Archdeacon Sue Fordyce took what was tabled as Motion 6 to update Synod on the work of the Royal Commission of Inquiry on Abuse in Care, which includes faith-based organisations.

She noted that since 2018 there have been a number of actions by the Commission, including public and private hearings and personal submissions. Their latest report is sobering. The Commission have viewed over a million evidential documents. They believe the scale of abuse is far greater than anyone thought. At this stage they have identified around 250,000 survivors of abuse, and believe this is only a fraction of the real total.  

The most recent hearings came from Pasefika voices, and unfortunately during this lockdown period we are still waiting to hear Maori voices. We may in the future also have faith-based boarding school hearings. The final report is at this stage scheduled to come out in mid-June 2023, so there is still a way to go in this process.

Our posture as a Diocese throughout this is to support this work completely. We want the light to shine. The gospel imperative is that all are made in God’s image, and all should be safe in our churches and amongst our people.

Archdeacon Sue then went on to outline the Sacred Spaces, Safe People training which is now being rolled out across the Diocese. During November, parishes are expected to: 

1. Play this video to every congregation and formal group or gathering led by the parish. The expectation is that every person who is a member of our parishes will understand what abuse is and what to do about it.

2. Print off copies of the Diocesan Safety Poster. This is to be put up in every church building, including halls and other common areas. We also ask that you put copies on the back doors of toilets so that those who wish to access information in private may do so safely.

The video and the poster can be downloaded from the Movement website.

Sue also summarised what the further next steps will be:

1.  A 1-hour training resource will be released by the end of 2021 for use at the start of 2022. It contains:

• An explanation to the 8 Safety Principles which we will be using as a framework to speak about safety from abuse in this Diocese, train our people about safety, and plan for the safety of our people and sacred spaces; and

• Specific training about how to respond to a disclosure of abuse.

Each leader is asked to use this training video to train every person who is in ministry to adults in your mission unit or ministry. There will be a short additional video/package which will equip your mission unit key leader to plan and deliver that training. There are also pamphlets about the Safety Principles and Responding to Disclosures which will be made available in the same ways as this year’s material.

2. There will be a further 1-hour training resource for use in 2023 which will focus on visibility in ministry settings, boundaries training, and equipping us to recruit for our teams with safety from abuse in mind.

That will complete a 2-year cycle of training which we can then continue to deliver 2-yearly across the Diocese which focuses on protecting our people from abuse. That training in turn forms part of the bigger picture of our overall commitment to safety across all aspects of our life together as a Diocese.

Sue noted that this training is specifically designed for supporting safe practices for adults within our parishes and mission units, and for outlining the broad principles of care that we aim for. It sits alongside the specialist training already on offer for teams working in with children and young people.

As Sue finished her presentation, Reverend Jess Falconer (Parish of Ōtaki) prayed that we would be the fullstop, and that no future generations will ever suffer abuse at the hands of the church.