarding resources for parishes, parents and children
- Requirement for staff to hold a Working with Children or Working with Vulnerable People check with details verified/held by IPSS.
- Policies and procedures provided to staff at induction.
- Staff requirement to read and sign the Child Protection Code of Conduct.
- Protocol: Safe Recruitment Practices (pdf - 735 KB)
- Protocol: Working with children checks for employment (pdf - 638 KB)
- Fact sheet: Who needs WWCC / WWVP clearance in a Parish? (pdf - 768 KB)
- Check list: NSW Parishes – WWCC verification and record keeping (docx - 56 KB)
- Check list: ACT Parishes – WWVP verification and record keeping (docx - 55 KB)
- Protocol: Engaging volunteers (pdf - 560 KB)
- Protocol: Visiting clergy (including International) (pdf - 786 KB)
- Form: Clergy/Religious personal declaration for visit to our Archdiocese (docx - 55 KB)
- Form: Church Authority Declaration for visit to our Archdiocese (docx - 55 KB)
- Visiting Clergy, Religious and Lay People
- The Call of a Catechist
- Training made available for relevant staff and clergy on how to react to a disclosure made by a child.
- Prompt investigation, follow up and/or ongoing support for survivors of abuse.
- Protocol: Reporting Child Protection Concerns (pdf - 833.66 KB)
- Flowchart: Reporting child well-being concerns (pdf - 792 KB)
- Flowchart: Reporting child-related adult behaviour of concern (pdf - 786 KB)
- Fact sheet: Reportable crimes and the Police (pdf - 624 KB)
- Protocol: Reportable conduct and the Ombudsman (pdf - 963 KB)
- Opportunities for ongoing staff training provided either by IPSS or external providers such as Catholic Professional Standards (CPSL) or NSW Children’s Guardian office.
- Provision of resources to identifying grooming, report abuse etc.
- Establishment of close working relationship with NSW Children’s Guardian office - https://www.kidsguardian.nsw.gov.au/child-safe-organisations/training-and-resources/child-safe-elearning
- Advice: What constitutes risk of significant harm to children? (pdf - 543 KB)
- Fact sheet: When is a child at risk of significant harm? (pdf - 652 KB)
- Protocol: Photography/filming of Parish events (pdf - 630 KB)
- Advice for Parishioners: Photography of children at Parish events (pdf - 530 KB)
- Child Safe Organisations E-Learning Modules
- Training Package (pdf - 7.22 MB)
- Contracts put in place for known Persons of Concern who wish to attend Mass.
- Persons of Concern restricted from activities involving children and required to attend Mass times with few/no children in attendance.
- Requirement for staff to hold a Working with Children or Working with Vulnerable People check with details verified/held by IPSS.
- Clergy instructed not to facilitate contact with parishioners through personal social media.
- Parents advised of any online meetings with youth to enable supervision.
- IPSS Manager availability to Youth Ministry Manager enabling the easy provision of advice and cooperation regarding youth events.
- Introduction of Parish Safeguarding Volunteer programme.
- Consistent opportunities for training of clergy and staff in Child Safe Practices, Identifying Grooming, reporting processes etc.
- Guidelines in place for children’s religious education classes in parishes and ongoing monitoring of WWC/WWVP checks for all Catechists.
- Fact sheet: Appropriate behaviours (pdf - 1 MB)
- Protocol: Use of technology and social media with children (pdf - 744 KB)
- Fact sheet: Use of technology and social media with children (pdf - 566 KB)
- Protocol: Use of tobacco, alcohol and other drugs (pdf - 628 KB)
- Fact sheet: Use of tobacco, alcohol and other drugs (pdf - 633 KB)
- Flowchart: Risk assessment and mitigation for Parish activities (pdf - 533 KB)
- Template: Risk assessment for Parish activities involving children (docx - 56 KB)
- Template: Risk mitigation strategies for Parish activities involving children (docx - 59 KB)
- Contact: cgyouth@cg.org.au
- e-Safety Commissioner
- IPSS Manager responsible for review, revision and compliance and for communicating with Advisory Panel. Panel comprises six members with relevant experience and meets quarterly.
- IPSS provide advice to parish/community groups regarding compliance with relevant legislation, policies and procedures.
- Feedback regularly sought on new policies, procedures, training or programmes
- Regular revision of policies and Child Protection Code of Conduct.
- All policies accessible on Archdiocesan website.
- Contact for questions, complaints or to make a report accessible from website or provided on documentation.
- Parish/Archdiocesan WWC/WWVP records regularly audited by IPSS and external regulatory bodies.
- Protocol: Storing and sharing child protection records (pdf - 779 KB)
- Advice: Parish Records Archiving Procedures (pdf - 728 KB)
- Fact sheet: Storing and sharing child protection records (pdf - 532 KB)
- Form: Details of reported and unreported child protection matters (docx - 55 KB)