Children Protection Policy

 

Risk Management Officer – Tony Boyle

Review Date – 12 Months from Approval

INTRODUCTION

Legana Christian Church is committed to promoting and protecting the interests and safety of children. We have zero tolerance for child abuse. 

Everyone working or volunteering at Legana Christian Church is responsible for the care and protection of children and reporting information about child abuse.

PURPOSE

The purpose of this policy is 

  1. To prevent child abuse within Legana Christian Church;
  2. To work towards an organisational culture of child safety;
  3. To ensure staff and volunteers are aware of their responsibilities for identifying child abuse and areas or risk where abuse may occur.  To establish controls and procedures to prevent abuse occurring and detect abuse when it occurs;
  4. To advise staff/volunteers/contractors how to respond if they suspect child abuse to have occurred with the scope of the church’s governance;
  5. To provide assurance, and ensure that any and all suspected abuse will be reported to the appropriate authority;

POLICY

Legana Christian Church is committed to promoting safe core practices and protecting the children involved in its programmes at all times.

All children, regardless of their gender, race, religious beliefs, age, disability, sexual orientation, or family or social background, have equal rights to protection from abuse.

Legana Christian Church has zero tolerance for child abuse. Everyone working/volunteering at Legana Christian Church is responsible for the care and protection of the children within our care and reporting information about suspected child abuse.  

Child protection is a shared responsibility between Legana Christian Church and all employees, workers, contractors, associates, and members of the Legana Christian Church community.

Legana Christian Church will consider the opinions of parents and carers in the review of child protection policies.

Legana Christian Church supports and respects all children, staff and volunteers. Legana Christian Church is committed to the cultural safety of Aboriginal children and those from culturally and/or linguistically diverse backgrounds, and to providing a safe environment for children living with a disability.

If any person believes a child is in immediate risk of abuse, immediately report this to their Legana Christian Church Team Leader or a member of the church leadership.  

RESPONSIBILITIES 

The Board of Legana Christian Church has ultimate responsibility for the detection and prevention of child abuse and is responsible for ensuring that appropriate and effective internal control systems are in place. The Board is also responsible for ensuring that appropriate policies and procedures and a Child Protection Code of Conduct are in place.

The Senior Pastor of Legana Christian Church is responsible for:

  • Dealing with and investigating reports of child abuse;
  • Ensuring that all staff, contractors, and volunteers are aware of relevant laws, organisational policies and procedures, and the organisation’s Code of Conduct;
  • Ensuring that all adults within the Legana Christian Church community are aware of their obligation to report suspected sexual abuse of a child in accordance with these policies and procedures; 
  • Ensuring that all staff, contractors and volunteers are aware of their obligation to observe the Code of Conduct (particularly as it relates to child safety);
  • Providing support for staff, contractors and volunteers in undertaking their child protection responsibilities.

All leaders must ensure that they:

  • Promote child safety at all times;
  • Assess the risk of child abuse within their area of control and eradicate / minimise any risk to the extent possible;
  • Educate employees and volunteers about the prevention and detection of child abuse; and
  • Facilitate the reporting of any inappropriate behaviour or suspected abusive activities.

All those involved in our church leadership, the Board, staff, elders, team and department leaders should be familiar with the types of abuse that might occur within their area of responsibility and be alert for any indications of such conduct. 

All staff/volunteers and our contractors (such as our cleaners) share in the responsibility for the prevention and detection of child abuse, and must:

  • Familiarise themselves with the Code of Conduct and Legana Christian Church’s policy and procedures in relation to child protection, including Child Safe recommendations for child protection;
  • Report any reasonable belief or suspicion that a child’s safety is at risk to their Team Leader, Child Protection officer, or the RMO; 
  • The Team Leader or Board must report to the relevant State authorities (such as the police or child protection service) and fulfil their obligations as mandatory reporters;
  • Provide an environment that is supportive of all children’s emotional and physical safety;

Any person who has been invited by the Kid’s Church Coordinator to deliver a one-off presentation, is required to read and familiarise themselves with the LCC Code of Conduct and provide written confirmation to the Kid’s Church Coordinator.  If this person has not completed Childsafe training and provided proof of this, together with proof of a current WWVP card, they must remain in the presence of a qualified adult Kid’s Church volunteer at all times when in the CEC

DEFINITIONS

Child means a person below the age of 18 years unless, under the law applicable to the child, majority is attained earlier.

Child protection means any responsibility, measure or activity undertaken to safeguard children from harm.

Child abuse means all forms of physical abuse, emotional ill-treatment, sexual abuse and exploitation, neglect or negligent treatment, commercial (e.g. for financial gain) or other exploitation of a child and includes any actions that results in actual or potential harm to a child. 

Child sexual assault is any act which exposes a child to, or involves a child in, sexual processes beyond his or her understanding or contrary to accepted community standards. Sexually abusive behaviours can include the fondling of genitals, masturbation, oral sex, vaginal or anal penetration by a penis, finger or any other object, fondling of breasts, voyeurism, exhibitionism, and exposing the child to or involving the child in pornography. It includes child grooming, which refers to actions deliberately undertaken with the aim of befriending and establishing an emotional connection with a child to lower the child’s inhibitions in preparation for sexual activity with the child. 

Reasonable grounds for belief is a belief based on reasonable grounds that child abuse has occurred when all known considerations or facts relevant to the formation of a belief are taken into account and these are objectively assessed. Circumstances or considerations may include the source of the allegation and how it was communicated, the nature of and details of the allegation, and whether there are any other related matters known regarding the alleged perpetrator. 

A reasonable belief is formed if a reasonable person believes that:

      1. The child is in need of protection;
      2. The child has suffered or is likely to suffer “significant harm as a result of physical injury”, 
      3. The parents are unable or unwilling to protect the child.

A ‘reasonable belief’ or a ‘belief on reasonable grounds’ is not the same as having proof, but is more than mere rumour or speculation.

A ‘reasonable belief’ is formed if a reasonable person in the same position would have formed the belief on the same grounds. For example, a ‘reasonable belief’ might be formed if: 

  1. A child states that they have been physically or sexually abused;
  2. A child states that they know someone who has been physically or sexually abused (sometimes the child may be talking about themselves);
  3. Someone who knows a child, states that the child has been physically or sexually abused;
  4. Professional observations of the child’s behaviour or development leads a professional to form a belief that the child has been physically or sexually abused or is likely to be abused; and/or
  5. Signs of abuse lead to a belief that the child has been physically or sexually abused.

EMPLOYMENT OF NEW PERSONNEL

Legana Christian Church undertakes a comprehensive recruitment and screening process for all workers and volunteers which aims to:

  • Promote and protect the safety of all children under the care of the organisation;
  • Identify the safest and most suitable people who share Legana Christian Church’s values and commitment to protect children;
  • Prevent a person from working at Legana Christian Church if they pose a risk to children; 

Legana Christian Church requires all workers/volunteers to pass through the organisation’s recruitment and screening processes prior to commencing their engagement with the church. 

Legana Christian Church will require applicants to provide a Tasmanian Working With Vulnerable People card, before they commence working or volunteering at Legana Christian Church and during their time with Legana Christian Church at regular intervals. (https://www.cbos.tas.gov.au/topics/licensing-and-registration/registrations/work-with-vulnerable-people

Legana Christian Church also requires applicants to undergo the Childsafe online training prior to commencing work or volunteering and update this training every 3 years as required.

Legana Christian Church will undertake reference checks.

Once engaged, workers/volunteers must review and acknowledge their understanding of this Policy. 

RISK MANAGEMENT

Legana Christian Church will ensure that child safety is a part of its overall risk management approach. 

Legana’s RMO will receive recommendations from team and department leaders about mitigating any risks. 

REPORTING

Any staff member, volunteer or contractor who has grounds to suspect abusive activity must immediately inform their team leader. 

In situations where their team leader is suspected of involvement in the activity, or if the person having the suspicion does not believe that the matter is being appropriately addressed or dealt with, the matter should be reported to the next responsible person. 

Leaders must report complaints of suspected abusive behaviour or misconduct to the Senior Pastor.  

RESPONDING

If it is alleged that a member of staff, contractor or a volunteer may have committed an offence or have breached Legana Christian Church’s policies or its Code of Conduct, the person concerned may be stood down (with pay, where applicable) while an investigation is conducted.  

If the investigation concludes that on the balance of probabilities an offence (or a breach of Legana Christian Church’s policies or Code of Conduct) has occurred, then disciplinary action may follow, including and up to termination of employment or cessation of engagement with the Church.  The findings of the investigation will also be reported to A2A and any external body as required. 

If it becomes known that any person attending any of Legana Christian Church’s services or activities is the subject of a substantiated child sexual abuse complaint, or has been convicted of an offence relating to child sexual abuse, then Legana Christian Church will:

  • Assess the level of risk posed to children by the perpetrator’s ongoing involvement in Legana Christian Church’s community;
  • Take appropriate steps to manage that risk;

PRIVACY

All personal information considered or recorded will respect the privacy of the individuals involved unless there is a risk to someone’s safety. Legana Christian Church will have safeguards and practices in place to ensure any personal information is protected. 

Everyone is entitled to know how the personal information is recorded, what will be done with it, and who will be able to access it.

Legana Christian Church records details of each volunteer and paid employee including their contact details, volunteer agreement form, volunteer application (with associated reference checks), records of training, details of individuals Working with Vulnerable People Registration and any correspondence allowing us to be certain of the suitability of persons to volunteer, be employed or engage with activities involving children.

REVIEWING

At least every two years or in response to changes in legislation as required, or following every reportable incident, a review shall be conducted to assess whether Legana Christian Church’s child protection policies or procedures require updating.  

Authorisation

LEGANA CHRISTIAN CHURCH BOARD
June 2020

 
Glossary of Terms
 
Risk Management officer (RMO)
The RMO is the person responsible for appointing Team Leaders and approving and monitoring the implementation of ChildSafe and WHS practices with the assistance of the LCC Administrator.
 
Team Leader
The Team Leader is a person appointed by the RMO to take responsibility for the management and conduct of a church ministry. Team Leaders are also responsible for risk assessments for activities associated with their team and will liaise with the RMO in order to obtain permission to proceed with all activities. 
The Team leader will also complete incident reports and pass these to the LCC administrator in the event of any WHS related incident.
 
Team Member
A Team Member is any person involved in ministry as a volunteer at LCC. This person will be under the supervision of a Team Leader and is expected to report any incident involving children to their Team Leader.
 
Child Protection Officer (CPO)
A Child Protection Officer is a person approved by the RMO, who is identified under LCC’s ChildSafe procedures as a safe person for children to report any behaviour or experience that has caused them to feel uncomfortable. The child protection officers are identified on posters in the church foyer and in the Children’s Education Centre (CEC). In the event of a reported incident the CPO is required to report the incident to the relevant external agency as well to a member of church leadership who is not implicated by the report.
Information about this process is available via posters located in the foyer and in the CEC.