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Procedure for Responding to Child
Protection Concerns
Adopted by Elders & Administration Team on 21/04/2020
Purpose
The Procedure for Responding to Child Protection Concerns (the Procedure)
sets out a procedure to follow when a complaint or information about any form
of child protection concern is received. In NSW this includes a Child Abuse
Offence, Child Sexual Abuse, Sexual Misconduct involving a Child, or that a
child is at Risk of Significant Harm.
The Church and its staff and volunteers have legal obligations to report certain
information to government authorities, this includes duties under the Crimes Act
1900 (NSW), Ombudsman Act 1974 (NSW), Children and Young Persons (Care
and Protection) Act 1998 (NSW) and the Children’s Guardian Act 2019.
Some of these duties apply to the church as an organisation or to church leaders,
some of the duties apply to individuals. In some circumstances, failing to report
knowledge of child abuse incidents to NSW Police may be a criminal offence.
Baptist Churches of NSW & ACT have developed this Procedure to address all
relevant duties in a way that is both thorough and practical.
Scope
This Procedure applies to all staff and volunteers of the Church.
The Procedure should be read in conjunction with the Safe Church
Policy and:
Procedure for Handling Complaints Against Staff and Volunteers
Safe Church Concerns Form
If you have any doubt as to whether a complaint or
information would fall within the scope of the
Procedure, or about any of the steps set out in the
Procedure, contact the Baptist Churches of NSW &
ACT Ministry Standards Manager (1300 647 780)..
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1. Receiving a complaint or identifying a child protection
concern
A child protection concern may include concerns regarding:
a child at Risk of Significant Harm
a Child Abuse Offence,
Child Sexual Abuse,
Sexual Misconduct involving a child,
physical abuse of a child,
serious neglect of a child,
Behaviour which may psychologically harm the child
Inappropriately personal or intimate communication and/or behaviours
which may constitute grooming
exposure of a child to Domestic and Family Violence
or any other reason for concern.
A child protection concern may be received:
from a child who has been directly involved;
from an adult who has been directly involved (including personal
disclosures of wrongdoing);
from another person with information about a child or adult;
from another organisation with information about a child or adult;
from staff or volunteers who have concerns based on their observations
and interactions with one or more children or adults.
If someone raises a concern or reports an allegation:
DON’T promise not to report the information
DON’T ask leading questions
DON’T attempt to assess the validity of the concern, or seek to investigate
any allegation yourself
DO clarify information reported to you if appropriate (for example, ‘Can you
tell me more about that?’)
DO assure the person that appropriate action will be taken
if a child, DO reassure them that they are not at fault and that they will not
be in trouble for sharing this information
If a staff member or volunteer has a concern about a child’s wellbeing but have not
received any specific information they may report the concern using the Safe Church
Concerns Form.
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2. Consider whether there is an immediate danger to a child
Where there is an immediate danger to a child
contact the Police immediately on (131 444 or 000) and report the
information;
follow any instructions given by the Police;
address any immediate safety needs of others present; and
organise support for the person who has disclosed the complaint or
information.
3. Internal Reporting
a) Complete Safe Church Concern Form
If a staff member or volunteer has or is notified of a child protection concern they
should complete a Safe Church Concerns Form as soon as possible. This form
should include relevant details of the concern, contact information, and the
signature of the person completing the form.
b) Notify the Safe Church Team
If a staff member or volunteer has or is notified of a child protection concern
they must inform the Safe Church Team as soon as possible. The Safe Church
Team is responsible for ensuring the church fulfils it’s legal obligations and
ensuring that all concerns are managed appropriately.
If there is any delay before the Safe Church Team can be contacted, the
individual should consider whether it is necessary to report their concerns to
external government agencies as outlined in step 4 below. They may contact
the Ministry Standards Hotline on 1300 647 780 for advice.
Staff and volunteers should ensure they do not discuss any concerns raised
with the accused person at this point in time. Doing so may impede future
investigation processes.
If the concern raised would create a conflict of interest for a member of the Safe
Church Team consider contacting the Baptist Churches of NSW & ACT Ministry
Standards Hotline on 1300 647 780 for advice.
4. External Reporting to Government Agencies
a) Safe Church Team responsibilities
The Safe Church Team should
ensure all necessary reports are made. Reports to different government
agencies is required for different purposes and therefore multiple reports
may be required.
keep detailed contemporaneous notes of all information and steps taken.
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should also follow all relevant steps outlined in the Procedures for
Handling Complaints Against Staff and Volunteers.
b) Report Risk of Significant Harm to Department of Communities and
Justice (formerly known as FACS or DOCS)
If the Safe Church Team determine that there is a child at Risk of Significant
Harm then they are to make a report as soon as possible to the Child
Protection Helpline via 132 111 or an e-report.
If there is any doubt whether a concern would be considered a Risk of
Significant Harm then the Safe Church Team should complete the
Mandatory Reporter Guide (MRG) at
https://reporter.childstory.nsw.gov.au/s/mrg
If the MRG results in ‘Immediate Report to the Child Protection Helpline’,
make a report as soon as possible to the Child Protection Helpline via 132
111 or an e-report.
The MRG result may suggest other actions be taken. Please contact
Baptist Churches of NSW & ACT Ministry Standards Hotline on 1300 647
780 if any assistance is required.
The Safe Church Team should keep a copy of the MRG report for their
records.
Children and Young Persons (Care and Protection) Act 1998 (NSW)
27 Mandatory reporting
(1) This section applies to
(a) a person who, in the course of his or her professional work or other paid employment
delivers health care, welfare, education, children’s services, residential services, or law
enforcement, wholly or partly, to children, and
(b) a person who holds a management position in an organisation the duties of which include
direct responsibility for, or direct supervision of, the provision of health care, welfare,
education, children’s services, residential services, or law enforcement, wholly or partly, to
children.
(c) a person in religious ministry, or a person providing religion-based activities to children, and
(d) a registered psychologist providing a professional service as a psychologist.
(2) If
(a) a person to whom this section applies has reasonable grounds to suspect that a child is at
risk of significant harm, and
(b) those grounds arise during the course of or from the person’s work, it is the duty of the
person to report, as soon as practicable, to the Secretary the name, or a description, of the
child and the grounds for suspecting that the child is at risk of significant harm.
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c) Report Child Abuse Offences to Police
If the Safe Church Team considers that a Child Abuse Offence may have been
committed they must report this to the NSW Police regardless of whether the
victim of the alleged abuse wants this report to be made.
The requirement to report to NSW Police includes both recent incidents and
allegations of historic abuse. The Safe Church Team should notify the Baptist
Churches of NSW & ACT Ministry Standards Hotline (1300 647 780) of any
allegations of a Child Abuse Offence.
23 Child or young person at risk of significant harm
(1) For the purposes of this Part and Part 3, a child or young person is at risk of significant
harm if current concerns exist for the safety, welfare or well-being of the child or young
person because of the presence, to a significant extent, of any one or more of the following
circumstances
(a) the child’s or young person’s basic physical or psychological needs are not being
met or are at risk of not being met,
(b) the parents or other caregivers have not arranged and are unable or unwilling to
arrange for the child or young person to receive necessary medical care,
(b1) in the case of a child or young person who is required to attend school in
accordance with the Education Act 1990the parents or other caregivers have not
arranged and are unable or unwilling to arrange for the child or young person to
receive an education in accordance with that Act,
(c) the child or young person has been, or is at risk of being, physically or sexually
abused or ill-treated,
(d) the child or young person is living in a household where there have been incidents
of domestic violence and, as a consequence, the child or young person is at risk of
serious physical or psychological harm,
(e) a parent or other caregiver has behaved in such a way towards the child or young
person that the child or young person has suffered or is at risk of suffering serious
psychological harm,
(f) the child was the subject of a pre-natal report under section 25 and the birth mother
of the child did not engage successfully with support services to eliminate, or
minimise to the lowest level reasonably practical, the risk factors that gave rise to
the report.
(2) Any such circumstances may relate to a single act or omission or to a series of acts or
omissions.
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Failing to Report a Child Abuse Offence to NSW Police without a reasonable
excuse may be considered a Concealing Child Abuse Offence which is
punishable by up to two years imprisonment.
Concealing Child Abuse (Failure to Report) Offence
If an adult fails to report a Child Abuse Offence to the NSW Police this may constitute a
Concealing Child Abuse Offence under s316A of the Crimes Act if they:
believe, know or reasonably ought to know that a Child Abuse Offence has
been committed against another person; and
believe, know or reasonably ought to know that they have information that
might be of material assistance to the NSW Police in securing the
apprehension, prosecution or conviction of the person who has committed
that offence; and
do not have a ‘reasonable excuse’ not to report the information.
Reasonable excuses for not reporting to Police may include
If you believe (on reasonable grounds) that the information is already known
to Police;
If you have made a Report/ to another government body such as Department
of Communities and Justice, Ombudsman or the Office of the Children’s
Guardian
If the alleged victim is no longer a child and you have reasonable grounds to
believe that the person does not want the information reported to Police;
If you have reasonable grounds to fear for the safety of the alleged victim or
any other person (other than the offender) if the information is reported to
Police
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d) Report Allegations of Reportable Conduct to the Office of Children’s
Guardian
Under section 66(2) of the Children’s Guardian Act 2019 churches may nominate a
Head of Entity for the purposes of the Reportable Conduct Scheme. The Head
of Entity would typically be either the paid senior pastor or the chair of the
church governance body. The Head of Entity may choose to delegate
responsibilities under the Reportable Conduct Legislation to the Safe Church
Team in accordance with section 65 of the Children’s Guardian Act 2019.
In the event of receiving any allegations that any staff or volunteer who is required to
hold a Working With Children Check has engaged in Reportable Conduct, the Head of
Entity must:
notify the Reportable Conduct Scheme (administered by the Office of the
Children’s Guardian) as soon as practicable, but within a maximum of 7 days
from receiving the complaint or information (see Section 2.2 of the Procedures
for Handling Complaints Against Staff and Volunteers)
As soon as practicable, conduct an investigation or appoint a suitable person to
conduct an investigation regarding the reportable allegation (see Section 6 of
the Procedures for Handling Complaints Against Staff and Volunteers)
Provide a written “entity report” to the Reportable Conduct Scheme within 30
days of receiving information about the Reportable Allegation (see Section 11 of
the Procedures for Handling Complaints Against Staff and Volunteers)
Children’s Guardian Act 2019
20 Meaning of “reportable conduct”
Reportable conduct means the following conduct, whether or not a criminal proceeding in
relation to the conduct has been commenced or concluded
a) a sexual offence,
b) sexual misconduct,
c) ill-treatment of a child,
d) neglect of a child,
e) an assault against a child,
f) an offence under section 43B or 316A of the Crimes Act 1900,
g) behaviour that causes significant emotional or psychological harm to a child.
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5. Accountability Measures
a) Report back to person making initial notification
As soon as is practicable (no longer than 48 hours after notification), the
Safe Church Team must inform the person completing the initial Safe
Church Concerns Form of what action they have taken including any
reports made and the ‘report number’ for reports to NSW Police or the
Child Protection Hotline.
If the Safe Church Team determines that it is not necessary to make a
report to NSW Police, or the Child Protection Hotline, the person who
completed the initial Safe Church Concerns Form may choose to make a
report to NSW Police, or the Child Protection Hotline themselves in order
to ensure that they have not breached s316A of the Crimes Act 1900
(NSW), or obligations under the Mandatory Reporting legislation.
b) Report to Baptist Churches of NSW & ACT
If a Child Protection Concern has been reported to any government agency the
Safe Church Team should advise the Baptist Churches of NSW & ACT Ministry
Standards Manager via email on standards@nswactbaptists.org.au of the
matter for the Association’s confidential records, and to seek confirmation that
the matter has been managed appropriately.
6. Recordkeeping
The Safe Church Concerns Form, Mandatory Reporters Guide report (if
completed) and detailed notes of action taken in relation to any Child Protection
Concern must be kept secure for a minimum of 45 years.
7. Advice and Support
If you have questions about whether a report should be made please contact the
Baptist Churches of NSW & ACT Ministry Standards Manager on 1300 647 780
for advice, guidance and support.