Safeguarding Essentials online training module for clergy, parish staff and volunteers
Safeguarding Essentials is a 30-60 minute online training module for all clergy, parish staff and volunteers within the Catholic Archdiocese of Melbourne. This accessible and engaging online resource provides clergy, parish staff and volunteers with foundational knowledge in relation to safeguarding children, young people and vulnerable persons from abuse and harm.
Clergy and parish staff will be required to complete the training on an annual basis.
Volunteers will be required to complete the training every 3 years.
The Safeguarding Children and Young People Code of Conduct has now been embedded into the training module dashboard to be read and signed by each individual. The frequency with which clergy, staff and volunteers are required to sign the Safeguarding Children and Young People Code of Conduct has now been aligned with the renewal timeframe for the Safeguarding Essentials online training module, as noted above.
At the completion of the training:
- participants will receive a certificate of completion accessible via the training module dashboard
- participants will receive email notification that the module has been completed successfully
- participants will receive a reminder email notification when the training is due for renewal in alignment with their renewal timeframe
How to access the training
To access the online training go to: www.safeguarding.melbournecatholic.org
To login, you will need:
- your unique Working with Children Check ID/VIT ID number
- an email address
Upon registration you will be asked to identify your role within the parish i.e. a member of clergy, parish staff or volunteer.
To register:
- clergy will need to select ‘Archdiocese of Melbourne’ from the dropdown menu as their Primary Organisation of Service.
- parish staff will need to select their parish from the dropdown menu as their Primary Organisation of Service.
- volunteers will need to select their parish from the dropdown menu as their Primary Organisation of Service.
Visit our FAQs page to find answers to common questions about the Safeguarding Essentials online training module.
Hosting group training sessions
Parishes who would like to host a group session, only one Working with Children Check ID is necessary to log in, and the person with that ID will receive the certificate of completion.
For the group sessions, parishes are advised to record the following information for each participant:
- first and last name
- WWCC/VIT ID number and expiry date (all details should match exactly what is printed on the card)
- an email address where reminder notifications can be sent (either the volunteer’s email, a care-of address or the parish email address)
- the date on which the certification was obtained.
A PowerPoint version of the online training and an attendance sheet template is now available for parishes to use. Please contact safeguardingunit@cam.org.au or your regional safeguarding officer to obtain a copy.
Please note, the PowerPoint version does not include audio narration, and parishes will be required to facilitate the training.
The PowerPoint version can be saved as a PDF document and distributed to participants as a hard copy, if desired.
Group session records
- Parishes who are using the PACEM system can now manually add Code of Conduct details and Safeguarding Essentials training information into the system themselves. This will be helpful for parishes conducting offline group training sessions.
- Parishes using the PACEM system can also generate their own reports which detail this information. Details on how to generate these reports can be found in our Guidance manual for safeguarding features in PACEM.
- Those parishes who are not using the PACEM system as yet, are still encouraged to share with the Safeguarding Unit any attendance information for clergy, staff and volunteers who have satisfactorily completed any offline group training sessions conducted. The Safeguarding Unit will then work with IT to upload this information into the PACEM system . These parishes will receive a report each quarter from the Safeguarding Unit listing those who have registered for the training and those who have completed the training.
- It is the responsibility of all parishes to follow this training requirement up with their clergy, staff and volunteers.
Please note that the Safeguarding Unit is working closely with the IT team to create a Guidance manual for safeguarding features in PACEM. We will notify parishes when this is available.