The C3 Church Framework has been developed in response to the The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse.  The Royal Commission held 57 formal public hearings about child sexual abuse within institutions across many different sectors, hearing from 1,200 witnesses over 400 days, across all Australian capital cities and in several regional areas. These case studies focused on how institutions responded to allegations and proven instances of child sexual abuse (Royal Commission Final Report, 2017).

From this enormous body of work, the Royal Commission recommended organisational child safe standards to provide a nationally consistent approach to creating organisational cultures that foster child safety and wellbeing across all sectors in Australia.

The National Principles for Child Safe Organisations were developed by the National Children’s Commissioner and reflect the ten Child Safe standards recommended by the Royal Commission, with a broader scope that goes beyond sexual abuse to cover other forms of potential harm.

Through C3 Australia's partnership with Safe Ministry Resources, our church is working to effectively implement and maintain these principles throughout our organisation.

C3 Australia Safe Church and Credentialing Executive Member 

Ensuring a Safe Church environment is crucial.

Following the Royal Commission in 2016, I was more than happy to answer the call to ensure that C3 Australia's commitment to making our churches safe places for everyone remained a priority.

Over the years, we have developed a range of resources for our Pastors, Teams, and Members across Australia. These resources are designed to support local churches as they implement our Safe Church Framework in their specific contexts.

As part of your levy to C3 Australia, you have access to these resources at no cost, with more to come.  Additionally, we have engaged with a National Helpline for independent assistance regarding incidents and implementation, as well as ongoing Safe Church Training for all Credential Holders within C3 Australia.

I hope these resources help you navigate the challenging and complex area of ensuring a Safe Church environment.

Melissa xx

We partner with Creating Safer Communities to ensure our policies, guidelines and resources are up to date and current with the requirements within Australia.   Creating Safer Communities provides services to Churches across Australia in the areas of:

• PREVENTION of harm and abuse (Safe Church and Child Protection) education and policy development.

• RESPONSE to abuse and misconduct via our first responder 1800 070 511 Helpline.

• RECOVERY from abuse; facilitating redress processes and providing advice on risk management of persons of concern in churches.

If you are a member of a C3 Australia Church you are able to contact Creating Safer Communities via the Helpline number above for:

• Harm and Abuse Response. 

• Implementation of Safe Church Guidelines questions or clarification.

• Guidance in the management  of reportable conduct, reporting of abuse. 

• Training options for your volunteers.