An audit report published today by Australian Catholic Safeguarding Ltd has found that the Dominican Sisters of Eastern Australia and Solomon Islands (Dominican Sisters) continue to prioritise the safety of children and adults at risk.
The report assessed the Dominican Sisters’ implementation of the National Catholic Safeguarding Standards (NCSS), the national framework for the protection from abuse of children and adults at risk in Catholic communities.
ACSL first audited the Sisters in 2021. The first audit focused on child safeguarding standards only, while the review audit conducted between May and July 2024 examined safeguarding strategies for adults at risk as well as children.
The audit found that the Sisters have implemented or are substantially progressed in the implementation of 99 per cent of the NCSS indicators relevant to their organisation.
ACSL chief executive Ursula Stephens said the Dominican Sisters have demonstrated that they are successfully embedding a culture of safeguarding throughout the organisation.
“In this second NCSS audit of the Dominican Sisters, our auditors found that the Sisters have embraced safeguarding strategies for adults at risk while remaining steadfast in their child safe approaches,” Dr Stephens said.
“The Dominican Sisters have a strong commitment to zero tolerance in safeguarding. They have comprehensive safeguarding policies and documentation.”
“Alongside these strengths, we can see that there are ongoing challenges embedding safeguarding practices in a Pacific culture across different civil and church jurisdictions.”
“The report has provided three recommendations that the Sisters will now be adopting over the next 12 months.”
“We appreciate that the Sisters demonstrate an ongoing commitment to professional learning and the provision of safeguarding workshops for Sisters and staff,“ Dr Stephens said.
View the Dominican Sisters full audit report on ACSL’s website.
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