Duty of Care and OH&S
The Christian Faith strongly upholds the virtues of love, mercy and justice. From Luke’s Gospel we know that Jesus came to give freedom to the captives, sight to the blind and liberty to those who were oppressed. Jesus came for people. He came to give all of humankind the gift of Salvation but was interested in the practicalities of people’s lives as well.
In our churches, indeed in all of society, many people aim to follow the example of Jesus; to free, heal and liberate those who are captives, sick or oppressed. The example of Jesus is one on which all leaders within our churches and their associated groups should model their leadership and their lives.
As a community of God’s people, we should also be committed to ensuring that all of our churches are places that are safe in every respect for those who join with us.
The BUV aims to empower churches with resources and advice that will help them to make their church a safe place for all.
"Our Church is a Safe Place" is the BUV Duty of Care Policy for Baptist Churches in Victoria. Originally published in 2002, it was revised in 2005 and a companion Work Manual and DVD Resource folder to assist churches in educating their congregations was also developed. We are currently revising the policy and documentation once again.
This document has been written to inform our Victorian Baptist Churches of the rules, regulations and guidelines of their Duty of Care. It is written with many aspects of church ministries in mind, particularly in the area of working with children, young people and other groups of vulnerable people within our society.
The Baptist Union of Victoria expects the document to be read in detail by all church leaders (including volunteer leaders) and that recommendations contained in it will be followed.
The document is primarily to ensure that our ministries are provided in a safe, loving and ethical environment but it will, when followed, provide support for churches in the event of allegations against leaders within their church.
We urge all church leaders to engage in this very important issue of Duty of Care so that we can be sure that our church is a safe place.
BUV staff regularly visit churches and conduct Duty of Care Training Presentations to leadership teams, as well as providing day to day guidance and advice via email or phone.
We also provide guidelines for specific areas of church ministry such as creche! Please feel free to use our material as a basis for your own church guidelines or to send us samples of what you have developed locally.
Our most recent endeavour is the rolling out of the Redbook, a series of self-audits checklists tailored to your church to enable you to more easily manage building code & duty of care compliance in your church.
Please browse through the resources available below, or contact our Administration department on 03 9880 6111 for advice on specific issues relating to your church.
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