Safe Church Commitment Statement

Dapto Uniting Church

Ensuring Child Safety is everyone’s Responsibility

We Care

We are dedicated to keeping children safe and happy. We believe every child deserves to feel secure and valued. We are committed to treating all children fairly and believe that any kind of harm or abuse is never okay and never the child’s fault.

We Listen

We encourage everyone, both children and adults, to speak up if they see or feel something unsafe for a child. We listen carefully to children to understand what makes them feel safe. We also involve families and communities in protecting children. Feedback from everyone is important to us.

We Prepare

We follow strict rules and procedures to keep children safe. Our leaders are committed to maintaining high standards of child safety. Everyone who works with children is thoroughly checked and trained.

We Act

We take every concern seriously and handle it quickly. We always work to keep our environments safe for children. We are dedicated to constantly improving our practices to better support and protect children.

Approved by Church Council on: 29 January 2025

Child Safety is Everyone’s Responsibility

We affirm that all individuals, including children and vulnerable adults, possess inherent dignity and worth. Our interactions with one another should reflect values of love, integrity, compassion, and respect.

To honour this intrinsic value, we are dedicated to creating environments that are safe, inclusive, and supportive for all. This commitment requires a proactive approach to upholding the highest standards of ethics and moral responsibility in all areas of engagement, both personal and professional. We pledge to reflect on and improve our policies, practices, and behaviours continuously, to ensure that they align with principles of human dignity and mutual respect. Through these efforts, we aim to foster a society that actively promotes and protects the rights and well-being of every individual.

All individuals participating in Dapto Uniting Church’s activities, services, events, or programs have the right to safety. Therefore, it is acknowledged that there is a moral and legal responsibility to take initiative-taking measures to ensure the safety of children and young people involved in any Dapto Uniting Church activity.

Ensuring the safety and well-being of all participants is paramount. This includes implementing thorough safeguarding policies, providing regular training for staff and volunteers, and instituting rigorous background checks. Furthermore, creating an environment that is open and transparent encourages reporting and addressing any concerns promptly and effectively. The church is committed to upholding these standards to foster a safe and nurturing atmosphere for spiritual growth and community engagement.

We have zero tolerance for causing any form of harm to children and will do all in our power to keep children and vulnerable adults safe from harm. Protecting children and vulnerable adults is both an individual and a collective responsibility of Dapto Uniting Church, and all who engage with it.

As a Church, we commit to listening to children, their families and their communities. We commit to supporting the diverse needs of all children. We commit to providing environments that are physically, emotionally and spiritually safe for all people including children, so that they may live life in all its fullness. We commit to appropriate screening and training of adults working within the Church, especially those who work with children.

Our commitment to child safety will be central to our decision-making and guide our practice. We will seek to understand our risk areas and develop strategies that aim to prevent and minimise risks to children and young people as far as possible, taking an approach of continuous improvement.

We are committed to continual growth in our ongoing implementation of the Child Safe Standards. We welcome feedback from anyone with an interest in this commitment, including children.