Volunteering or working with children – St. Matthew's Anglican Church, Panton Hill

As a Christian community, meeting together to worship God in the name of Jesus Christ, we affirm our commitment to the safety of each child and young person who interacts with our community. God’s word makes it clear that all people are created equal and that any position of power is to be accepted humbly and with the intent of serving others, never to harm them.

Our faith motivates us to love everyone and never to discriminate against anyone, especially on the basis of age, race, gender, language, sexual orientation, disability or family/social background. Therefore, we seek to protect the safety of all young people without exception. We take a zero tolerance approach to child abuse. We want our church to be a place where young people can come to know and experience the love of Jesus and his followers.

You can view the full outline of Anglican Diocese’ Child Safe policies and documents here, this site includes detailed information on Codes of Conduct, Clearances and Safe Ministry Training.

Got a concern about Child Safety at our church? Here’s what to do:

For a more detailed outline of Reporting Procedures please Click Here.

Volunteer requirements

It is a requirement of our Church and the Anglican Diocese of Melbourne that volunteers and lay employees undertake a Clearance for Service. We have made progress in meeting these requirements and now need your help to take the next steps in applying for an Interim Certificate for Clearance. The requirements for volunteers and lay employees have recently changed and it is a requirement that you have a current clearance in order to perform a role, office or position of service.

Besides our moral and social obligations to protect vulnerable people, this is a legislative requirement of the Victorian Government for volunteers and lay employees.

There are three steps to obtain clearance for service:

Register for a WWCC
Complete a Police Check
Apply for an Interim Conditional Clearance for Service

UPDATING OR REGISTERING FOR A WORKING WITH CHILDREN CHECK (WWCC):

Click here to Register for a new WWCC.

Then click the ‘Apply for Check’ button and follow the instructions.

Click here to Update or Renew your WWCC to be registered with St Matthew’s:

Click the “I want to register” button
You’ll be asked for some details to confirm who you are
You’ll get an email to confirm you’re real, follow the link in that email
Login with your email and password
Select “Change my details”.
Scroll down and add the following three organisations: St Matthews Anglican Church Panton Hill, Anglican Diocese of Melbourne, and Kooyoora Office of Professional Standards. You can find the details for each of these on the table below.
Make sure to click submit at the bottom of the page when you’re done!

Do you know which specific organisation(s) you work for	Yes	Yes	Yes
Organisation name	St Matthew’s Anglican Church Panton Hill	Anglican Diocese of Melbourne	Kooyoora Office of Professional Standards for the Diocese of Melbourne
Postal number and street	575 Kangaroo Ground -St Andrews Road	209 Flinders Lane	PO Box 329
Postal Address Line 2
Suburb	Panton Hill	Melbourne	Canterbury
State	Victoria	Victoria	Victoria
Postcode	3759	3000	3126
Phone	0403660776	03 9653 4220	03 9416 1008
Occupational work code	64 – Religious organisation	64 – Religious organisation	64 – Religious organisation

St Matthew’s will be posted a copy of your WWCC once it has been approved. This copy will be put on confidential file for record-keeping.

POLICE/CRIM CHECKS

Please follow the instructions to lodge your national Police History Check online:

Click on this link: https://www.crimcheck.org.au/check/PantonHillStAndrews
Fill in the details.
Once you have completed the form and clicked submit you will receive an email from CrimCheck with full details of your check (including a list to help you understand what documents constitute Proof of ID).
You will need to obtain copies of your Proof of ID – these documents provided must consist of:
1 x Commencement Identity Document (eg: passport)
1 xPrimary Community Document (eg: driver’s licence)
2 x Secondary Community Documents (eg: medicare card & credit/debit card)
Our Child Safety Officer will need to sight these within 10 days of you completing the check online. Please scan and email your Identity Documents to markjsells@gmail.com Alternatively you can show your Identity Documents to Mark in person. Note: During COVID-19 restrictions documents must be delivered electronically.
As soon as the check is resolved it will be emailed to you.

REQUEST INTERIM CONDITIONAL CLEARANCE FOR SERVICE

Volunteers working with children are also required to obtain a Clearance for Service from Kooyoora. Kooyoora Ltd was incorporated on 12 January 2017 to operate independently of the Anglican Church a process to deal with the complaints against Church workers and to operate a screening regime for participating Anglican dioceses pursuant to the Professional Standards Uniform Act 2016of those dioceses. Kooyoora Ltd is an independent Professional Standards company which undertakes Professional Standards work for not for profit charitable entities. More information about Kooyoora is available here.

To request an Interim Conditional Clearance for Service email Kooyoora using the following templated link: (make sure you adjust the email with your details where marked with XXXX, or delete sections not applicable)

Send Email

If the link doesn’t work for you, send an email using the following template:

To: service@kooyoora.org.au
CC: stmattspantonhill@gmail.com
Subject: Application for Interim Conditional Clearance Certificate
To Kooyoora

My name is XXXX and I am (Insert church role/office e.g. Churchwarden) at St Matthews Panton Hill. My vicar’s name is Rev. Rod McArdle and their email address is cc’d into this email. I have previously been known by the following names, XXXX. I would like to apply for an Interim Conditional Clearance Certificate and have attached a copy of my Working With Children Check/VIT Card (if applicable) and my Police Check.

I last attended the Diocese’s Professional Standards and Child Safe Training on (insert date) or commit to do so within nine months of this email.

During the past 10 years I have/have not lived, worked or travelled in another country other than Australia for longer than 12 months. If applicable, state the country/countries other than Australia that you have lived, worked or travelled in for more than 12 months: XXXX

SAFE MINISTRY TRAINING:

Our volunteers and employees must complete the online training appropriate to their role.

Level 1: Everyone
Level 2: Those working specifically with children and youth
Level 3: Senior leaders (e.g. staff, program coordinators, Parish Council Members)

If you are unsure if you need to do level 2 or 3 training, please ask the Vicar or Child Safety Officer .

There is a small cost involved for each training module. If you are able to pay that cost yourself then please do, with our thanks. If you are unable to cover the cost, please contact your team leader or our office and we will assist you. We do not want the fee to be a barrier to anyone being trained!

Click here to see the Safe Ministry Training webpage. There you will find more detail on each module and links to complete the training in your own time.