32 Catholic Diocese of Sandhurst Year in Review 2023 As Diocesan safeguarding Coordinator, I aim to foster a culture of safeguarding by supporting parishes to create a safe, secure and nurturing environment for all who engage with our parishes with a particular focus on protecting children, young people, and adults at risk . Fostering a culture of safeguarding requires proactively ensuring that National Catholic Safeguarding Standards (NCSS) and Victorian Child Safe Standards are met by our Diocese. To do this, I work with the Diocesan Safeguarding Committee to develop robust safeguarding policies and procedures which comply with these Safeguarding Standards. I also work with Parish Safeguarding Teams to ensure that these policies and procedures address the specific needs of people who gather in parishes and that they are understood, implemented, and maintained in the parish context. The Catholic Diocese of Sandhurst has made a commitment to comply with Victorian Child Safe Standards (since 2017) and subsequently National Catholic Safeguarding Standards which have evolved in the years since they were first released in 2019. Parishes in the Diocese embraced Edition One of Australian Catholic Safeguarding’s (ACSL) National Catholic Safeguarding Standards (NCSS) which put measures in place to create safer environments for children and young people consistent with the National Child Safe Principles. In April 2021, the Diocese was audited by ACSL who found that the Diocese had achieved 96% of the implementation indicators. At the close of 2023, the Diocese complies with almost all of the Edition One Australian Catholic Safeguarding Standards, and has met ten of the twelve ACSL audit recommendations. In December 2022, ACSL released Edition Two of the National Catholic Safeguarding Standards (NCSS) addressing the safeguarding requirements of adults at risk. These standards reflect the duty of care owed to everyone; they recognise that there are risk factors which cause some people to be more susceptible to abuse, and acknowledge that power imbalances can occur in some Church contexts. In 2023, my key focus has been to ensure that Diocesan policies and procedures comply with the Edition Two of the National Catholic Safeguarding Standards (NCSS), essentially safeguarding adults and, in particular, adults at risk. I am pleased there has been a positive uptake of new online safeguarding training modules which incorporate these developments in the National Catholic Safeguarding Standards (NCSS). A draft Diocesan Safeguarding Policy updated to include ‘adults at risk’ has been developed by the Safeguarding and the Implementation of the Safeguarding Standards including adults at risk — 2023 ANNE MCINTOSH From Diocesan Safeguarding Coordinator
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