Safeguarding: Children, Young People and Vulnerable Persons
At Saint Luke the Evangelist Catholic Parish Blackburn South we are committed to a safe and nurturing culture for all children and vulnerable persons in our Church. Saint Luke the Evangelist Catholic Parish Blackburn South holds the care, safety, well-being of children and vulnerable persons as central and fundamental responsibilities of the Church. This commitment is drawn from and inherent to the teaching and mission of Jesus Christ, with love, justice and the sanctity of each human person at the heart of the Gospel.
We adhere to the Victorian Government's Child Safe Standards and follow the Archdiocesan Safeguarding Children and Young People Code of Conduct. A copy of this document is available for viewing below.
Safeguarding Lens:
How can parishes monitor their compliance for safeguarding? The Catholic Archdiocese of Melbourne’s Safeguarding Children and Young People Framework has been informed by the following organisational child safety frameworks.
• Victorian Child Safe Standards
• National Catholic Safeguarding Standards
• National Principles for Child Safe Organisations
A comparison of the requirements of each of the organisational child safety frameworks can be found in the Information sheet - Organisational Frameworks for Safeguarding Children and Young People
The Parish Child Safety Assessment Tool (located here) enables parishes to self-assess their compliance with the Catholic Archdiocese of Melbourne’s Safeguarding Children and Young People Framework noted above. This tool can be useful to facilitate your parish’s readiness to be audited by the Victorian Government Commission for Children and Young People (CCYP).
Child Protection Week 5 - 11 Sept and Safeguarding Sunday
12 September
This year's theme is:
'Every child, in every community, needs a fair go' read more here
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The parish takes the safety, well-being and inclusion of all children very seriously and has policies and procedures in place to maintain a Child Safe environment.
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Safeguarding Children and Young People Code of Conduct Declaration
- Reporting abuse or safety related misconduct
Members of the Parish Safeguarding Committee are: Janette Clark, Darren McLean and
Fr Gerard (Contact details)
Reporting and Responding
We work to ensure all children, families and staff know what to do and who to tell if they observe abuse or a victim, or if they notice inappropriate behaviour. Our Parish’s reporting policy is detailed in the Reporting child safety related misconduct and/or child abuse document available below and provides guidance on how to make a report when there is a reasonable belief that a child in our parish environment is in need of protection or if a criminal offence has been committed.
Our Parish records any child safety complaints, disclosures or breaches of the Archdiocesan Safeguarding Children and Young People Code of Conduct and stores the records in accordance with security and privacy requirements.
pdf Information Sheet Safeguarding Responsiblities V1 1 (280 KB)
pdf Safeguarding Children and Young People Code of Conduct (331 KB)
pdf Safeguarding Children and Young People Code of Conduct Declaration (265 KB)
https://ccyp.vic.gov.au/child-safety/being-a-child-safe-organisation/the-child-safe-standards/
COVID 19 Online Safety for Parents and Children
Safeguarding Information is available from the Catholic Archdiocese of Melbourne in the following languages: Arabic, Burmese, Croatian, Italian, Malayalam, Polish, Chinese, Spanish, Tagalog, Vietnamese - View here
Policies Attachments:
Media Release Pathways Victoria
Archdiocesan Safeguarding Children and Young People Policy
pdf Parish Safeguarding Children and Young People Policy - July 2020 (310 KB)
pdf Reporting child safety related misconduct and/or child abuse (777 KB)