Responses to Questions posed in Annexure A of letter received by Australian Christian Churches 23rd May 2016 from the Royal Commission into Institutional Reponses to Child Sexual Abuse

1. What has Australian Christian Churches learnt from Case study 18?

There were a number of learnings that Australian Christian Churches (ACC) took away from Case Study 18that have been addressed in order to enhance ACC's approach towards child protection.

These learnings included: • The need to exercise greater coordination and control over affiliated

churches including: o requiring (rather than recommending) affiliated churches to adopt an

appropriate child protection policy and practice guidelines, o requiring ACC Credential and Certificate holders to attend regular

Child Protection Training, as a condition upon Credential/Certificate renewal,

o Not misusing the term "Pastor".

• The need to provide a consistent, national approach to the prevention of and responding to concerns about child abuse including:

o Providing local churches with consistent education, structure and support when responding to matters of abuse,

o Providing an assisted process for concerns of abuse, and for implementing the child protection policies and procedures.

• The need to amend child protection related policy and procedural documentation including those relating to :

o Identifying and appropriately managing with Conflicts of Interest, o Initial reporting and the ongoing response to abuse matters, o Providing assistance to help lodge complaints to those who may

require it, with a focus on seeing a complaint lodged and addressed, o Guidelines for child safe and child friendly ministry programs and

events.

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2. What action has Australian Christian Churches taken as a result of the Case Study? In particular, any action relating to:

a. organisational structure, governance and culture The ACC's highest governing body, the National Conference, adopted a national Child Protection Policy which applies as a minimum standard across all ACC Churches.

This national policy is a shift to a national model rather than state based. Previously each state adopted its own state based approach based on the relevant legislation in that state.

The new national approach has provided greater consistency across ACC churches. Different elements of the ACC Safer Churches strategy (see 2.b) are necessarily outworked at national, state and the local church levels.

Culturally, Section 9 of the ACC National Child Protection Policy(see Annexure 1) places behavioral expectations on all ACC People in relation to child protection and well-being.

With regard to structure, ACC has appointed officers at national and state levels to assure the implementation of the new policy and procedures, these are known as the State Safer Churches Officers and National Safer Churches Panel. The Safer Churches Guidelines(see Annexure 2) also recommend that each local church appoint a Local Church Safer Churches Personjsto receive and manage concerns in relation to child safety.

b. the promotion of a child safe organisation

The ACC Safer Churches strategy was implemented 1 December 2015. The Safer Churches strategy includes the following components:

• ACC National Child Protection Policy: This Policy (see Annexure 1) was adopted by the ACC National Conference at the National Conference immediately following the Royal Commission Hearing (May 2015). The ACC Child Protection Policy was adopted by unanimous vote, with an implementation date set at 1 December 2015. It is a requirement of the ACC National and State Executives and Constituent Churches to adopt the ACC Child Protection Policy or use it as a minimum standard.

• ACC Safer Churches Helpline: A 1800 national helpline was established, manned by an external organisation (Safe Ministry Resources, SMR). Church or general community members can call the Helpline with concerns of abuse. Initial guidance regarding reporting/next steps is provided. A triage report is then compiled by SMR and forwarded to the relevant State Safer Churches Officer (see below).

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• Safer Churches Awareness Workshops: A one-day awareness workshop with content built around the ACC National Child Protection Policy and Safer Churches Guidelines.

• State Safer Churches Officers: A role appointed by each State Executive, to assist in the implementation and outworking of the Safer Churches strategy.

• Local Church Safer Churches Person/s: The Local Church Safer Churches Personjs is delegated the role of receiving and managing Safer Churches concerns with the Church Board, and may also be involved in Safer Churches implementation oversight for the local church.

• National Safer Churches Panel: A panel comprised of the State Safer Churches Officers and other suitably skilled people; current appointees include a social worker, lawyer (no longer practicing), insurance representative, and SMR representativejs. This group meets at regular intervals to carry out reviews of the Safer Churches policies, guidelines, processes and abuse matters reported, and provides recommendations to the National Executive.

• ACC Safer Churches Resources: A range of resources have been made available to ACC churches. These include:

• Safer Churches Guidelines (see Annexure 2)

• Safer Churches Implementation Kit (see Annexure 3)

• Safer Churches Awareness Workshop Manual (see Annexure 4)

• Volunteer Church Workers Declaration Template (see Annexure 5)

• Volunteer Church Workers Code of Conduct Template (see Annexure 6)

c. child protection policy and procedures

The ACC Child Protection Policy and associated procedures are included in the ACC Safer Churches strategy, as outlined in response to 2.b.

It is a requirement of the ACC National and State Executives and Constituent Churches to adopt the ACC Child Protection Policy or use it as a minimum standard.

d. staff recruitment policy and procedures

Recruitment of staff and volunteers in ACC churches is performed by the local church. ACC Safer Churches Guideline 9(refer Annexure 2) provides a recommended minimum standard for the appointment of all Volunteer Workers and team leade~ including ACC

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People and states that for paid workers and leaders_ additional steps may be required as part of the Local Church's written employment process.

This Guideline also refers to the use of the Volunteer Church Workers Declaration template (see Annexure 5) and Volunteer Church Workers Code of Conduct template (see Annexure 6).

The Safer Churches Awareness Workshop Manual (see Annexure 4) gives guidance as to the Appointment of Volunteer Church Workers (Chapter 3).

Applications to become a credentialed ACC minster, and all ACC credential renewals must be accompanied by the relevant State Government screening check. This procedure has been in place for a number of years, as seen in Annexures 17 and 22.

In addition to the relevant State Government screening, ACC Safer Churches Guideline 1 (refer Annexure 2) specifies that ACC Credential and Certificate holders shall attend a (ACC Safer Churches Awareness) Workshop (or equivalent) every three years at a minimum in order for Credentials or Certificates to be renewed.

e. training and supervision of staff

Supervision of ACC staff in local churches is performed by the local church. ACC Safer Churches Guideline 10 (refer Annexure 2) provides a recommended minimum standard for the supervision of all Volunteer Workers and team leaders_ including ACC People and states that for paid workers and leaders_ additional steps may be required as part of the Constituent Church's written employment process.

The Safer Churches Awareness Workshop Manual (see Annexure 4) gives guidance as to the Supervision of Church Workers (Chapter 3).

Safer Churches Awareness Workshopshave been run across the country since late 2015. At the time of writing, more than 3,500 pastors, leaders and volunteers have attended this one-day workshop. The Safer Churches Awareness Workshop Manual is the resource used throughout this training, and is then held by the participant as an ongoing reference. It is a requirement that the Awareness Workshop must be completed each three years, with future 'Refresher Workshops' to be in a slightly different format.

Online training has been developed for our ACC International stakeholders including ACCI field workers, fixed term workers, strategic partners, associates, staff, volunteers and board members, and also for our overseas ACC credential holders. This online training is a customised version of a course offered by the educator In Safe Hands, and will also be made available to ACC Credential/Certificate holders in very remote areas of Australia, or those who are incapacitated and unable to physically attend an ACC Safer Churches Awareness Workshop.

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f. policy and procedures to document and respond to allegations of child sexual abuse

The ACC National Child Protection Policy(see Annexure 1) contains clear direction on responding to allegations of harm to a Child or Young Person, as reproduced in part below:

We expect ACC People to know and follow the law in relation to reporting harm.

We expect ACC People to know and follow relevant laws in their state jurisdiction as set out in a relevant State Child protection policy by making an appropriate report to the relevant government department in respect of actual harm to a Child or Young Person or a risk of harm to a Child or Young Person. Notwithstanding our obligations under the Ia~ we expect ACC People to ensure that appropriate action is taken to respond to concerns about the wellbeing or safety of a Child or Young Person. For the avoidance of doubt_ when there is no mandatory reporting obligation at Ia~ nevertheless we require a report to be made to the relevant government agency and/or law enforcement body.

ACC Safer Churches Guidelines (see Annexure 2) Guideline 8 also outlines what is to occur, and includes the clear direction as reproduced in part below:

ACC People shall report concerns when:

-a Child or Young Person discloses they have been or are at risk of being abused

-someone else (regardless of age) discloses that they know of a Child or Young Person who has been/is at risk of being abused

- there are concerns that the Child or Young Person may have been or is at risk of being abused based on their physical appearance or behaviour.

The ACC Safer Churches Awareness Workshop Manual (see Annexure 4) includes more practical guides on reporting in the section Responding to Concerns in Chapter 2, D.

Additionally, at the ACC National Conference in 2015, it was formally resolved to add the following provisions to the ACC Ministerial Code of Conduct (see Annexure 7), in Section 3, Prohibited Behaviour:

A Minister must adequately respond to reported instances of sexual abuse.

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An adequate response requires complete and timely adherence to all policies

and procedures adopted by the ACC surrounding the reporting of sexual

abuse.

Ministers must consider their other duties, such as their duty of

confidentiality, and the duty to avoid conflicts of interest in discharging their

duties to adequately respond to reported Instances of sexual abuse.

Apart from strict adherence to all policies and procedures adopted by the

ACe; a Minister who has been notified of an instance of sexual abuse must

not engage in poor administrative practices_ which include, but are not

limited to:

1} Failure to take any action that should reasonably have been taken_-

2) Failure to notify the relevant State President_ their appointee or other

relevant officer_-

3} Failure to follow an appropriate consultative process_-

4) Excessive or unreasonable delay in process_-

5) Inadequate record-keeping_-

As part of the Safer Churches structure, the Helpline is used as a reporting method in order to assure that all notified child sexual assault reports are being appropriately case managed at the state and local church levels. The National Executive are provided with summaries of the Helpline matters as part of a permanent agenda item each time the National Executive meet, as a method of giving central visibility to child protection issues.

g. redress policies and procedures

ACC strongly supports and promotes providing all necessary and appropriate care for survivors of all forms of abuse, however as an organisation ACC is limited in its jurisdictional ability to enforce any policies or procedures on local churches with regard to financial redress. As individually constituted and independently incorporated entities, each ACC local church must consider its own approach to financial redress policies and procedures.

It is largely the church's individual insurance policy that would be called upon to respond to any claims stemming from abuse. It is an ACC constitutional requirement that each local church "maintain an appropriate insurance policy including coverage for "public liability" ... " (see Annexure 8, 12.1.2.9). Declaration of maintaining this insurance forms part of the annual church declaration process (see Annexure 9).

Training on the necessity of appropriate insurance forms part of the ACC Safer Churches Awareness Workshop, including the importance of promptly reporting matters to insurance companies so as not to negatively impact the progress of possible future claims, (see Annexure 4, Chapter 1, Chapter 3,C).

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ACC carries its own public liability and director and officer insurance.

ACC supports the recommendations in the Royal Commissions report on redress, that a government National Redress Scheme be established.

h. any communication of policies and procedures to the members of churches within Australian Christian Churches

Our State and National Conferences are key events in the ACC calendar, where pastors, leaders and some church members gather together. These Conferences are a time of teaching and fellowship, as well as some more administrative elements of the ACC Movement, including the voting of ACC leaders and the discussion and formal acceptance of ACC Policy (National Conference).

At each State Conference (Sept/Oct 2015) a specific Safer Churches session was presented, outlining the Safer Churches structure, and reminding the State Conferences of the ACC Child Protection Policy which was accepted at the National Conference with an implementation date of 1 December 2015. Slides from this communication can be viewed at Annexure 10.

Child Protection and the Safer Churches strategy have been a key and constant element of all Movement communications following ACC's appearance at the Royal Commission. A compilation of relevant communication from the National Executive to ACC Pastors can be found at Annexure 11; 18 communications dating September 2014 to present day.

Annexure 12contains a compilation of ACC EMAG articles (published quarterly online), as well as newsletters (printed and mailed to each ACC pastor) addressing relevant matters; 13 communications dating September 2014 to present day. The ACC EMAG's and some newsletters are also made available through the ACC website (http://www.acc.orq.au/news-media/) and via the ACC App.

Relevant social media posts are compiled at Annexure 13.

In addition to the more than 30 communications noted above, policies and procedures are key elements of the content of the Safer Churches Awareness Workshops, attended by more than 3,500 ACC pastors, leaders and church volunteers across the country since late 2015.

A Safer Churches Awareness poster has been designed and made part of the ACC Safer Churches Implementation Kit(see Annexure 3). Reproduced below (also see Annexure 14), this poster can be displayed in church foyers to make all church members aware of who their Local Safer Churches Officer is, and the Helpline number.

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NATIONAL HELPLINE

1800 070 511

Safer 01Urches resources are made available to churches via the ACC Pastor's Login, an online repository of ACC information. The Safer Churches portion of the Pastor's Login has a generic login as noted below, such that anyone in ACC requiring these resources can access them via:

• URL: htto://access.acc.orq.au/

REDACTED

The resources made available at the Pastor's Login/Safer Churches portal include:

• ACC National Child Protection Policy(see Annexure 1)

• ACC Safer Churches Guidelines (see Annexure 2)

• Local Churches To Do List (see Annexure 15)

• Volunteer Church Workers Declaration Template (see Annexure 5)

• Volunteer Church Workers Code of Conduct Template (see Annexure 6)

• ACC Safer Churches Implementation Kit(see Annexure 3)

• Local Church Audit Form (see Annexure 16)

• Safer awrches Poster (see Annexure 14)

i. promote compliance with relevant policies and procedures.

ACC Safer Churches Guideline 1 (refer Annexure 2) specifies that ACC Credential and

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Certificate holders shall attend a ACC Safer Churches Awareness Workshop (or equivalent) every three years at a minimum in order for Credentials or Certificates to be renewed. Compliance to this requirement is promoted through the Credential Review process, where each year ACC Credential and Certificate holders must submit a review form (optional 2 year renewal for certain Credentials):

Information submitted on the Credential Review Form (see Annexure 17 for an excerpt of this form) include:

• State Government working with children certificate/card number, expiry and image upload,

• Confirmation that the church the credential holder attends has a Child Protection Policy in place,

• Date and course provider of completed child protection course.

From 2016 onwards, credentials will not be eligible for renewal if the credential holder has not completed a child protection course in the last 3 years.

Compliance with any of the provisions within the ACC Ministerial Code of Conduct (see Annexure 7) including reporting and managing conflicts of interest, is outworked by the ACC Grievance Procedure for Certificate Holders (see Annexure 18) in the event of any breach.

All ACC Churches work through an annual renewal process (see Annexure 9for an excerpt of this form) where the Senior Pastor Declaration questions include:

• Does your church abide by the ACC United Constitution and Movement Policies?

• Has your church adopted and implemented a current Child Protection Policy? (and Date Adopted)

• Does your church maintain appropriate insurance including coverage for ''public liability" and "officers and directors" liability?

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3. What consultations were held, and what materials were considered, in the formulation of these policies and procedures?

Organisations from which proposals were received for policy and procedure formulation included:

• Australian Childhood Foundation,

• Child Abuse Consultancy Education & Training (CACET),

• ChildSafe Ltd

• ESPC Services Ltd

• Safe Ministry Resources (SMR) pty Ltd

The Australian Childhood Foundation were chosen to provide the initial draft of the ACC National Child Protection Policy(see Annexure 1). This policy was then adapted to ACC constitutional structure through legal review and ongoing consultation with the Australian Childhood Foundation.

Safe Ministry Resources (SMR) were chosen to assist with procedural formulation and ongoing support, including the Helpline and ACC Safer Churches Awareness Workshop Manual(see Annexure 4).

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4. What impediments did, or does, Australian Christian Churches face in implementing these policies and procedures and any other reforms? What are the proposed measures to overcome these impediments?

Externally, the main impediment ACC has faced when implementing the ACC Safer Churches strategy has been the variance in legislation, for example government based 'working with children checks', and reporting agencies from state to state. Such state variances add to the complexity when implementing a national approach.

To overcome this impediment: • The ACC National Child Protection Policy Section 9 includes expectations

regarding state based legislation, as well as mandatory reporting regardless of the reporting obligations at law, as reproduced below:

We expect ACC People to know and follow regulations in relation to the care of Children or Young People. There are number of regulations governing the provision of Child care. These regulations define our minimum responsibilities and obligations towards Children or Young People and families. We expect all ACC People to know and follow these regulations. It is the responsibility of the managers of our Child care services to ensure that the regulations are adhered to by all ACC People under their supervision.

We expect ACC People to know and follow the law in relation to reporting harm. We expect ACC People to know and follow relevant laws in their state jurisdiction as set out in a relevant State Child protection policy by making an appropriate report to the relevant government department in respect of actual harm to a Child or Young Person or a risk of harm to a Child or Young Person. Notwithstanding our obligations under the Ia~ we expect ACC People to ensure that appropriate action is taken to respond to concerns about the wellbeing or safety of a Child or Young Person. For the avoidance of doubC when there is no mandatory reporting obligation at Ia~ nevertheless we require a report to be made to the relevant government agency and/or law enforcement body.

• The ACC National Child Protection Policy is written to include behavioral expectations that meet the highest standards at law,

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• The ACC Safer Churches strategy incorporates all state information, as exampled on pages 21, 26, 30, 35 of the ACC Safer Churches Awareness Workshop Manual (see Annexure 4).

Internally, the main impediment has been that ACC is an association of churches in voluntary cooperation.

To overcome this impediment: • The ACC has Constitutional powers in order to force change such as the

removal of ACC Credentials/Certificates, and the deregistration of churches. • At the National Conference in May 2015, ACC Churches and

Credential/Certificate holders unanimously accepted the ACC National Child Protection Policy (see Annexure 1). The ACC National Child Protection Policy became a Movement Policy as a result of this vote, and became binding on Credential and Certificate holders and Constituent churches.

• Looking ahead, it is expected that as the ACC Safer Churches Strategy continues rolling out at the local church level, there will be the ongoing need for support in this implementation, especially from some of ACC's cultural group churches where English is a second language. This support is provided by the Helpline and by the State Safer Churches Officers, as well as by attendance at the ACC Safer Churches Awareness Workshops.

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5 . Please provided detailed responses as to how, if at all, the Australian Christian Churches has addressed the following matters:

a. ensuring compliance with its complaint procedure A reporting format which tracks all abuse matters received has been implemented. This reporting (see Annexure 19) is tabled at each National Executive meeting and continues to be updated until ACC's role is finalised. Review of any matters outstanding is a permanent Agenda item for the ACC National Executive meetings. Each State uses this or similar reporting at the relevant State Executive meetings.

The Policy, Guidelines and Code of Conduct references noted in 2.f. are upheld by provisions in the Grievance Procedure and ACC United Constitution for any ACC Credential holder who does not abide by these.

b. the outcome of discussions to amend the Ministerial Code of Conduct to include a requirement for affiliated churches to adopt child protection policies of the standard recommended by the Australian Christian Churches state executive

The ACC National Child Protection Policy(see Annexure 1) was adopted by unanimous vote at the ACC National Conference in May of 2015, with an implementation date set at 1 December 2015.

It is a requirement of the ACC National and State Executives and Constituent Churches to adopt the ACC Child Protection Policy or use it as a minimum standard.

c. whether a person is now required to be credentialed by Australia Christian Churches in order to hold him or herself out as a 'Pastor' or 'Youth Pastor' in an affiliated church

ACC has not, and does not endorse addressing anyone as ACC 'pastor' who does not hold an ACC credential. To further discourage any instances of misuse of the term 'pastor' at the local church level, a number of articles have been written by our National President, as complied in Annexure 20.

In addition to the above written articles, our National President has also addressed this matter when speaking at various State Conferences and regional events.

d. how conflicts of interest are managed when responding to allegations of child sexual abuse

The ACC Ministerial Code of Conduct (see Annexure 7) has been amended to include specific references to Conflicts of Interest. This includes:

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Conflicts of Interest: It is important to avoid any actual apparent or potential confficts between personal interests and pastoral responsibilities. If there is anything that could lead to a connict of interest that will or could have an effect upon or undermine an individual's impartiality in a given situation, then it must be immediately disclosed in full outlining the nature and extent of the connict of interest to the Relevant Persons as set out in the ACC Connicts of Interest Guidance Statement (Pg 3).

Ministers must consider their other dutie~ such as their duty of confidentiality, and the duty to avoid connicts of interest in discharging their duties to adequately respond to reported instances of sexual abuse {Pg 5).

The ACC Connicts of Interest Guidance Statement as referred to above (see Annexure 21) details specific guidance as to how to identify, avoid and properly disclose conflicts of interest, as well as providing practical examples. One such example is reproduced below:

A Church Leader is notified of an allegation made against or notified about a connict with, a Relative of that Church leader and the Church Leader would ordinarily be required by virtue of his or her position as a Church Leader to investigate and/or resolve the allegation or connict. The Church Leader's personal interest arising out of his or her relation with the Relative, who is the subject of the connict or allegation, is in conffict with the Church Leaders duty to the Church Body and Church Body's congregation to act in its best interests (Pg 4).

In addition to the changes in the ACC Ministerial Code of Conduct, as part of the National Safer Churches strategy, the Helpline is the first point of contact for people wishing to bring forward complaints. As the Helpline is run by an independent company, issues such as Conflict of Interest can be navigated in an appropriate manner.

e. whether the Grievance Procedure of the Australian Christian Churches and its affiliated churches still requires reports of child sexual abuse to be made in writing.

The ACC Grievance Procedure for Certificate Holders (see Annexure 18), Step One ­Receipt of Complaint was amended in November 2015, to include the following text:

Where an allegation of improper conduct by a person under some form of disability (i.e. such as because of age or intellectual incapacity) and who is consequently unable to fully document the allegation in writing, comes to the attention of the State Executive, it shall use all reasonable endeavours to assist such a person to fully document the allegation in writing.

This change was part of an interim update of the ACC Grievance Procedure for Certificate Holder~ with a more fulsome review being undertaken at the time of

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writing by the National Safer Churches Panel.

The Helpline provides an additional step prior to the Grievance Procedure being activated in that persons wishing to bring concerns or allegations of child sexual abuse to the ACC can discuss these with the Helpline operator. The Helpline operator is able to assist any person in the formulation of a written complaint, from an independent standpoint.

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