Community Engagement and Education Officer – Office for Safeguarding
About the Position:
The primary purpose of the Community Engagement and Education Officer is to build capacity, create networks both internal and external to the Diocese of Parramatta, to empower Diocesan stakeholders with their safeguarding obligations; the Chancery Office, ministries, clergy, seminary and Parishes (the Chancery). This will include providing and/or creating educational resources, tools and training and enabling collaboration and partnerships in order that stakeholders reflect sound safeguarding practices.
The Role reports to the Diocesan Head of Safeguarding.
Key Responsibilities
The Community Engagement and Education Officer is accountable to the Diocesan Head of Safeguarding for the following:
Key Result Areas:
- Work with community and counterparts across the Diocese.
- Provide advice in safeguarding to all agencies and all Chancery as required.
- Create a blended education and training program (online via a Learning Management System (LMS), interactive webinars and face to face delivery).
- Maintain a support role with religious order personnel, non-Diocesan faith communities operating within the Diocese, private agencies, councils and committees relevant to safeguarding in the Diocese.
- Maintain effective relationships with relevant external authorities and church organisations to carry out the role and services.
- Participate in projects and services as identified by the Diocesan Head of Safeguarding regarding the needs of the Chancery in safeguarding.
- Applying a trauma-informed awareness and approach.
Accountability:
- Foster effective and clear relationships with the Diocesan Head of Safeguarding, and the person or teams responsible for training and parish/ministry Safeguarding representatives, to ensure a consistent approach to safeguarding across Diocesan agencies, ministries and parishes in alignment with the Diocesan Office for Safeguarding Charter (Charter). Including:
- Provide support in policy development;
- Education and training;
- Support in understanding any changes in the safeguarding environment, e.g. legislative, government policy and implementation of Vos Estis Lux Mundi.
- Work cooperatively with members of the Diocesan Safeguarding Executive as they fulfil their responsibility for safeguarding matters in their respective agencies in relation to education and training needs.
- Foster collaboration with the community sector, including but not limited to, child abuse specific organisations e.g. SAMSN, and broker corresponding relationships between Diocesan stakeholder groups.
- Undertake other tasks or duties as required by Diocesan Head of Safeguarding or respective agencies.
Safeguarding & Training:
- Support the Diocesan Head of Safeguarding to ensure effective safeguarding operations across the Diocese by providing support and initiatives to agencies and all chancery in safeguarding as required.
- Create education, training and support modules for a blended learning environment (online – LMS, interactive webinar and face to face).
- Annually, create a calendar of education, training and support.
- Leverage and use, where appropriate, training and resources created outside of Chancery, e.g. Other Diocesan agencies, other Australian Dioceses, NGOs and Government.
- Create and curate a ‘knowledge bank’, including collateral resources to support the empowerment of Diocesan stakeholders to adopt sound safeguarding practices (including from external agencies).
- Maintain the website in collaboration with the Communications Team.
- Ensure currency of all training and resources.
- Oversee the Learning Management System (LMS).
- Engage with Deaneries and Clergy to inspire their leadership in parishes in safeguarding.
- Oversee Diocesan required leadership training on safeguarding for Chancery and agencies including understanding of policies and procedures in safeguarding.
Compliance:
- Develop and administer the points system for safeguarding training.
- Engage with external authorities for training purposes as required such as Office of the Children’s Guardian, NSW Police as well as Church organisations such as the Implementation Group (IAG) or Catholic Professional Standards Limited (CPSL) on safeguarding matters.
- Support and advise all Chancery and agencies to engage in the process for the National Safeguarding Standard Implementation to comply with CPSL and Government standards for children and vulnerable people.
- Advise Diocesan Head of Safeguarding of gaps in safeguarding systems and policies as needed.
- To assist the Head of Safeguarding, diligent use of the TriLine events register and risk register; the events register to track and record workflow and the risk register to monitor impact on the risk profile for the Office for Safeguarding, with regard to education and training, and subsequent safeguarding gaps in the Diocesan community.
- Working with the Head and the Office for Safeguarding team to mitigate and reduce risk in relation to the Risk Register in TriLine, in a whole of office context.
- Supporting the Human Resources team with Working with Children’s Checks (WWCC) and Ministry card administration.
Parish Support:
- Ensure responses to requests from Parishes, ministries and clergy for support in any matters which come within the function of the Community Engagement and Education Officer are responded to with promptness, courtesy and diligence.
- Work collaboratively with the Chancery, Agencies, Parish clergy, employees and volunteers to further the mission of the Bishop.
Join our team!
If you would like more information, a copy of the full job description or to have a confidential chat, please email Ms. Deeanne Martin on parracatholicjobs@parracatholic.org.
