On this page:

Safeguarding Risk Management Webinar

Duration: 1 hour 23 minutes
Please note this is a recording of webinar held on 24 August 2021.

The Victorian Child Safe Standards and the National Catholic Safeguarding Standards require organisations to embed their commitment to child safety within their parish culture, policies, procedures and practices and to prioritise the safety of children and young people. These frameworks also highlight the need for parishes to take preventive steps to ensure that children and young people are safe by requiring parishes to undertake risk management.

In this webinar we explore:

  • What is risk management?
  • Why it is risk management important?
  • How to identify safeguarding risks within a parish context.

We also hear from four guest panelists, who are Safeguarding Committee members at their respective parishes. Each panelist shares their experiences of successfully managing safeguarding risks within their parish. The panel consists of:

  • Peter Evans - Business Manager at Rowville Parish
  • Lisa Brick - Safeguarding Committee member at the Bayside Catholic Mission
  • Peter Williams - Child Safeguarding Officer at the Montmorency and Eltham Parishes
  • Rodney Dearing - Safeguarding Committee member at Grovedale Parish

Facilitated by Tamara Cugnetto, Safeguarding Manager (Professional Standards Unit) and Sandra George, Risk Consultant (Catholic Church Insurance), this webinar is aimed at Clergy, Parish leadership and Safeguarding Committee members.

Resources relevant to the webinar:

Obligations to Report Child Abuse: Overview for Clergy

Duration: 40 minutes

Presented by the Professional Standards Unit of the Catholic Archdiocese of Melbourne, this e-learning video is designed for people in religious ministry including:

  • Bishops
  • Priests
  • Religious brothers and sisters
  • Deacons

This e-learning video provides an overview of the legislative requirements that exist in Victoria, which were introduced after the Betrayal of Trust Inquiry and the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse. The e-learning video addresses the policy obligations of people in religious ministry as described in the Catholic Archdiocese of Melbourne’s Safeguarding Children and Young People Framework.

Key areas addressed in the e-learning video include:

  • The legislative and policy obligations in relation to reporting child abuse
  • The importance of making a report
  • How to make a report
  • Whom to make a report to within Victoria

Resources relevant to these e-Learning videos:

Effective Safeguarding Committee Training

This e-Learning video is designed for those who are involved in the implementation of child safety policies and procedures within a Catholic Archdiocese of Melbourne parish, agency or entity. As each parish, agency or entity is required to form a Safeguarding Committee, we discuss the role of this committee, suitability of candidates for the role and how this committee might operate.

In this video, we explore responsibilities and legislative requirements in relation to the implementation and compliance with the Safeguarding Framework Children and Young People Framework informed by the Victorian Child Safe Standards, National Principles of Child Safe Organisations and the National Catholic Safeguarding Standards. Throughout the video, practical examples of a parish working through the Safeguarding Framework are shown and discussed, with this culminating in an overview of the self-assessment tool designed to guide parishes, agencies and entity through the requirements of the Framework.

Resources relevant to this e-Learning video:

Empowering Children and Young People Training

Duration: 60 minutes

The Empowering Children and Young People e-learning video explores the important role that children’s empowerment can play as a protective factor within organisational contexts. This is an important element of the Safeguarding Framework as identified by the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse and is often an area that many individuals and organisations struggle to comprehend and implement.

This e-Learning video is designed for those who work with children and young people in a parish, agency or entity context including:

  • Parish priest
  • Safeguarding Committee members
  • Pastoral associate
  • Sacramental Preparation Leaders
  • Youth Group Leaders
  • Children’s Liturgy Leaders
  • Children’s Choir Leaders

In this video, we explore children’s rights and responsibilities as well as the legislative requirements in relation to children’s participation in organisations. Throughout the video, we demonstrate what child participation and engagement looks like in a parish context by using practical examples, hearing from children themselves, highlighting parish case studies, conducting a gap analysis of a parish group working directly with children as well as exploring the parish self-assessment tool.

Resources relevant to this e-Learning video:

Safeguarding Risk Management Fundamentals (3-part series)

Co-facilitated by the Professional Standards Unit and Catholic Church Insurance (CCI), the Safeguarding Risk Management Fundamentals e-Learning video modules provide participants with an understanding of the different types of safeguarding risks that your parish may face. Presented over three (3) short modules, the Safeguarding Risk Management Fundamentals e-Learning video is designed to increase your understanding of the types of safeguarding risks within your parish, and develop your understanding of how to conduct a risk assessment in a formalised way.

Module 1: Overview of possible safeguarding risks within a parish context

Module 2: Conducting a parish risk assessment

Module 3: How to address identified risks

Resources relevant to these e-Learning videos:

Responding to and Reporting Abuse (3-part series)

Duration: This series will be presented over three 30 minute videos

This e-learning series on responding and reporting abuse will provide an overview of understanding the definitions of abuse, responding to disclosures and reporting these disclosures. These modules should be completed sequentially as each one builds on the information from the previous module. These videos are designed for all clergy, staff and volunteers of the Catholic Archdiocese of Melbourne, and will be particularly helpful for safeguarding committee members.

Module 1: Defining Abuse

Module 2: Responding to a Disclosure

Module 3: Reporting Abuse

Resources relevant to these e-Learning videos:

Safeguarding

At the heart of who we are is not all the buildings but the person of Jesus Christ, who enters into our lives and who we then share with others.

Archbishop Peter A Comensoli