The Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate are championing best practices in safeguarding, according to an audit report published today by Australian Catholic Safeguarding Ltd.
The Oblates are a congregation working in ministries across dioceses, hospital chaplaincy, youth ministry, school governance and homeless ministries in Australia.
The audit reviewed the congregation’s safeguarding framework, and then interviewed key personnel to evaluate implementation of the National Catholic Safeguarding Standards .
The audit found that the Oblates have either fully embedded or developed 99 per cent of the NCSS indicators relevant to their ministries and governance. One indicator is at the developing stage of implementation.
ACSL chief executive Ursula Stephens said that while the Oblates have previously been audited for their child-safe practices, this audit also checked for processes that prioritise the safety of adults at risk.
“Our audit team found that safeguarding is an important area of focus for the Oblates, and commitment from leadership has been backed up by an investment into centralised safeguarding resources,” Dr Stephens said.
She said a site visit to one school ministry demonstrated a holistic approach to education, which includes faith development, personal growth, physical development, and social and emotional growth.
Speaking more broadly about the audit findings, Dr Stephens said while recommendations from the first audit have been addressed, some further areas for improvement have been identified.
“One area is in relation to clarifying responsibility for safeguarding governance for one of the ministries, which is an important risk mitigation action.’
“Our recommendations will help shift the dial from very good to excellent, including updating existing safeguarding training, developing easy-to-read charts to make reporting a concern as simple as possible, and rolling out more information about safe and respectful relationships for adults at risk.”
Fr Christian Fini OMI, Australian Provincial of the Oblates, also said that implementing the audit’s findings will be a priority.
‘The Australian Province remains dedicated to prioritising safeguarding and is committed to implementing the audit’s recommendations so that we may continue to minimise the risk of harm and ensure appropriate responses to disclosures and allegations.”
The full audit report for the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate is available here.
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