Hobart Archdiocese’s latest safeguarding audit showed the archdiocese has successfully embedded safeguarding within its culture and demonstrated a commitment to ensuring the Church is a safe place for children and adults at risk of abuse. Source: ACSL.
Australian Catholic Safeguarding Limited recently conducted the safeguarding audit, which involved evaluating the documents, policies and procedures in place and supported by Hobart Archdiocese’s Safe Communities Office.
The audit involved discussions with Hobart Archbishop Anthony Ireland, chancery staff and leaders and visits to six parishes across Tasmania.
The audit team also met with representatives of CatholicCare Tasmania, Catholic Education Tasmania, Loreto Community Housing, St Joseph Affordable Homes and Blueline Laundry.
The archdiocese established Safe Communities in 2019, an initiative designed to protect children and adults at risk, with a focus on creating and maintaining a safe community for everyone.
“Safeguarding has to be in our DNA (Diocesan Normal Awareness); it is not something added on or extra,” Archbishop Ireland said.
ACSL chief executive Ursula Stephens commended the archbishop and the archdiocese, saying that several areas of good practice were observed during the audit.
“A key strength of the archdiocese’s safeguarding practice is the strong collaborative relationships between the Safe Communities Office and the parishes; by working together to adopt appropriate safeguarding strategies the risk of harm to children and adults at risk is significantly reduced,” Dr Stephens said.
“The active engagement of the Vicar General, Fr Shammi Perera, in the Safe Communities Office, has also contributed to modelling and building the strong safeguarding culture.”
The audit report stated “some areas for improvement” were found during the audit, “resulting in minor recommendations that will further embed safeguarding in all aspects of the Archdiocesan ministries”.
All recommendations have been accepted by the archdiocese and will be implemented in the next 12 months, along with continued vigilance and awareness of emerging risks.
View the Archdiocese of Hobart’s audit report on ACSL’s website.
FULLS TORY
Best Practices in Safeguarding a feature of Hobart Archdiocese (ACSL)
