Safe Church training: easier than you think

If you’ve been putting off Safe Church training because it seems difficult, time-consuming or hard to access, Lorraine’s experience may surprise you.

A member of a Lutheran church in Adelaide’s outer suburbs, Lorraine completed the training as part of her role of visiting congregation members who are unable to attend church due to age, illness or mobility issues.

With no face-to-face sessions available and evening travel difficult, Lorraine attended a live online session alongside a fellow church member, Tanya, making the experience more accessible and supportive.

The training covered both the Level 1 Induction and Safeguarding modules and attracted more than 70 participants.

Lorraine says the training was ‘much easier and more informative than expected’. ‘Once you’re in it, it’s really engaging,’ she says. She also appreciated being able to talk through scenarios with Tanya and said the session fitted comfortably into her weekend.

‘What stood out most for me was being reminded of my responsibilities and being more aware when visiting people,’ she says.

Liz Ewers from the LCANZ Safe Church team says this kind of response is common, with many participants finding the training more engaging than they expect it to be. She adds that participating in a group or webinar format can further enrich the experience.

‘When you join a webinar with others, it brings a sense of community and energy to the mix, as Lorraine experienced,’ Liz says.

Feedback from participants reflects similar experiences. One attendee described the training as ‘very efficiently run’, and another said it was ‘a good reminder and highly valuable, both personally and generally’.

If you’ve been waiting for the right time to complete your Safe Church training, or think you may not learn anything new, Liz says this may be the prompt you need.

With both self-paced online and live Zoom options available, Safe Church training is designed to offer a practical, accessible way to meet requirements in a format that suits you.

To find upcoming training dates and to register, visit www.lca.org.au/safe-church-training