About
In establishing and living out Safe Church policy, the church seeks to honour God in thought, word and deed; providing a loving Christian witness to those around us and complying with Victorian state law.
The Safe Church Unit (SCU) is supervised by the Safe Church Committee (SCC) of the Presbyterian Church of Victoria (PCV), commissioned by the general assembly in 2013 and commencing operations in 2014.
We encourage and assist the church in its commitment to ensuring that all of its congregations and organisations are safe in respect of everyone with them, specifically helping the church to protect and care for the young and vulnerable in our church, and care for the victims of abuse and hurt in our community. We see safe gospel ministry and fellowship together as being in obedience to Scripture.
The Safe Church Unit will initiate particular care for victims where appropriate and coordinate external investigations as required.
Committee
The SCC is appointed by the general assembly of the Presbyterian Church of Victoria (PCV) to advise the Safe Church Unit and the general assembly on any matter that bears on the church's compliance with federal and state law insofar as to the purpose of the committee.
The committee drafts and recommends updates to Safe Church policy and procedure in response to federal and state law and liability insurance policies, and advises relevant church courts of required action to mitigate risk to the young and the vulnerable.
L-R: Dr Rosemary Fethers (Acting Convenor), Rev Don Elliot, Mrs Heather Thomas, Mr Nick Attrill, Rev Phil Court, Mr Ashley Manly (Compliance & Administration Officer)
Ashley works Monday, Thursday and Friday 9am - 5pm and is responsible for accreditation of churches, organisations and individuals within the PCV.
Ashley handles Safe Church compliance enquiries, Safe Church material requests, Volunteer Approval Process applications, Working With Children Check compliance, and administrative support of Safe Church Training events.
Partnerships
Kooyoora
The SCC has appointed Kooyoora, an independent not-for-profit dedicated to delivering professional standards and safeguarding solutions to charitable entities, to respond to all incident reports and complaints of misconduct within the church.
