National Child Protection Week 2025

Child safety has been making headlines far too often in recent times, with deeply disturbing cases of abuse carried out by individuals entrusted with the care of our children.  These incidents have exposed serious failures in leadership, systems and practices that are meant to safeguard children from harm and neglect.  Alarmingly, those with harmful intentions are still managing to gain access to roles within child-related organisations.

This Sunday marks the beginning of National Child Protection Week (7-13 September 2025), a time to highlight the importance of creating safe, supportive environments where children and young people are respected, cared for and protected.  The theme for this year is Every conversation matters: Shifting conversation to action.

This week is an opportunity for all of us to reaffirm our collective responsibility to not only create environments where children feel safe and are able to flourish, but to also ensure we have appropriate protocols in place to identify and respond to abuse if it occurs.  By moving beyond words and into meaningful action, we can help ensure that every child is seen, heard and protected. Child abuse is preventable, and each one of us has a role to play.

At a fundamental level, it is essential to ensure that anyone working with or caring for children undergoes thorough screening, receives appropriate induction and training and is supported through ongoing supervision, review and opportunities for reflection.

At Our Lady of Pentecost Parish, our commitment to being a safe and welcoming community is demonstrated not only through the priorities set by our Parish Pastoral Council and Parish Safeguarding Committee, but also in the attitudes and actions of all who serve in ministry within our parish.

There is a shared understanding within our parish of the importance of safeguarding compliance. We are fortunate to have many dedicated volunteers who have taken the necessary steps to uphold our safeguarding standards, including holding a current Working with Children Check, completing safeguarding training, either online or recently in person, and signing the Safeguarding Code of Conduct. Many parishioners are proactive in ensuring these requirements remain up to date.

As a member of our parish community, you are encouraged to familarise yourself with the Safeguarding Code of Conduct.  This document outlines the principles, values and behaviours that guide us in how we operate and care for one another as a parish community. You are also encouraged to speak up, whether you have concerns about parish life, the physical environment or the safety and wellbeing of an individual. You can contact the Parish Office or speak directly with a member of the Parish Life Team at weekend Mass.

As a parish, we recognise that there is still work to be done.  Recently, the Parish Safeguarding Committee completed the Safeguarding Self-Assessment Tool.  This tool was developed by the Catholic Archdiocese of Melbourne to help parishes evaluate and strengthen their safeguarding practices in line with the National Catholic Safeguarding Standards. A key priority identified is the need to create opportunities for children and young people to express their views and concerns, particularly in activities that directly involve them.

In 2020, our parish took part in a project with Australian Catholic University to help develop a tool for organisations to measure and evaluate their child safe culture. As part of this initiative, young people aged 10-12 were invited to participate in a focus group to share their thoughts on what makes an institution, like our parish, a safe place, and what advice they would offer adults in addressing their safety needs.

Unsurprisingly, the findings revealed that organisations, families and communities can all play a role in enhancing the safety of children and young people. Key findings included encouraging young people to identify trusted adults within organisations and fostering meaningful conversations that involve both listening to their concerns, and clearly explaining how they can be supported if they feel unsafe. To learn more, visit the Measuring Safety – tools to conduct a child safety survey.

As a parish community, we will remain committed to working together to strengthen our systems and practices, establish clearer processes for reporting concerns, and ensure that our parish continues to be a place where everyone, especially children, young people and adults at risk, feel safe, valued and supported.  Let us do all we can to prevent any more distressing headlines about the mistreatment of children.  They deserve nothing less than our utmost care and protection.

By Tricia Norman