Safe Places
Every church in the Conference should now have adopted a local church child-safe policy which outlines purpose, principles and guidelines for maintaining the church as a safe environment for children and youth.
All local Churches across Australia and New Zealand strive to adhere to the following:
- Compliance with a template local Church Child-Safe Policy. The brochure Introducing our Child-Safe Policy gives an overview of the policy for congregations.
- Screening of all volunteers who work in child/youth-related roles. This includes compliance with the relevant Criminal History Record Check in the State, Territory or Country as applicable to the location. This is known as either a Police Check/Ministry of Justice Check, National Police Certificate, Certificate of Clearance, or Working with Children Check in various areas. The Brochure Screening Volunteers who work with Kids explains this in more detail.
- Abiding by a Code of Conduct which outlines the conduct expected of all adults who interact with children and young people whilst on Church property and on Church-sponsored activities. The Brochure Code of Conduct explains the code in more detail.
- Reporting all disclosures, suspisions and allegations of children at risk of harm to Church and statutory authorities such as the Police, Government Child Protection services and the Church's Conference-Region Safe Place Coordinator or Safe Place Services. The Brochure Responding to Kids at Risk outlines this in more detail.
- Implimenting Safety Agreements with all applicants who have a conviction or positive finding for an offence against a child of a sexual, pornographic or violent nature. The Brochure Safety Agreements outlines this is more detail. An applicant with such a Court conviction or positive finding must undergo a 'risk assessment' as part of the process of determining the level of access and participation they will be afforded within the Church whilst on Church property and at certain Church-sponsored activities. Applicants deemed to be 'high risk', or who do not comply with the risk-assessment process, may be excluded from being on Church property or at certain Church-sponsored activities planned for children or where it is reasonable to foresee that children might attend or that children would be welcome to attend. For eligible applicants, a Safety Agreement is a signed document that outines the safeguards that the Church and the applicant commit to, as accountability partners, to ensure children and youth are safe from potential harm and that an applicant is supported in a non-offending lifestyle. The Safety Agreement is made between the applicant and the relevant Conference-region and is implimented by the local Church Board in conjunction with a team of appointed support monitors.
Local Churches may also appoint a Safe Place Coordinator, or a committee/team, to assist the Board, the Nominating Committee, and the children's and youth ministry teams that operate the various aspects of the Church's programs, to comply with the Child-Safe Policy, Code of Conduct, and screening requirements. They also assist in identifying training needs and in providing advice and guidance in response to specific situations as they arise. Click here for a Position Description of the local Church Safe Place Coordinator role.