PURPOSE

In the work undertaken within the Catholic Church in Aotearoa New Zealand, trust is placed in people (clergy, religious, employees and volunteers) to provide support and assistance to children and vulnerable adults. The purpose of these procedural recommendations is to minimise the likelihood of all people, but, particularly members of society, being put at risk by individuals who may have displayed behaviour that could be detrimental to others’ safety and wellbeing,

 

Safety Checking includes Police Vetting or Ministry of Justice (MOJ) checking, role dependent, and is part of the Church's nation-wide efforts to ensure our church is a safe place for children, young people, vulnerable adults and volunteers.

 

Safety Checking Certification ensures alignment with the expectations set out by the Children’s Act, 2014.

​

The key components to Safety Checking Certification are:  

 

Character Checking: Ask the volunteer to identify at least one person who can vouch for them as part of a character check.  Use the Character Check form as a guide - see New Volunteers on the home page.   

​

​Police Vetting: For Church roles that include children, complete a NZ Police Vetting and Consent Form.  This is then processed by the Catholic Diocese as the authorised vetting agency.

​

Ministry of Justice Checks -   For Church roles including vulnerable adults and/or other high trust Church roles.  See below guide on "How to conduct an MOJ check". 

​

​If a person provides evidence of a current police vet through any other organisation, this is not valid in terms of the work that the person undertakes on behalf of the church. The police vet from one agency is not transferable to another.  

 

 Every three years a fresh police vet or Ministry of Justice check  including an identity check must be completed

         Police Vetting Q&A and relevant forms can be viewed and downloaded below.

​​

PRIVACY STATEMENT

Strict procedures are in place to protect the privacy of those being vetted and MOJ checked.  Such information will only be accessed by those responsible for the management of the parish/catholic entity and the Christchurch Diocese Safeguarding Programme.  Personal information will not be disclosed to third parties unless required by law.  Individuals whose personal information the parish and diocese hold have the right to ask for a copy, and request correction if they think it is wrong. In all cases the Privacy Act (2020) will be observed.

The Diocesan Police Vetting Administrator receives the vetting report from the police.  Any results go to the Diocesan Safeguarding Officer and the appointed person within the parish or community for consideration.  

​For further information regarding this process please visit the NZ Police website.