BCCB is committed to providing places, services and programs that promote physical, emotional, and spiritual health and safety. Our aim is to model the love of Christ to all whom we have contact with, particularly children, young people and vulnerable adults.
As part of this commitment, BCCB has introduced a number of policies and procedures to ensure that we have a safe church environment.
Many of the updates to documents below have been required due to the government changes regarding Child Safe Practices. Safe Church documents that have been adopted by the church and all completed forms need to be retained for at least 45 years (or preferably 100 years) to be able to show what the processes and procedures were at the time of an incident if a claim is made in the future. This is due to the removal of the Statute of Limitations for child abuse and the possibility that a claim may be made about a childhood abuse incident when the person is an elderly adult.
The Safe Church team has recently completed the annual review of the documents. These updated documents are available here for your review. Documents which haven’t been updated have been included here so that you can have a complete picture of the Safe Church document package.
Documents for adoption by the Church
- Safe Church Policy
- There is a newly legislated requirement to have a statement of commitment. This has been added to beginning of the
Safe Church Policy.
- There is a newly legislated requirement to have a statement of commitment. This has been added to beginning of the
- Privacy Policy
- This is a NEW document
- There was a Gap in previous framework
- At present Churches with a turnover <$3 million are not subject to Australian Privacy Principles – but the government is reviewing these principles due to recent breaches.
- Code of Conduct
- Added a clause about respecting and supporting the mission, beliefs, and values of the church.
- Added a clause regarding sexual misconduct involving children.
- Safe Ministry Screening Questionnaire (18+)
This questionnaire is for the purpose of screening individuals prior to commencing ministry/volunteering within our church with the aim of keeping the church safe for everyone. - Safe Ministry Screening Questionnaire under 18
This questionnaire is to be used when the individual is under 18 years of age and is for the purpose of screening the individual prior to commencing ministry/volunteering within our church with the aim of keeping the church safe for everyone. - Procedure for Staff and Volunteers
- Document formatting has been updated.
- Creating Safe Spaces Training
- Now recommended to happen every 4 years rather than 3 years
- This will take effect when BCCB adopts the ‘Procedure for Staff and Volunteers’ document.
- Introduction of Category 4 Staff and Volunteer because:
i. There was a gap in the previous framework
ii. Many Churches engage guests to come and minister
(eg. visiting speaker). - There are 3 ways this can occur:
i. Declaration for a Ministry Guest
ii. Letter of Authorisation for Endorsed Representatives
iii. Neither applies if the guest completes the Safe Church process
with BCCB
- Guidelines for Activities with Children and Young People
- Document formatting has been updated.
- A recommendation from the Office of the Children’s Guardian to create a Safe Church Risk Management Plan
- We are recommending this is fulfilled by:
i. adopting the Guidelines for the Activities with Children and
Young People
ii. including child protection risks and mitigations in the risk
assessment for all activities - Inclusion regarding single gender small group ministry
- Procedure for Conflict Resolution
This document sets out a procedure for resolving conflict between two or more staff members, volunteers, Church members, or attendees of the Church in a pastoral and restorative manner. This also includes minor breaches of the Code of Conduct. Serious breaches of the Code of Conduct are handled by the “Procedure for Handling Complaints Against Staff and Volunteers”. - Procedure for Handling Complaints Against Staff and Volunteers
- Updated to give clearer reference to “balance of probabilities” related to the investigation findings of the case of
Bringshaw vs Bringshaw - Amended to remove references to the ACT since they have different government guidelines.
- This procedure deals with serious breaches of the Code of Conduct
- Updated to give clearer reference to “balance of probabilities” related to the investigation findings of the case of
- Procedure for Responding to Child Protection Concerns
- Sets out a procedure to follow when a complaint or information about any form of child protection concern is received.
- Safe Church Team Role Description
This document outlines the roles and responsibilities of the
Safe church Team. - WHS Team Role Description
It is a recommendation from the Baptist Association of NSW & ACT that a Work Health and Safety (WHS) team be established by each church. The Safe Church Team is currently covering this role until a WHS Team is put in place by the church. - How to Report a Safe Church Concern
This is a NEW document on how to report incidents.
It will be kept with the “Safe Church Concerns” form. - Safe Church Concerns Form
This form is to be used when any concern of misconduct etc. is raised. - Children’s ministry information form
This form will need to be filled out by the Parents/Guardians when sending their children to church run programmes eg. Sunday School, Youth Groups etc. (We don’t have any of these groups at the moment but we are preparing for the future with this form) - Permission for Volunteers under 16
This is a simple form for Parents/Guardians to fill out to give permission for a child under 16 years of age to volunteer to OBSERVE what a role entails at church. - Communication to Third Parties
This is a letter which would be sent to Third Parties who might want to make use of our property from time to time. It briefly outlines our commitment to Child Safe Standards and requests their commitment to upholding the Child Safe Standards. - Communication to Affiliated Entities
This is document is a communication that will initially be sent to missionaries, mission organisation, ministry or company that we financially support. - Declaration for Ministry Guests
This is a proforma letter that will be sent to organisations when they are sending a representative to our church to verify that the representative meets the safe ministry processes of the organisation. - Persons of Concern Declaration
There are no changes to this document and it is presented for adoption by the church to complete the package of documents. - Use of the title Pastor
Presented for adoption without change as this is a letter from the
Baptist Association of NSW & ACT
Feedback is welcome on any of BCCB’s ministries at any time.
Contact us to provide your feedback.