Our Commitment
The Uniting Church Western Australia is entrusted to provide a safe emotional, spiritual and physical environment for all people to encounter God, to deepen relationships and grow in faith. We are committed to a high level of professional standards to ensure that all our leaders are well-equipped, suitably recruited, trained and resourced to do this.
Our Duty of Care
We believe that every person is precious to God and that in following Jesus’ example we are called to care for all people, especially those who are vulnerable.
The Gospel also directs us to listen to and learn from children. (National Child Safe Policy Framework v3 September 2019).
Our duty of care is the moral and legal responsibility we have to ensure the safety of those in our care.
Discharging our duty of care means that we think through what is safe and/or risky, then put plans in place to ensure that we act safely.
What does this mean for you?
Doing all that we can do to ensure the safety of ALL people in our church, especially those who are vulnerable, and that NO harm or distress has been caused.
People expect our churches to be a safe place – you TRUST us and we should honour that.
As such, we commit to being a community which:
- provides and maintains a welcoming and safe environment
- ensures suitable and well-equipped leadership
- provides a level of resourcing that reflects the value of all people
- provides clear and appropriate duty of care guidelines
- addresses any complaints or allegations of abuse appropriately.
Safe Church links and resources
The Culture of Safety team has continued to develop and update a range of Safe Church resources, guides, templates and forms to assist churches to remain safe places for all. Check these out on our Safe Church Resources page.
Here are some other useful resources to assist you in your work:
- National Safe Church Unit
- Working With Children Checks (WWCC) Unit
- Children’s eSafety Commissioner
- WA Commissioner for Children and Young People
- National Principles for Child Safe Organisations
- Advocare Inc – preventing and responding to elder abuse
- Western Australian Association of Mental Health
- Department of Communities Disability Services – Standards poster