News and Media

Catholic Professional Standards Ltd (CPSL) has now published its 2018-19 Annual Report, marking three years of operation for the organisation.

Source:  CathNews

CPSL was formed in response to the findings of the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse. It has been tasked with developing robust safeguarding standards to effectively safeguard children and vulnerable adults who come into contact with the Catholic Church in Australia and auditing the compliance of Church entities in Australia with these safeguarding standards.

CPSL chief executive officer Sheree Limbrick said this year had been a “big year of milestones” for the organisation.

The report lists the Church entities who have engaged with CPSL in relation to implementing the National Catholic Safeguarding Standards. 

Interview with Fr Hans Zollner SJ: A global perspective on child safeguarding in the Catholic Church

Interview with Fr Hans Zollner SJ: A global perspective on child safeguarding in the Catholic Church

Interview with Fr Hans Zollner SJ: A global perspective on child safeguarding in the Catholic Church

Interview with Fr Hans Zollner SJ: A global perspective on child safeguarding in the Catholic Church

Interview with Fr Hans Zollner SJ: A global perspective on child safeguarding in the Catholic Church

This month's newsletter highlights the launch of CPSL's 2020 Training Calendar, celebrates the 30th anniversary of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, and also includes two features highlighting very different aspects of safeguarding practices - you can read about the Archdiocese of Brisbane's Volunteer Program and also hear about how the Australian Catholic Youth Festival's organising team have gone about preparing to host a child-safe celebration of young people of faith. As usual, there is our monthly Safeguarding Corner column and links to new resources to help support Church entities implement the National Catholic Safeguarding Standards.

Ahead of International Volunteer Day on December 5th, CPSL would like to share an example of good practice in volunteer management, uncovered during the recent audit of the Archdiocese of Brisbane. The Archdiocese of Brisbane has a volunteer network of just over 10,000 people. To help in the management of volunteers, the Archdiocese uses a comprehensive Volunteer Manual that includes a Code of Conduct, key policies relevant to volunteers and a performance review template for volunteers in key positions or managing teams. In addition to the Volunteer Manual, the Archdiocese has recently introduced an online volunteer portal which helps streamline the on-boarding process for new volunteers, inclusive of a set of questions helping to determine whether the volunteer will need a working with children check.

Read on for more information about the Volunteer Manual and interviews with a Volunteer Coordinator and a Volunteer Safeguarding Officer.

Next month on December 8th, Australia's largest Catholic youth event will begin in Perth. Five thousand children and young people are expected to converge on the Perth Convention and Exhibition Centre to begin celebrations of the first day of the Australian Catholic Youth Festival (ACYF), an initiative of the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference undertaken by the ACBC Office for Youth.

CPSL interviewed ACYF Director Malcolm Hart to talk through some of the safeguarding measures taken to ensure that children and young people are safe to engage and participate in this event.

This edition of our newsletter has a focus on engaging with the broader Australian community in initiatives which honour and support adults (and their extended networks) who are victims and survivors of sexual abuse and trauma as well as highlighting opportunities to champion and celebrate the rights and dignity of children and those who care for them.

Source:  CathNews

The Church has made significant progress in responding to the royal commission into child sexual abuse, Archbishop Mark Coleridge said today on the anniversary of the National Apology to survivors and victims. 

Source:  Eureka Street

Twelve months has passed since the national apology to survivors and victims of institutional child abuse. Such national and other official apologies for a variety of social calamities are now so common that it makes this anniversary easier to overlook because it is just one among many milestones. It also contained an important symbolic element. Nevertheless, the significance of what Senator Mathias Cormann described as a 'collective systemic national failure' demands that it not to be forgotten.

Source:  Health Matters

The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse exposed the damning failure of the Catholic Church in Australia to keep the most vulnerable people under its influence, children, safe from harm. Over 60 per cent of survivors who came forward to tell their story to a Royal Commissioner and had been abused in religious settings were abused within Catholic organisations.

Source:  Catholic News Agency

In the wake of a major clergy sex abuse scandal and the high-profile, controversial trial and conviction of sex abuse of Cardinal George Pell, government and Church officials in Australia are scrambling for solutions.

One change already announced by Church leaders is that seminarians will be subjected to the same training and screening as other Church officials by the Catholic Professional Standards Ltd, a group that safeguards against child sex abuse through trainings and audits of Catholic bishops, priests and religious. The independent group is chaired by a lay board; its members are the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference and Catholic Religious Australia.

Source:  The Age

Australia’s Catholic Church is considering scrapping the centuries-old system of training priests in seminaries, which helped create some of the country’s worst paedophiles.

You will read in this month's newsletter of much activity across the country with many and varied ministries of the Church continuing to build capacity and share knowledge of safeguarding among their members.

We are also pleased to release our second audit report, the first report focusing on a diocese - the Diocese of Ballarat is the first diocese to submit itself to an audit of their current practices and approaches.

We have also released a range of new support materials on our website.

The Catholic Diocese of Ballarat has implemented 73 percent of the indicators relevant to their operations under the National Catholic Safeguarding Standards (NCSS), as stated in the audit report of the Diocese published by Catholic Professional Standards Limited (CPSL) today.

Source:  CathNews

Ballarat Diocese, under Bishop Paul Bird CSsR, comprises 40 parishes across Western Victoria, with 49 active and retired clergy, 38 diocesan and paid staff and approximately 1,600 volunteers.

CPSL chief executive Sheree Limbrick said the audit revealed a strong, public commitment to the safeguarding of children in the Diocese, evidenced by having key personnel in safeguarding roles and a Bishop’s Advisory Council at the diocesan level to implement and monitor the requirements of the NCSS.

Inside this month's newsletter: We have marked another milestone by publishing our first Audit Report earlier this month - the Presentation Sisters Wagga Wagga were the first of more than 200 Catholic entities to undertake an audit of their safeguarding practices against the National Catholic Safeguarding Standards. We are also pleased to release our 'how-to' guide for engaging with children and young people in conversations about their safety and safeguarding within an organisation - to Daniele's Safeguarding Corner to read more.

CPSL has completed a training review measuring our progress in the first six months of the implementation of its Learning and Development (L&D) Strategy.

There has been a positive engagement from the Catholic Church in Australia in the rollout of CPSL’s L&D Strategy in the first half of 2019. 62% of all dioceses, eparchies and ordinariates across the Church in Australia have had at least one representative attend a CPSL training session in the first five months of implementation, 39% of religious institutes (including religious men and women, institutes of consecrated life and societies of apostolic life) have been represented at a CPSL training; and, 63% of Ministerial Public Juridic Persons have attended training.

Through collecting evaluation responses at these sessions, CPSL has gathered valuable feedback from participants about what has been useful in training and what needs improvement. 

Read the full training review here.

A child safe institution seeks the views of children. It provides children with formal and informal opportunities to share their views. The resource, " 'A how-to' guide for engaging children & young people in conversations about safeguarding" has been designed to support organisations to meet this critical component of being a child safe institution.

This guide has been developed in collaboration with the Australian Catholic University's Institute of Child Protection Studies, to support Church entities to engage with children and young people about keeping organisations safe.  During the development of the materials CPSL consulted children, who told us the most important part of the process is making sure adults have these conversations with children.

Catholic Professional Standards Limited (CPSL) has today published its first audit report of a Church entity that is subject to the National Catholic Safeguarding Standards (NCSS).

The Presentation Sisters of Wagga Wagga (PSWW) is the first church entity to be audited under the NCSS.

CPSL has made 12 recommendations to PSWW to strengthen its safeguarding practices as a result of the audit fieldwork which was conducted in April 2019.

Recommendations are classified according to priority and urgency for remediation – there are no priority one (critical/urgent) recommendations arising from the audit of PSWW.

The past month has again been busy, with the highlight being a very well-received workshop on Safeguarding in International Contexts with Fr Hans Zollner SJ as keynote speaker.  You can read all about the workshop in this edition.

 Child protection expert Fr. Hans Zollner SJ urges Catholics to make safeguarding children and vulnerable people in the Church a core part of their ministry

It has once again been a busy month, its high point marked by the launch of edition one of the National Catholic Safeguarding Standards at the end of May. The CPSL team has continued to work with an increasing number of Catholic organisations and ministries to increase awareness, understanding and improve safeguarding practices.  

The launch of the historic National Catholic Safeguarding Standards has garnered international attention. See the international media coverage here.

The National Catholic Safeguarding Standards (NCSS) have been published. Have a look at some of the local coverage of the NCSS here.

Catholic Professional Standards Limited has released the historic National Catholic Safeguarding Standards following the recommendations of the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse.  

Catholic Professional Standards Limited has released the historic National Catholic Safeguarding Standards in response to the recommendations of the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse.

Source:  The Tablet

The Australian Catholic Church is looking for more collegial models of governance in Catholic schools, hospitals and charities as it conducts an unprecedented review of existing clerical and hierarchical models that have failed dioceses and parishes during the ongoing child sex abuse crisis.

It has been a busy month on the road for the CPSL team, with more than 50 Church Authorities who are beginning the process of scoping and signing up for an audit of their safeguarding practices. 

Catholic Professional Standards Limited CEO Sheree Limbrick has been appointed to the Child Safe Sectors Leadership Group set up to provide sector advice to the Federal Government through the National Office for Child Safety.

CPSL has released learnings from four pilot audits conducted in 2018 to test the CPSL audit approach and methodology and identify gaps between the evolving NCSS indicators and criteria and their practical application.

Catholic Professional Standards Limited has released learnings from four pilot audits conducted in 2018 to test the CPSL audit approach and methodology.  

A second draft of the National Catholic Safeguarding Standards has been released prior to final adoption.

The second draft of the Standards is now available on CPSL's website. It was provided to the November plenary meeting of the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference and to Catholic Religious Australia for their consideration.  CPSL is now working with ACBC and CRA to finalise the Standards. Importantly, a comprehensive range of materials have also been published to support the implementation of the Standards. 

Catholic Professional Standards Ltd welcomes the release of the National Principles for Child Safe Organisations by the National Office of Child Safety following the endorsement of all states and territories at today’s COAG meeting.

CPSL CEO Sheree Limbrick said the new National Principles will help ensure a consistent approach to policy and procedures across every jurisdiction in Australia.

CPSL is pleased to open registrations for workshops - Applying the National Catholic Safeguarding Standards

Source:  Melbourne Catholic

CPSL has released a comprehensive learning and development strategy to help Church leaders and their staff better understand and implement their responsibilities under the National Catholic Safeguarding Standards.

CPSL is pleased to open registrations for the National Catholic Safeguarding Standards Introductory Session for Leaders.

As we emerge from the holiday season, we anticipate a busy year ahead.

The National Catholic Safeguarding Standards are due for release in the very near future.

CPSL has released a comprehensive learning and development strategy to help Church leaders and their staff better understand and implement their responsibilities under the National Catholic Safeguarding Standards.

CPSL CEO Sheree Limbrick said the strategy was developed after consultation with Church leaders and personnel, survivors and their advocates, other experts and statutory authorities.

Yarra Theological Union is holding a conference on Church governance on Saturday 2 - Sunday 3 March 2019.  Keynote speakers for the conference include:

• Robert Fitzgerald AM, Commissioner on the recent Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse
• Susan Pascoe AM, foundation Commissioner for the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission, and
• Sheree Limbrick, inaugural Chief Executive Officer of the Catholic Professional Standards Ltd.

It has been an exciting time at CPSL, having held our first ever training session for Church leaders in December as we head towards the end of CPSL's first full calender year of operation.

In this edition you will hear from our CEO Sheree Limbrick, and about the finalizing of the National Catholic Safeguarding Standards as we prepare for a busy 2019.

CPSL has released its 2017-18 Annual Report, which marks the first full year of operation of the company since the appointment of inaugural chief executive officer, Sheree Limbrick, in July 2017.

In a year characterised by rapid development, robust engagement and shared expertise, Catholic Professional Standards Ltd is poised to publish the first edition of the National Catholic Safeguarding Standards by the end of the year.

The release today of CPSL’s 2017-18 Annual Report marks the first full year of operation of the company since the appointment of inaugural CEO, Sheree Limbrick in July 2017.

Robert Fitzgerald in conversation with Geraldine Doogue: Emerging issues for the Catholic Church

Robert Fitzgerald in conversation with Geraldine Doogue: Emerging issues for the Catholic Church

Robert Fitzgerald in conversation with Geraldine Doogue: Emerging issues for the Catholic Church

Robert Fitzgerald in conversation with Geraldine Doogue: Emerging issues for the Catholic Church

Robert Fitzgerald in conversation with Geraldine Doogue: Emerging issues for the Catholic Church

Robert Fitzgerald in conversation with Geraldine Doogue: Emerging issues for the Catholic Church

Robert Fitzgerald in conversation with Geraldine Doogue: Emerging issues for the Catholic Church

Robert Fitzgerald in conversation with Geraldine Doogue: Emerging issues for the Catholic Church

Source: Crux

Author: Claire Giangravè

An Italian priest on the front lines of the fight against sexual abuse, and a member of a commission that shortly will be producing the Italian bishops’ new guidelines for safeguarding children, said he’s optimistic about the handling of abuse cases on the peninsula.

Australia's Catholic bishops and religious orders have welcomed Prime Minister Scott Morrison's National Apology to victims and survivors of institutional child sexual abuse at Parliament House in Canberra on 22 October.

Catholic Professional Standards Limited (CPSL) has welcomed the National Apology to victims and survivors of institutional child sexual abuse delivered by the Prime Minister in Canberra today.

CPSL CEO Sheree Limbrick said the apology is an essential landmark in Australia’s shameful history of crimes committed against children in Australian institutions.

Now the nationwide consultations are complete, the CPSL team has been working hard to incorporate the feedback into the Standards as well as undertaking pilot audits to test the key elements of the audit design.

I hope you find this edition of our newsletter informative as we progress ever closer to the release of the National Catholic Safeguarding Standards.

As part of its commitment to Child Protection Week, Catholic Professional Standards Ltd has released feedback on the draft National Catholic Safeguarding Standards ahead of the historic release of the Standards by CPSL later this year.

Catholic Professional Standards Ltd welcomes the release today of the Catholic Church's response to the final report of the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse released in December last year. 

At its meeting on Friday 20 July, the Board of CPSL discussed the recent conviction of the Archbishop of Adelaide.  In light of the purpose for which CPSL has been established, the Board decided to issue a statement concerning the course to be adopted when a Church leader is convicted of a criminal offence.

More than 450 people have taken part in 16 consultation sessions held around Australia to hear responses and gather input into the draft National Catholic Safeguarding Standards.

Following a consultation with survivors of child sexual abuse, their families and advocates in Newcastle yesterday, the Chair of Catholic Professional Standards Limited (CPSL), Geoff Giudice AO, has reiterated the company’s independence.

Source: ABC Radio Newcastle Breakfast Program             ABC Newcastle Breakfast presenter, Garth Russell, met with Kate Eversteyn, CPSL's Director of Safeguarding at the conclusion of CPSL's consultation with Church abuse survivors, their families and advocates in Newcastle City Hall on Monday 2 July. 

Source: CathNews                  

An expert in the theology of childhood says the Church must better understand children in order to develop appropriate strategies for their care.

Source: ABC Radio Newcastle Mornings Program 

CPSL hosted a forum with survivors of Church sexual abuse, their families and advocates in Newcastle City Hall on Monday 2 July.  Prominent sexual abuse survivors from the Hunter region queried the independence and role of CPSL in relation to the Catholic Church.

Source: ABC Newcastle news online                               

Prominent Hunter Valley clerical abuse survivors will boycott a Catholic safeguarding standards forum, saying it is a sham that lacks independence.  A consultation forum will be held in Newcastle today as part of an Australia-wide engagement with survivors of child sexual abuse, advocates, Catholic Church personnel and others to discuss draft national Catholic safeguarding standards.

One of Australia’s leading experts on the theology of childhood has told a meeting in Adelaide that to develop and advance appropriate cultures for the care of children the Church must better understand children as competent and accomplished beings.

Source: Newcastle Herald                                    

Catholic Professional Standards Ltd, tasked with establishing professional standards to protect children, has invited Hunter child sex survivors and advocates to discuss new draft standards at a meeting in Newcastle.

Two consultation forums will be held in Perth on Wednesday 27 June as part of an Australia-wide engagement with survivors of child sexual abuse, advocates, Catholic Church personnel and others to discuss draft National Catholic Safeguarding Standards.

More than 160 members of Catholic Religious Australia (CRA) attended a consultation workshop on the Church’s draft National Catholic Safeguarding Standards as part of CRA’s National Assembly.

From 18-21 June 2018, nearly 70 delegates of bishops conferences and conferences of religious major superiors gathered at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome for the fifteenth consecutive Anglophone Safeguarding Conference.  The conference, which was jointly organised this year by the episcopal conferences of Australia and Papua New Guinea-Solomon Islands, and the Centre for Child Protection at the Gregorian University, considered the theme "Culture: An enabler or barrier to safeguarding".

Western Australian survivors of child sexual abuse in the Catholic Church and their advocates will have the opportunity next week to discuss the development of new safeguarding standards for children in church institutions including schools and parishes.

Held at the Darwin Convention Centre, clergy, religious, Catholic Education and St Vincent de Paul Society representatives travelled from all over the Northern Territory to hear how the new standards are being developed and how they will work in Catholic organisations.

Video Message Chair Catholic Professional Standards Ltd

The Hon Geoff Giudice AO

Chair Catholic Professional Standards Ltd

The first week of Catholic Professional Standard’s nation-wide consultation on new church child safeguarding standards has finished with 80 people attending sessions in Hobart, Ballarat and Melbourne.

Consultation forums will be held in Hobart tomorrow (13 June) as part of an Australia-wide engagement with survivors of child sexual abuse, advocates, Catholic church personnel and others to discuss new safeguarding standards for children in church institutions including schools and parishes.

Church leaders in Hobart, Melbourne and Darwin wanting to be part of the CPSL stakeholder consultations to discuss the implementation of draft National Catholic Safeguarding Standards have until Monday 4 June to register.

Source: The Record

CPSL Chair Hon Geoff Giudice is making a sustained effort to create and maintain a culture of safety and care within the Catholic Church.

The Catholic Church’s new child safeguarding organisation, Catholic Professional Standards Ltd (CPSL) recently met with Catholic School Parents Australia (CSPA) as part of its Australia-wide consultation on new child safeguarding standards for the Catholic Church.

The Catholic Church’s new child safeguarding organisation, Catholic Professional Standards Ltd (CPSL) has met with three significant groups over the past week as it continues its Australia-wide consultation on new child safeguarding standards for the Catholic Church.

Source: Catholic Outlook

The Catholic Church's new child safeguarding organisation, Catholic Professional Standards Ltd (CPSL) has met with three significant groups over the past week as it continues its Australian-wide consultation on new child safeguarding standards for the Catholic Church.

We have been very busy in the past month and pleased to say the release of the draft Standards has been met with a very enthusiastic response from a wide range of individuals and groups - every contribution will enrich and strengthen our work.

In this edition you will read more details about our consultation process and development work.

CPSL invite you to a forum to share your views on the draft National Catholic Safeguarding Standards. The 10 Standards provide the framework for Catholic Church organisations to build child-safe cultures and to improve the safety of children across the Catholic Church in Australia.

Source: The Southern Cross

The Adelaide Archdiocese has participated in a pilot audit of child protection policies and practices by the new national safeguarding body, Catholic Professional Standards Ltd (CPSL).

The Hon. Geoff Giudice, Chair of the Catholic Church’s new safeguarding body, Catholic Professional Standards Ltd (CPSL), has told a meeting of Australian Bishops that one of the key challenges for the Church and for CPSL over the next few years will be to maintain the momentum created by the Royal Commission.

Source: Catholic Leader

Dioceses, congregations and parishioners will all be able to have their say about the Catholic Church’s draft national standards to safeguard children and vulnerable adults.

Source: ACBC/CRA

The Australian Catholic Bishops Conference and Catholic Religious Australia have established a new advisory group that will play a crucial role in influencing and monitoring the Catholic Church's ongoing response to the child sexual abuse scandal.

Ms Sheree Limbrick, head of the Catholic Church’s new safeguarding body, Catholic Professional Standards Ltd (CPSL), has told teachers, principals and others in Cairns on the weekend that while Catholic schools are further advanced in establishing safeguarding practices for children, there is always more that can be done.

Source: CathNews

The Church’s new safeguarding body will today release draft standards that will support the Church's work in providing safe places for children and vulnerable adults.

In the second edition of our newsletter you will find exciting news about the release of our draft National Catholic Safeguarding Standards and how you and others can provide us with feedback, you'll meet new members of our team, and we are launching our new website which we hope you find informative and useful. 

The Catholic Church’s new safeguarding body has today released the draft National Catholic Safeguarding Standards which will be used to gauge the capacity of the Catholic Church to provide safe places for children and vulnerable adults.

Source: Hope Radio

For five years, as the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Abuse revealed the horrific details of child sexual abuse in Catholic parishes, schools, children’s homes and other places, Catholics and the broader community slowly came to understand the true extent of the failings of past leaders.

Ms Sheree Limbrick, head of the Catholic Church’s new safeguarding body, has told more than 85 members of the Toowoomba diocese’s clergy, religious and lay leadership that protecting children from danger in Church environments must be at the very centre of the Church’s mission.

Sheree Limbrick, CEO of Catholic Professional Standards Ltd, in her presentation at the national Catholic Social Services conference, Hearing Healing Hope, outlined the work of the new organisation in protecting children within Catholic organisations, schools and churches.

As part of the Year of Youth, the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference Office for Youth is hosting a series of webinars for leaders of youth ministry across Australia.  Sheree Limbrick, CEO of CPSL was the guest on the first webinar in February and was invited to help participants 'unpack' the Final Report of the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse which was published in December 2017.

The CEO of the Catholic Church’s new child protection standards organisation, Catholic Professional Standards (CPSL), Ms Sheree Limbrick, has welcomed the announcement over the weekend that child sexual abuse survivors will have a greater say on the Pope’s Pontifical Commission on clergy sexual abuse.

Two senior members of the Catholic Church’s National Office for Professional Standards have joined the team at Catholic Professional Standards Ltd, focusing on providing support and advice to Church leaders and entities in the vital areas of safeguarding children and vulnerable adults.

Welcome to the first edition of the CPSL e-newsletter.  Through this newsletter, our website and engaging with both the Catholic and secular media, we will work hard to ensure you are kept up to date with what we are learning and how we can improve practices and cultures to safeguard children and vulnerable adults.

The seven-member board of the Catholic Church’s new child and vulnerable person standards setting, auditing and reporting organisation is now fully in place and pushing forward with the development of a major new approach to the way in which the Church ensures everyone who comes in contact with any of its ministries is as safe as possible.

Ms Sheree Limbrick, head of the Catholic Church’s new professional standards watchdog, met with senior church leaders in Darwin earlier this week to discuss the new standards setting, auditing and reporting agency recently established to strengthen child protection and safety for vulnerable people in Church organisations.

One of Queensland’s leading educators has been appointed to the Catholic Church’s new, independent, child protection standards setting, auditing and reporting organisation.

One of Western Australia’s leading former public servants and administrators has been appointed to the Catholic Church’s new, independent, child protection standards setting, auditing and reporting organisation.

Catholic Professional Standards Limited (CPSL), a new, independent, child protection standards setting body for the Catholic Church, has welcomed the release of the final report from the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse.

The CEO of the Catholic Church’s new professional standards watchdog, Ms Sheree Limbrick, recently meet with senior Church leaders in Adelaide ahead of the roll out of the Church’s new standard setting, auditing and reporting agency.

Members of Catholic Professional Standards Limited (CPS) today announced the appointment of Professor The Hon Michael Lavarch AO and Dr Robyn Miller PhD as Directors of the Company.

The Board of Catholic Professional Standards Limited (CPS) today announced the appointment of Ms Sheree Limbrick as the inaugural Chief Executive Officer of the Company.

A new independent company to be established by the Catholic Church to develop, audit and report on compliance with professional standards to protect children and vulnerable people was announced today by church leaders.