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October 2023 SMR News
Welcome to the October Newsletter!
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- Child Safe Standards
- Upcoming Face to face training
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Child Safe Standards
We are developing a resource to support the on-going implementation of the Child Safe Standards within our churches. We know there are already some great examples of where churches are implementing the Standards and invite you to share those with us at the ODSM to include in the resource.
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You may wish to list each Standard and then examples of how you are implementing. We plan to develop a comprehensive guide drawn from what is already part of the practice of churches as well as from other sources.
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You can email myself ros@safeministry.org.au or if you would prefer to have a phone conversation let me know and I can make a time to discuss.
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Thank you in advance for your contribution.
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On 1 February 2022, the NSW Child Safe Scheme commenced. Religious organisations providing services to children are required under the Children’s Guardian Act 2019 to demonstrate how they are implementing the Child Safe Standards.
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The Standards provide a principle-based framework to help organisations working with children develop strategies and to create a culture that keeps children safe and protects them from harm.
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- Child safety is embedded in organisational leadership, governance and culture
- Children participate in decisions affecting them and are taken seriously
- Families and communities are informed and involved
- Equity is upheld and diverse needs are taken into account
- People working with children are suitable and supported
- Processes to respond to complaints of child abuse are child-focused
- Staff are equipped with the knowledge, skills and awareness to keep children safe through continual education and training
- Physical and online environments minimise the opportunity for abuse to occur
- Implementation of the Child Safe Standards is continuously reviewed and improved
- Policies and procedures document how the organisation is child safe.
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Face to face training
Dates and locations for the remainder of 2023
Saturday 11 November 2023
(Please note updated since last newsletter)
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St Paul’s Anglican Church, Chatswood | Essentials | 9am – 3pm Christ Church Anglican Church, Mortdale | Essentials | 9am – 3pm Newport Anglican Church, Newport | Essentials | 9am – 3pm All Saint’s Anglican Church, Nowra | Essentials | 9am – 3pm Life Anglican Church, Riverstone | Refresher | 9am – 12.30pm St George’s Anglican Church, Gerringong | Refresher | 9am – 12.30pm St Michael’s Anglican Cathedral, Wollongong | Refresher | 9am – 12.30pm
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Enrolments are now open. Please encourage those in your church who would benefit from face to face training to get in and enrol - and be prepared to assist them if necessary with the technology.
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- Applicants for face to face training need to have an account on the Safe Ministry Training website, log in and enrol in the course.
- Once they complete the course, they will be emailed their certificate a day or so later, and a copy of their certificate details sent to you, their SMR.
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SMR Facebook Group
A reminder that we have a private Facebook group just for SMR's
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- A safe and private place for SMR's to ask questions, support each other, share ideas or solutions to problems, etc
- The address is: https://www.facebook.com/groups/173114257798286
- Involvement in this group is entirely optional - but it is proving to be a useful extra channel for SMR's to chat amongst themselves and pose questions.
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Keeping up to date with news
An archive of all SMR Newsletters (since we moved to our new system) is available here.
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That's it for this edition! Back soon with more info about what is happening in the Safe Ministry scene.
If you are no longer the SMR for your church, please unsubscribe using the link below and drop me an email to let me know.
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