LOVE COMES TO LIFE when we treat each other with courtesy and respect, and when the way we behave towards each other reflects the way God loves us.

Child Safety Standards
Spotlight on "Standard 5"

All congregations should now be in the process of implementing the Child Safety Standards and working with their Child Safety Plan to address any areas they have identified where there is room for improvement.

This month we are putting a spotlight on Standard 5: -
“Our People are safe, informed and supported”

How do we do this:

• We make sure everyone who works or volunteers with children, including our Pastors and leadership teams, has a current working with children type clearance and they do not start their role until this is received
• We also make sure to regularly review working with children type check compliance at our leadership meetings.
  Questions we might consider are: -
  - Are any of our staff or volunteers checks about to expire? Do they need renewing?
  - Has anyone new joined our leadership or expressed an interest in volunteering and not yet applied for received their check?
• We undertake a thorough appointment process for all our volunteers and employees as described in Safe Church Training (SCT)
• We do this by conducting interviews and referee checks even when the person is well known to us. Sample interview questions and reference check questions are available to assist you
• We make sure all our volunteers and employees have clear role descriptions. Examples have been created to assist you and can be found in the LCA Portal
• We make sure to keep accurate records of all appointments using the Safety Management Online database (SMO) or something similar

Your Church Worker Support Department, local district Professional Standards Officer (PSO), the Professional Standards Department, and the Child Safety Standards team are able to assist you in this and other aspects of the Chid Safety Standards. They are always happy to talk with congregations about keeping their staff and volunteers safe, supported, and informed.

PROFESSIONAL STANDARDS - Lutheran Church of Australia (lca.org.au)

CHURCH WORKER SUPPORT - Lutheran Church of Australia (lca.org.au)

Younger kids reporting bullying to eSafety

Australia’s eSafety Commissioner is urging parents and carers to speak with their children about online safety, warning complaints of serious cyberbullying involving under 14s more than tripled last year compared to pre-pandemic 2019.

See here for more details
 

SMO – two factor authentication

Safety Management Online (SMO) has implemented a new two factor authentication (2FA) process for all users across the platform. 2FA is now very common, as it is an effective way to increase site security for all data.

When you next log in to SMO you will be asked to set up 2FA. A guide that goes through this process is available here. Please be aware you will need a smartphone to complete the process.  

You will need to set up 2FA, to have continued access to SMO.

While we understand this process may be frustrating, in light of highly publicised data breaches at other organisations, it is increasingly important to address the safety and security of people’s personal information.

If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact someone from Professional Standards.
 

WORKSHOPS

Safe Church Level 1
Safe Church Level 1 Refresher
Safe Church Level 2

If you are unable to travel to a workshop, Level 1 and Level 2 training is also available online

If you get stuck on setting up your 2FA, or on finding a particular resource, we are here to assist you so please give us a call!

Blessings from your Professional Standards team

Questions|Concerns|Feedback

Your local Professional Standards Officers are here to support you.

PSD webpage shortcuts

• Homepage and PSO contact details    www.lca.org.au/psd
• Training    www.lca.org.au/safechurchtraining
• Frequently Asked Questions    www.lca.org.au/psd-faqs
• Resources, including for Safe Church Coordinators    www.lca.org.au/psd-sp3
• LCA Standards of Ethical Behaviour    www.lca.org.au/seb