Our Church is a safe place
Safe Church Concerns Contact - Brianna Norman - Ph: 0357525031
The safety of everyone connected with our church, especially our children and young people is a top priority.
People involved in leading our Children and Youth Programs are required to have Working With Children and Police Checks.
The Baptist Union of Victoria has an Ethical Standards Worker (Brenda Williams). If you feel unable to contact us about any concerns please contact the Baptist Union directly.
Forms to download
Leader’s Code of Conduct (pdf)
Incident or Injury Reporting Form (Word)
Risk of Significant Harm Form (Word)
Safe Church Concerns Anecdotal Record (Word)
Safe Church Ministry Screening Questionnaire (Word)
Activity Risk Assessment Tool
Click here to download our Activity Risk Assessment Tool
Click here to download our Guidelines for using our Activity Risk Assessment tool
Important - two new criminal offences in Victoria
In response to a recent enquiry, Victoria has strengthened its laws in two areas. Please see below for brief overviews and factsheets that can be downloaded.
Failure to Protect (factsheet):
A new criminal offence for failing to protect a child under the age of 16 from a risk of sexual abuse will commence on 1 July 2015.
The offence will apply where there is a substantial risk that a child under the age of 16 under the care, supervision or authority of a relevant organisation will become a victim of a sexual offence committed by an adult associated with that organisation. A person in a position of authority in the organisation will commit the offence if they know of the risk of abuse and have the power or responsibility to reduce or remove the risk, but negligently fail to do so.
Failure to Disclose (factsheet):
Reporting child sexual abuse is a community-wide responsibility. Accordingly, a new criminal offence has been created in Victoria that imposes a clear legal duty upon all adults to report information about child sexual abuse to police.
Any adult who forms a reasonable belief that a sexual offence has been committed by an adult against a child under 16 has an obligation to report that information to police. Failure to disclose the information to police is a criminal offence.