Saint Mary’s Catholic
Parish Maryborough
Embracing the
communities of Maryborough, Tiaro and Aramara
TO APPLY FOR A ;WORKING WITH CHILDREN BLUE CARD, PLEASE VISIT THE
FOLLOWING LINK: http://www.ccypcg.qld.gov.au/employment/bluecard/applications.html
CHILD SAFETY
POLICY DOCUMENT
AS UPDATED: 31/05/2008 4:25 PM
please find below our
parish Child Safety policy.
++++
Relating to Legislation
and obligations:
Child Related activities
are regulated by Law and include the requirement that all employees and
volunteers who are involved in child-related areas (that are regulated by the
Commission for Children and Young People and Child Guardian Act 2000) hold a
valid blue card.
Who needs a blue card?
A person will need a blue card if they propose to work, in a paid or
voluntary capacity, or to carry on a business, in a child-related area
regulated by the Commission for Children and Young People and Child
Guardian Act 2000.
What child-related activities are regulated?
Both paid
employees and volunteers
may need a blue card if they fall under one of the following categories:
*schools – employees other than teachers and parents
churches,
clubs and associations involving children
health,
counselling and support services
private
teaching, coaching or tutoring
*education programs conducted outside of schools
child
accommodation services, including homestays
*emergency services cadet programs, and
*care of children under the Child Protection Act 1999
PLEASE NOTE: IMPORTANT !!!!!
New blue card application forms
From 2 June 2008, the
Commission will provide updated
application forms as a result of changes to its legislation.
These changes prevent disqualified* people
from applying for a blue card
The Commission
will continue to process old application forms received by 30 June 2008.
The new application forms will be available on this website from 2 June on the FORMS page or by calling the Blue Card Contact
Centre on 3247 5145 or 1800 113 611.
*A person is disqualified if they:
have been
convicted of a disqualifying offence (including a child-related sex or
pornography offence, or the murder of a child), or
are a
reportable offender with current reporting obligations under the Child
Protection (Offender Reporting) Act 2004, or
are subject to
a child protection offender prohibition order, or
are subject to a disqualification order prohibiting them from applying for
or holding a blue card.
It is an
offence for a disqualified person to sign a blue card application. Penalties of
up to five years imprisonment or a fine of up to $37,500 may apply.
What is a blue card?
Blue cards are issued by the Commission for Children and Young People
and Child Guardian once it has carried out the Working with Children Check to
see if a person is eligible. If a person is eligible, they are issued a
positive notice and a blue card.
What is the Working with Children Check?
A Working with Children Check is a detailed national check of a person’s
criminal history, including any charges or convictions. Also considered is:
disciplinary
information held by certain professional organisations
for teachers, child care providers, foster carers,
nurses, midwives and certain health practitioners, and
police investigation information into allegations of serious child-related
sexual offences, even if no charges were laid because the child was unwilling
or unable to proceed.
Saint Mary’s Catholic
Parish Maryborough
embracing the
communities of Maryborough, Tiaro and Aramara
Our
Church: A Safe Community
A Shared
Commitment
Recently, sometime in
August 2007, the Archdiocese has introduced a program aimed at the protection
of children, young people and vulnerable adults by working to prevent
abuse. This program has been presented
to the Parish Priests, Parish Team and Members of the Parish Council for its
implementation.
The program is: Our Church – A Safe
Community – A Shared Commitment
Each person in every
Catholic Church community is asked to become involved in a new program to make
our church a safe community for all by working to prevent abuse.
Our aim is to ensure that
all communities and organisations within the church are safe and enriching
environments for people of all ages, with special concern for children, young
people and vulnerable adults.
It is asking for
leadership and support within our parish in introducing this program into our
church community.
Child Safety Policy
Document is focused on child safety. It
is a comprehensive guideline in implementing a program within the parish to achieve its
objectives in both moral and legal responsibilities to provide safe
environments for the children and those who may be vulnerable to the risk of
harm, injury or abuse. As Jesus said: “Let the
little children come to me; do not stop them; for it is to such as these that
the
In a nutshell, this policy
has procedures that can be adapted in order to achieve the desired goal, as
follows:
1. Risk Management. Risk is
anything that can cause harm or loss to a child or young person.
2. Planning for children and young people’s activities. There are a number of basic principles that
must be considered when planning activities of children – including among
others is ensuring children and young
people are supervised appropriately and adequately by adults (depending on
numbers, age of children and activity).
3. Incident and Injury Register be kept with information pertaining to
the incident/injury and action taken to
minimise the risk to others.
4. Legislative obligations apply to a parish when serious injury is
experienced by a child and/or young person.
It is expected that the parish implement procedures encompassing these
requirements and meet obligations under Workplace Health and Safety.
5. Blue Card is necessary when working with children. Blue card is a national check of a person’s
criminal history. TO APPLY FOR A ;WORKING WITH CHILDREN BLUE CARD, PLEASE VISIT
THE FOLLOWING LINK: http://www.ccypcg.qld.gov.au/employment/bluecard/applications.html
(BUT PLEASE NOTE IT IS NOW AN OFFENCE TO APPLY FOR A BLUE CARD IF ONE IS A
DISQUALIFIED PERSON IN TERMS OF THE ACT. PLEASE SEE THE PARISH FOR MORE
INFORMATION IF YOU ARE IN DOUBT).
6. Some of the activities of a parish may also fall under the
requirement of the Child Protection Act 1999 (e.g.
(from the Parish Pastoral Council,
Maryborough – Meeting 4th March, 2008).
UPDATED:
MINUTES OF PASTORAL
COUNCIL MEETING ON 1st April 2008
St Mary’s, Maryborough:
child Safety: Clarification of this
policy has been issued in parts in the newsletter. ……. we shall emphasize that parents must
accompany their young children to the toilet every time.
(UPDATED:31/05/2008
4:09 PM)
Volunteer
Handbook
Contents
Content Page
Introduction 3
The
Volunteers
Our
Catholic Values 5
Your
Rights and Responsibilities as a Volunteer 6
Code of Conduct:
Working with Children 7
Code of
Conduct: General Provisions 8
Working
with Children Check 10
Workplace
Health and Safety Considerations 11