The LCA Child Safety Standards (CSS) for Congregations are designed to help congregations maximise the safety of children and young people.
It is also envisaged that they will help the church to meet its regulatory responsibilities in response to an increasingly rigorous child safety landscape in Australia and New Zealand. This is especially so in the wake of the recommendations of the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse.
All congregations that have children participating in regular worship, prayer or children's ministry are expected to implement the Child Safety Standards.
The Standards were developed by the LCANZ’s Child Protection Project Team, and after churchwide consultation, were approved by the General Church Board in October 2021. Read more ...
Please download the resource documents (right-hand column on desktop; below, on mobile devices) to learn more about the Standards and their implementation.
What congregations need to do
Implementing the LCA Child Safety Standards involves two steps.
1. Self-assess your child safety progress (click the blue button for more information).
2. Prepare and submit your Child Safety Plan (click the blue button for more information).
If your congregation has no children in regular attendance, you are not required to complete the Child Safety Standards requirements. Instead, please complete the Congregations Without Children – Child Safety Assurance.
Videos to help you
The LCA Child Safety Standards for Congregations were launched via a webinar on 26 March 2022. More than 370 people participated. The webinar provided an overview of the Child Safety Standards with an emphasis on the new responsibilities for LCA congregations. It also provided guidelines and helpful tips for completing the Self-Assessment Tool and Child Safety Plan, as well as information regarding the implementation of the Child Safety Plan by church councils. The webinar was conducted jointly by the LCA Child Protection Project Officer Mary-Ann Carver and members of the Professional Standards Department.
The webinar was recorded and is available in full or in parts. All church council members, particularly chairpersons and secretaries, pastors, Safe Church coordinators, and other key people involved in children's ministry are strongly encouraged to watch the videos. On the images below, click on the arrow button to view the full webinar (first video) or parts of it.
To display a video full screen, click on the Expand symbol (bottom right next to the Vimeo icon) or double-click the video screen with your mouse.
If you have any questions about the LCA Child Safety Standards for Congregations, please do not hesitate to contact the Professional Standards Officer in your District, or Mary-Ann Carver or Nicole Hall at the Churchwide Office on 08 8267 7300.
LCA Child Safety Standards
Office of the Executive Officer of the Church
LCA Child Safety Standards Project
css@lca.org.au
08 8267 7300 Ι 0491 011 643
Child Safety Standards Menu
Child Safety Self-Assessments and Plans now only need to be completed on a biennial basis, once every two years, instead of annually.
Read more ...Resources
To download these resources, click on the document image.
To download these resources, click on the document image.
