32 Catholic Diocese of Sandhurst Year in Review 2019 LEADERSHIP & STRUCTURE CHILD PROTECTION OF UTMOST IMPORTANCE Ms Anne McIntosh Child Safety Officer Catholic Diocese of Sandhurst The Catholic Diocese of Sandhurst promoted the necessity of compliance with the 7 Child Safe Standards of the Victorian Commission for Children and Young People, following government recommendations to comply with the standards, effective from 1 January 2017. The Diocese engaged a Child Safety Officer in February 2017 to assist parishes in complying with the standards. The Child Safety Officer travels to parishes on a regular basis and has achieved significant progress since February 2017, with the vast majority of parishes having an active Child Safe Team dedicated to child safety. These Child Safe Team members have been trained in the protection of children and vulnerable adults. Our aim is to continue with annual training for those volunteers and employees. Additionally, education provision continues for all volunteers and employees to mitigate risk of future abuse. Training is available via Catholic Church Insurance’s online modules and PowerPoint presentations are available for Child Safe Team members to administer in person. All parishes and religious orders have access to these training methods. All parishes have a current Code of Conduct Policy and Child Safe Policy displayed in all parish buildings, as well as the Child Safety Reporting process, which clearly explains the processes for reporting any child abuse including the contact details of the Child Safety Officer and the Parish Priest. In June 2019, Catholic Professional Standards Limited, an advisory group established by the Australian Catholic Bishops’ Conference and Catholic Religious Australia, finalised the 10 Child Safe Standards, incorporating the principles of the Victorian Commission for Children and Young People’s 7 Child Safe Standards, and expanding them to include recommendations from the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse. The 10 Child Safe Standards add greater emphasis on the participation of families, carers and communities, the promotion of diversity and equity, and continuous improvement in child protection processes. The 10 Child Safe Standards are being considered carefully and will be implemented in 2020. Under the direction of the Child Safety Officer, parishes will have the task of incorporating the standards into parish life and ensuring adherence. There will be a focus on parishes engaging with families, carers and communities, and parishes have been equipped with the necessary resources to do so through the diocesan website. Parishes are at different stages of updating a risk assessment and the Diocese is in the process of enhancing the risk assessment template to comply with the 10 Child Safe Standards. Child Safe Teams in parishes will implement the new risk assessment as a key priority in 2020. It is also proposed that Child Safe Team personnel attend an annual Child Safe Seminar over two days to cover key topics regarding updates to best practice. Methods to increase the visibility of parish Child Safe Team members are currently being investigated. The Diocese is encouraging all parishes to participate in Child Protection Week which concludes on Child Protection Sunday, 13 September 2020. Clergy have been overwhelmingly positive in their leadership in child protection activities, such as at the annual in-service for clergy, which was attended by all parish priests in 2019. The Catholic Diocese of Sandhurst has dedicated significant resources to apply best practice in order to have the safest possible environment for children and vulnerable adults. The invaluable input and support from employees and volunteer Child Safe Team members must be acknowledged, and progress to date would not have been possible without their dedication and commitment. The Catholic Diocese of Sandhurst will continue to ensure the protection of children and adults is of the utmost importance in 2020.
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