Boronia Parish St Joseph and St Bernadette Commitment Statement to Child Safety
The Catholic Archdiocese of Melbourne, as well as St Joseph’s, Boronia and St Bernadette’s, The Basin, hold the care, safety and wellbeing of children and young people as a fundamental responsibility of the Church. This commitment is drawn from and inherent to, the teaching and mission of Jesus Christ, with love, justice and the dignity of each human person at the heart of the Gospel.
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We are committed to a safe and nurturing culture for all children and young people in our Church.
We want our children to be safe, happy and empowered.
As a parish within the Catholic Archdiocese of Melbourne, St Joseph and St Bernadette have a
universal expectation for the protection of children. It is resolutely committed to ensuring that all
those engaged in the Church and within our parish promote the inherent dignity of children and
young people and their fundamental right to be respected and nurtured in a safe environment. This is
particularly so for the most vulnerable children, including aboriginal children, those from culturally
and/or linguistically diverse backgrounds, and children with a disability.
The Catholic Church has a moral, legal and mission-driven responsibility to create nurturing
environments where children and young people are respected, their voices are heard and where they
are safe and feel safe.
NATIONAL CATHOLIC SAFEGUARDING STANDARDS
The National Catholic Safeguarding Standards provide a framework for Catholic Church entities to build child-safe cultures.
The National Catholic Safeguarding Standards (NCSS) are designed to be implemented by all Catholic entities, ministries and organisations across Australia.
The constitute a framework which articulates the requirements for Catholic entities to promote the safety of children through the implementation of policies and activities to prevent, respond to and report concerns regarding child abuse.
They are designed to drive cultural and behavioural change and promote accountability and transparency of Catholic Church leaders and their ministries and entities.
The 10 National Catholic Safeguarding Standards are taken directly from the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse’s final report, Volume 6.
The Standards work together and ensure each entity, ministry and organisation across the Catholic Church place child safety at the core of how they plan, think and act.
The first phase of development of the Standards focuses on safeguarding practices for the protection of children. The Standards will subsequently be extended to include safeguarding practices relating to vulnerable adults.
FURTHER INFORMATION: