Safeguarding

CHARACTER 2

Safeguarding in our Parish means....

Safeguarding in our parish means creating awareness in the community to protect children and vulnerable adults. Our parish is a place in which we endeavor to create a culture and environment where proactive actions are taken to make the community a safe place. Principles and practices are applied to reduce risk and promote transparency.

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CHARACTER 1

If you have a concern for the safety and wellbeing of a child or young person or vulnerable adult, tell someone who can help.

These people in our Parish can help:

Name: Mrs. Jackie Thornton
Number: (02) 9489 3221

Contact the Office for Safeguarding (Chancery) on 8379 1605 or email safeguarding@bbcatholic.org.au

For further Diocesan Safeguarding information visit www.bbcatholic.org.au/safeguarding

 

Safeguarding is the term we use today to express our
commitment to ensure that our community is a place of safety and care for all those in our parish, especially children and those who are vulnerable.
These are the ways by which as a community we seek to do this.

  • Our Parish seeks to fulfil the 10 Child Safety Standards introduced by the recent Royal Commission and not en-shrine in the NSW Office of the Child Guardian
  • With Diocesan support we comply with all legislation in respect to child safety
  • All those who are in a child-related activity in the Parish require a validated NSW Working with Children Clearance
  • Those who are visiting the elderly in their homes and those with financial responsibility in our Parish require a National Criminal History Check
  • Our Clergy must attend a compulsory seminar in Safe-guarding annually each year
  • Any visiting clergy in our church must be identified in an audited Register and be cleared by the Diocese to do so
  • Our Parish Staff must be inducted in Safeguarding and attend regular Safeguarding update seminars
  • From 2020 we will be trained in Self-Assessment of Catho-lic Professional Standards Ltd Child Safety Standards, Cri-teria and Indicators;
  • Our Parish Catechists are trained in Safeguarding
  • We have literature on Safeguarding freely available at the entrance to our church
  • We include Safeguarding material in induction packs for our volunteers
  • We include Safeguarding material in our Baptismal Prepa-ration packs and available for our parents enrolling their children at Prouille.
  • Detailed information on Safeguarding exists on our Parish Website.
  • We conduct the Sacrament of Reconciliation for Children in an open space, in line of sight of other adults
  • We welcome parents to be in the Sacristy with their chil-dren who might be acting as Altar Servers.
  • Before and after Masses, the sacristy doors should be completely open allowing total visibility from the “crying room” foyer;
  • Parents are welcome also to accompany their children to Sunday morning Children’s Liturgy
  • We have refurbished our Confessionals to bring them into compliance with current standards and expectations
  • We are to install security cameras in the Parish Sunroom so that the areas of our church are visible at all times
  • For Parish functions using our beautiful garden space, we allocate two identifiable “Safeguarding Officers” to patrol the whole parish site to ensure the safety of our children at all times

Remember: Our Children’s Safety Belongs to All of Us!