Structures and personnel

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1. The Australian Catholic Bishops' Conference and the Australian Conference of Leaders of Religious Institutes have jointly established a National Committee for Professional Standards (National Committee) to oversee the development of policy, principles and procedures in responding to complaints of abuse against Church personnel.
2. The bishops and leaders of religious institutes of the Catholic Church in Australia have established and shall maintain a Professional Standards Resource Group (Resource Group) in each State and the Northern Territory.
1. The Resource Group shall consist of at least one priest and one religious and a suitable number of other persons (no more than ten), both men and women, of diverse backgrounds, skilled in areas such as child protection, the social sciences, civil and Church law and industrial relations. Members of the Resource Group shall be appointed by the bishops and leaders of religious institutes.
2. The Resource Group shall act as adviser to all Church bodies in the State in matters concerning professional standards.
3. In addition to responding to requests for assistance, the Resource Group shall also act in a proactive manner. It shall be free to offer advice within its mandate to any Church body in the State as it sees fit.
3. The bishops and leaders of religious institutes for each State shall jointly be responsible for appointing a Director of Professional Standards in each State.
1. The Director shall manage the process in relation to specific complaints, appoint assessors, facilitators and reviewers when required, convene and chair meetings of the Professional Standards Resource Group as required; liaise with the National Committee, other Resource Groups, and individual Church bodies and their professional advisers; have an overview of all matters dealt with under these procedures within their State; and be responsible for the safe keeping of all documentation connected with these procedures.
2. The bishops and leaders of religious institutes for each State may nominate a Deputy Director who may exercise any of the responsibilities which are delegated to him or her by the Director.
4. Each Resource Group shall appoint suitable persons from among its own members or otherwise, to be available to fulfill the following roles:
1. CONTACT PERSONS, who shall be the usual persons to receive complaints of abuse and pass them on to the Director of Professional Standards. Contact persons shall be skilled listeners, sensitive to the needs of complainants. After the initial complaint has been received, they may act as a support person for the complainant and may assist, where appropriate, with communication between the complainant, assessors and the Church authority. The contact person is not a counsellor to the complainant and shall not be the complainant's therapist.
2. ACCUSED'S SUPPORT PERSONS, who shall represent the needs of the accused to the Church authority and assist, where appropriate, with the care of the accused and with communication between the accused, assessors and the Church authority. The accused's support person shall not be the accused's therapist.
5. Each Resource Group shall maintain a list of suitable persons, not from its own members, to fulfill the following roles:
1. ASSESSORS, who shall be responsible for investigating the complaint.
2. FACILITATORS, who shall facilitate processes by which agreements may be reached between a victim and the Church authority about what the Church body can and should do to assist the victim.
3. REVIEWERS, who shall, where appropriate, conduct a review of process. Reviewers must be independent and impartial. They should not have close associations either with the complainant or with the Church authority responsible for dealing with the complaint.
6. All members of the Resource Group shall abide by the highest possible standards of professional conduct in all aspects of their work, including the maintenance of confidentiality.
7. The Group shall act in an advisory capacity to the Director of Professional Standards concerning any aspect of his or her work.

Sponsor

National Committee for Professional Standards

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