MINISTRY SUPPORT
LCA Child Safety Standards for Congregations
The Lutheran Church of Australia (LCA) is committed to providing a safe church environment for children and young people.
The LCA acknowledges that children are a precious gift from God, with special vulnerabilities, that they require nourishment and nurture in their spiritual development and that they are to be protected from all forms of abuse.
The LCA also affirms that it has no tolerance for child abuse and that all its people have an important responsibility to care for children and to keep them safe. The way we care for children reflects our genuineness of faith. It is also a reflection of God's love and his divine protection.
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.
What congregations need to do
Implementing the LCA Child Safety Standards involves two steps.
1. Self-assess
Self-assess your child safety progress (click the blue button for more information).
2. Submit Child Safety Plan
Prepare and submit your Child Safety Plan (click the blue button for more information).
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Read more ...No children in your congregation?
If your congregation has no children in regular attendance, you may not be required to complete the Child Safety Standards requirements. Instead, you may be eligible to complete a 'Congregations without Children - Child Safety Assurance'. Please contact us to ask if this is appropriate for your congregation. If you are eligible, click on the green button to download the document.
Please visit our Resources page and download the documents to learn more about the Standards and their implementation.
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 or 0491 011 643.
Thank you to all the congregations that have submitted their Child Safety Plan. You are making a real difference in keeping our children safe!
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