Vicars to be vetted ..New laws on working with children...

smiddy

This article appeared on friday may 9, 2014 in the Herald Sun newspaper in Victoria Australia.

Matt Johnston is a State Politics Reporter.

Quote :" All religous ministers will need Working With Children Checks and a new system will be created for organisations to report alleged child abuse,under a $ 10 million state Government reform."

Premier Denis napthine revealed the new measures,a further response to the State parliments`s child abuse inquiry report,Betrayal Of Trust .

"Many ordinary parish based ministers may not have required a WWC check.Under this rule , every minister for religion who has any contact with children will require such a check ," he said.

Opposition community services spokeswoman Jenny Mikakos called for the government to move quicker to "address the issues identified"

My concern is, will the Watchtower org./Jehovahs Witnesses /JW.ORG. / IBSA ,or whatever else they want to call themselves try to find a loophole to get around this new law.

Will they try to exploit this by saying they do not employ people who go door to door with their publications ,bibles , etc. they are all volunteers and do not represent any of their corporations.

I appeal to every australian on this site and encourage the message to be sent to any other site to make sure that EVERY baptised publisher who they claim is a" minister of religion ", regardless of age or gender , must obtain a "Working With Children Check"

It costs approximately $80.00 to get a police check.Their is no way the congregations are going to pay that for every individual ,and I think a lot of the publishers will have second thoughts about paying that also .

So please get in touch with [email protected] and also Jenny Mikakos , and Denis Naphthine in the Victorian Government.

Maybe it wouldnt hurt to have some submissions from outside australia to empathise the extent of child abuse that goes on in the Jehovahs Witness religion .

smiddy

Of course its not only Jehovahs Witnesses who peddle their religion from door to door , the others that come to mind are the Seventh Day Adventists and of course the Church Of Jesus Christ Of The Latter Day Saints , and from time to time their may be Baptists , and a few other religions that do it on an irregular basis.However if they approach your front door and you have children ,then they have to have a working with children check ,as stated in law. And their are or were discrepancies . Door to door salesman , Carpet layers , etc. have had to get WWC checks simply because they might be their when children are present.

So why are people who claim to be religous, exempt.?

Havent they been the most culpable of all people ?

smiddy

sparrowdown

Around the time this inquiry into child abuse began in Aus, our kingdom hall along with

others in the area, removed the words Theocratic Ministry School from the KH signage.

The new sign just uses the word meeting.

At the time I felt like it was'nt a coincidence as there was a very public, ongoing issue

with children being enrolled in a "school" and the definition of a "school".

Since any "school"where children are enrolled has to follow strict guidelines re child safety etc,

with background checks of anyone in charge of kids.

I saw changing the signage as a way of avoiding the legal implications of calling something a "school". Sneaky bastards.

smiddy

Around the time this inquiry into child abuse began in Aus, our kingdom hall along with

others in the area, removed the words Theocratic Ministry School from the KH signage

. I saw changing the signage as a way of avoiding the legal implications of calling something a "school". Sneaky bastards.

It makes you wonder about the mentality of those who make these changes trying to avoid culpability and incrimination doesnt it ?

smiddy

zebagain

I have just sent off a letter of congratulations to the premier of Victoria MrNapthine and fore warning him of some of the tricks he is likely to encounter.

Friends out there, do the same and it would be of great value if people from other countries emailed Premier Napthine (google for the address) with your own local experiences.

This is not an Australian thing it is world wide as we all know and have read many times. Speak up! the innocence of abused children demands it.

cultBgone

saving this

smiddy

jonahstourguide

Hey smiddy,

I've read the actual recommendations on this that are in place. An elder stated to me that

only appointed men were to get the wwcc. However the statutes require that volunteers

of any nature require one if there is a possibility of coming into unsupervised contact with children.

i.e. at the door, bible studies with minors etc. The statutes clearly name religious volunteers among others.

The card looks similar to the drivers licence and if you get the card for volunteering it has a V noted on it.

From memory I believe the volunteer wwcc cost is minimal and on the back of the card it states -

"The person identified on this card has passed a working with children check".

Followed by- "This card cannot be used to engage in child related work for profit or gain"

If you undertake employment you need to contact the authority and advise them of your employers details

and I believe the higher fee of $80.00 applies. It's issued by the Department Of Justice, Victoria.

The jw's are sticking their head in the sand on this one mate. Bottom line,,,,if you're a member of

a religious org. and you bang on doors you need one.

Just like when the do not knock stickers appeared,,,, The law clearly states that if the sticker does not

specify salespeople then the house holder has withdrawn the implied licence for you to knock, ( so piss off!!!!)

Then the aus branch eventually issued the letter basically stating the above, something like "respect the hh wishes"

The important thing is that reporting is now mandatory, (I'll have to double check,) and otoole and van wik (wt lawyers)

both said to the commission that if reporting abuse was mandatory then jw ministers would report it to the authorities.

jtg

Listener

The WWC is free for volunteers. The requirements for obtaining one is not the same in every state in relation to religious volunteers. The WTBTS in Victoria only started complying to some degree after the efforts of a hardworking guy called Steven Unthank. His efforts appear to have had the direct effect of the Kingdom Halls changing their signs to remove the Ministry School wording.

Fortunately it also resulted in the organization advising Elders to apply for a WWC card, at least in Victoria. As to how the Branch Office monitors this, or anyone else for that matter, is unknown.

jonahstourguide

THanks Listener, it was the 14 bucks for the passport pics,,, now i remember!

jtg

Vicars to be vetted ..New laws on working with children...

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