As a community with people of all ages and backgrounds, we take personal safety very seriously. We are committed to creating and maintaining safe spaces for all of our programs, events and activities, where people can be confident that they will be cared for, nurtured and encouraged as they grow.

As part of this commitment, we have developed a Safe Church Framework in accordance with Safe Ministry Resources Pty. Ltd. and the National Council of Churches in Australia. The figure below reflects our approach and arrangements to achieve our safety objectives. It is implemented via our policies and procedures. It remains the property of Calvary Chapel Newcastle and may not be reproduced or stored electronically without prior written permission.

Our Safe Church Framework

Disclaimer: this framework does not serve to meet any legal requirements as such and is intended only as an aid to help orient people with how our church is organised, the key definitions we operate with, as well as the expectations and responsibilities of the Pastoral Team and Volunteers of our church.

Purpose

We have developed this Safe Church Framework:

  • in accordance with our Statement of Beliefs regarding the inherent dignity of all people as beings made in the image of God (Genesis 1:26-27), as well as our and Core Values concerning the biblical mandates to love, care and protect one another – especially those who are vulnerable to the power of others, such as Children, Young Person(s), and/or Youth (Exodus 22:21-22; Deuteronomy 10:17-19; Jeremiah 22:2-4; and James 1:27, etc.);
  • in recognition of Australia’s high standards for the safety of all people expressed in legislation and government policy, both to the common law concept of duty of care and, specifically, the federal and state laws in light of the conclusion to The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse (2017);
  • to implement the Ten National Principles for Child Safe Organisations drawn from the work of the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, and endorsed by the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) in 2018; and
  • to meet our legal obligations in relation to:
    • Work Health & Safety (WHS)
    • Working With Children Checks (WWCC)
    • Mandatory Reporting Legislation (MRL)

A full exposition of the Framework can be found in the following policies:

If you have any questions regarding our Safe Church Framework, please contact either of the Safe Church Officers:

Complaints & Incident Reporting

All incident, near misses and safety concerns as well as personal complaints or conflicts will be immediately reported to, and handled by, CCN’s Safe Church Officers:

The Safe Church Officers will respond to all reports, complaints or conflicts, in accordance with our Governance Documentation.