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If you are a survivor of abuse that happened in a church setting, whether it happened yesterday or many years ago, in the Diocese of Willochra or elsewhere, and you would like to talk to someone about what happened to you, please get in touch with us.
The Anglican Diocese of Willochra has adopted legislation and procedures for responding to abuse by church workers (clergy, laypeople, volunteers and employees).
Abuse is never the fault of the child or vulnerable person who was abused. Church workers must care for, protect, and respect everyone they have a pastoral or supervisory relationship with, or have personal contact with. Church workers are never to take advantage of their vocation or position. Abuse by a church worker is a betrayal of power and trust.
Help is available
You can talk to the Professional Standards Director
Mobile 0412 256 244
Email psdirector@adam.com.au
The Professional Standards Director is responsible for ensuring that all complaints are responded to quickly by the Diocese of Willochra.
If a child has been abused or is at risk of any form of abuse, contact the Child Abuse Report Line on 131 478.
Along with new State Government requirements, we’ve updated our own systems to create a simplified, 4 step Safe Ministry application process . In order to meet legal and General Synod requirements, all church workers and volunteers will be instructed to fill out a single online Diocesan Safe Ministry application form, and will be prompted to fill out any additional forms necessary to meet State Government legislative requirements.
Synod has been conducting safe ministry screening and training for clergy and volunteers since 2002. Changes to South Australian legislation together with the requirements of the Safe Ministry to Children Canon 2017 have prompted Synod to review our Safe Ministry policies, procedures and training.
One of the weaknesses in our current approach is that whilst we have rigorous screening process and record keeping at Synod Office level, we have no means of knowing whether everyone who should apply for a Working With Children Check does so. Nor do we currently know that everyone who works with children in a church holds the relevant approval, and importantly when a family arrives at your church, they may have no visible means of knowing whether the people working with their children are appropriately screened, trained and approved.
Diocesan Council has approved a series of reforms to our Safe Ministry system:
Who needs a Working With Children Check clearance?
To ensure compliance with both South Australian State legislation and the Safe Ministry to Children Canon 2017 the following list of roles must obtain a safe ministry clearance:
Who Doesn’t need a Working With Children Check clearance?
Under current Diocesan safe ministry processes all volunteers in parishes are required to undergo a WWCC. The means that many volunteers in parishes who have only incidental contact with children are undergoing a WWCC even though they are not legally required to do so.
Diocesan Council has adopted legal advice that “a person will not be performing ‘child-related work’ if they are performing ‘any other service or activity’ in the course of which contact with children occurs incidentally or would not reasonably be expected to occur’.
A WWCC is not required in relation to a person who believes on reasonable grounds that they will not ‘work with children’ on more than seven days in a calendar year (unless that person does ‘work with children’ on more than seven days (i.e. once they have ‘worked with children’ on more than seven days, they will need to obtain a WWCC)
This means that if your church does not have a children’s program or youth group, the only persons required to hold a WWCC are the clergy.
To assist parishes, a table that sets out who ought to undergo the WWCC and Safe Ministry training is in the Safe Ministry resources page (https://diowillochra.org.au/safe-ministry-resources/). This should be read as a guide only. For further clarification parishes are encouraged to contact the Safe Ministry Unit.
With these reforms, many parishes should see a significant reduction in the number of people who have to undergo the WWCC and training.
The Safe Ministry Coordinator
Whilst the responsibility for Safe Ministry in any parish ministering to children or vulnerable people lies with the Parish Priest, Diocesan Council has endorsed the creation of a Safe Ministry Co-ordinator role in each parish. The Safe Ministry Coordinator role is designed to assist the Parish comply with their safe ministry responsibilities. Safe Ministry Co-ordinators will be appointed by the Parish Priest as an “other officer” under Section 52 of the Parochial Administration Ordinance
Parish Safe Ministry Co-ordinator role is to:
A Safe Ministry Coordinator should ideally:
It would be desirable if the Safe Ministry Coordinator:
Synod Office will co-ordinate the communication around the establishment of the Safe Ministry Co-ordinator roles, and will support them with training, resources and support in the conduct of their responsibilities.
We will be producing new safe ministry posters for display in each parish. Further we will provide a document which may be displayed setting out the name of the parish Safe Ministry Co-ordinator and the list of names of persons approved for safe ministry in the parish together with the expiry date. This will enable any family attending the parish to check that the persons who are ministering to children are appropriately approved for that ministry.
Safe Ministry Training
Safe Ministry Check is a platform and suite of training courses developed in partnership with Ansvar Risk. It will comfortably meet the needs of our Diocese. Ansvar (our insurance broker) strongly encourages its clients to utilise this training.
Safe Ministry Check consists of a series of short videos followed by several questions to reinforce the content and test understanding. The applicant cannot proceed or receive a certificate of completion without correctly answering the questions. Each video course takes between 20 minutes and 40 minutes to complete with a total investment of less than three hours. The system keeps track of when applicants have completed their courses and when they need to do a refresher. This will be integrated with our Salesforce database enabling us to capture the data required for a Safe Ministry clearance.
The training portal on the Safe Ministry Check website will be branded specifically for the Anglican Diocese of Willochra (safeministrycheck.com.au) with our Safe Ministry Policy, Faithfulness in Service and relevant contact details including reporting obligations built into the content.
This suite of courses will replace the current Safe Environments for children & young people “Through their Eyes” (SE) and Ensuring Safe Church communities (ESCC) courses.
Further, these Safe Ministry Check courses have been developed as suitable for viewing by 14-17
While it can feel like a big step, moving online means an ultimately less complicated clearance process.
Besides the convenience of being able to complete your Safe Ministry clearance applications and Safe Ministry training across a range of digital devices (laptop, smart phone, tablet), applying online is better for the environment and leads to a reduction in print and post costs at both ends of the process.
Applying online also allows for easier and more efficient handling of data, which should lead to faster turnaround times and fewer delays, meaning you can be cleared for ministry much sooner than experienced using the old processes.
Finally, lodging your application online means that you will receive confirmation that your application has been lodged. You will also receive email updates to help you track your application’s progress and be advised when you are cleared for online training. Reminders will be sent when your current Safe Ministry clearance is due for renewal.
If you or someone you know is not familiar with using the internet or uncomfortable with using it, your first action should be to seek support from your own parish.
Stronger, more effective and transparent screening laws for people working or volunteering with children have been introduced in South Australia.
These changes to the screening laws were recommended as part of South Australian & Federal Royal Commissions, to help keep children safe in our communities.
The new laws mean that everyone working or volunteering with children must have a valid child-related screening. From 1 July 2019, the State’s current system for child-related employment screening will be replaced with a Working with Children Check (WWCC).
If you have a current, valid DHS/DCSI child-related employment screening this will be recognised as a WWCC until it expires (normally three years from the date of issue). You will need to supply a copy of this separately via email when you submit your online Safe Ministry Application. These can be forwarded to safeministry@adelaideanglicans.com
For people who have a National Police Certificate assessed by their organisation and use it to volunteer with children, they will have until 1st July 2020 to get a WWCC unless its expiry is prior to this date.
Furthermore, a Working with Children Check is valid for five years and is portable across roles and organisations in South Australia.
It is important to realise that it is an offence to work or volunteer in a child related role without a valid clearance. The offence carries fines of up to $20,000 and/or a prison sentence.
The Blue Safe Ministry application form is to be completed by all Clergy, anyone licensed or authorised by the bishop and paid ministry workers
The Orange Safe Ministry application form is to be completed by all wardens, parish councillors, treasurers, and all other adult volunteers
The Green Safe Ministry application form is to be completed by volunteers from ages 14 to 17 who have non-incidental contact with children eg. Sunday School
The Anglican Church is committed to doing everything it can to ensure that its churches are safe places for everyone who participates in church activities — including our visitors and volunteers. Being cleared for Safe Ministry means that you have undergone background screening checks, that you have undertaken online training and that you have agreed to meet specific standards of personal conduct.
A Safe Ministry application form is an online form that replaced the old ‘Category One’ and ‘Category Two’ forms. The new Safe Ministry application forms DO NOT need to be signed by a JP and are completed and submitted online.
There are three categories of Safe Ministry clearance application; Blue, Orange and Green
There are three different Safe Ministry application forms; Blue, Orange and Green
The BLUE Safe Ministry application form is to be completed by all clergy, anyone licenced or authorised by the bishop, and all paid ministry workers that work with children.
The ORANGE Safe Ministry application form is to be completed by all Adult Church Workers including wardens, parish councillors (or equivalent), and treasurers, and all other church volunteers that work with children.
The GREEN Safe Ministry application form is to be completed by volunteers from ages 14 to 17 who have non-incidental contact with children.
From 1 July 2019, people working or volunteering with children in South Australia must, by law, have a valid child-related clearance, called a Working with Children Check (WWCC).From 1 July 2019, people working or volunteering with children in South Australia must, by law, have a valid child-related clearance, called a Working with Children Check (WWCC).
To ensure compliance with both South Australian State legislation and the Safe Ministry to Children Canon 2017 the following list of roles must obtain a safe ministry clearance:
Under the new law, if you have a current, valid DHS/DCSI child-related employment screening, you will be able to rely on it until it expires. You can apply for a Working with Children Check up to six months before your current DHS/DCSI child-related employment screening expires. The expiry date is three years from the date the clearance was issued.
Teachers will be notified by the Department of Education to remind them to obtain a Working With Children Check (WWCC) before their current teacher registration expires. There will be a transition period which will roll over a three year period (e.g. January 2020, January 2021 and January 2022). You can find more information about this on the Department of Human Services Screening Unit information page under Education Services.
People with Teacher’s registration need to supply a copy of their Child-related employment screening which shows the required reference number to allow us to register this clearance to the Anglican Diocese of Willochra’ s records.
If you can’t remember the exact start and finish dates of periods of employment or residency, then please use “01/01” and the correct year.
A Working with Children Check is valid for five years and is portable across roles and organisations in South Australia. So, if you have already done a Working with Children Check for another organisation within the last 5 years, you do not need to complete another one for us. However, as the church is legally required to verify and register this, you need to provide a copy showing the Unique ID number to safeministry@adelaideanglicans.com
You will receive email updates from the Safe Ministry Unit at each stage of the process to help you track the progress of your application. Training is the final stage of the Safe Ministry approval process. Once you have completed the training, you will receive a letter of compliance, telling you that your Safe Ministry Clearance has been approved. This will be emailed to you and to your parish. It will also advise you of your Safe Ministry clearance expiry date.
It is an offence to work or volunteer in a child related role without a valid WWCC. The offence carries fines of up to $20,000 and/or a prison sentence.
In this instance, you are advised to seek assistance from someone in your church community who does have access to the appropriate technology and who can help you complete the appropriate forms.
If you do not have your own email address you will need to create a new one, that can be done here.
Alternatively, if you are not able to establish a new email account, please seek assistance from your Safe Ministry coordinator or Parish Priest.