SAFE MINISTRY QUALIFICATIONS
Here at Engadine and Heathcote Anglican Church we are dedicated to ensuring our ministries are safe for both the leaders and participants of all of our ministries. As a result we follow the Safe Ministry Blueprint guidelines regarding safe ministry requirements and only allow people to serve in our ministries after they have met the requirements for the ministry context they are in. For more information on church policies please see safe ministry policies.
In order to be qualified for a ministry position there are 3 different qualifications which are required before the leader can begin serving, some service roles do not require all three qualifications but it is still best practice to get all three, the requirements are:
1) Safe ministry Check (SMC) – The SMC checks whether there has been any previous incidents in ministry that may exclude you from ministry or prohibit certain ministries. It additionally provides an opportunity for you to declare that you will not abuse your leadership position in any way, shape or form.
2) Working with Children’s Check (WWCC) – The WWCC is a government mandated check for those who are over 18 and undergoing any work (including volunteer work) with children.
3) Safe ministry training (SMT) – The SMT equips all leaders in knowing best practice for ministry leadership positions and helps us keep one another accountable and safe in our serving environments. This provides safety training for both the leader and all people being led by them (particularly vulnerable people.) It is best to get the 16 and over Safe ministry training if possible which is accessible to those who are 15 with parental permission.
How to get your SMC
1) When you have 15 minutes go to: https://safeministry.org.au/volunteer-smc/
2) Scroll to the bottom of the page and type in our church ID code:
Our church id is: 70301
3) Click "submit."
4) Fill out the form (10 minutes.)
5) Dan Bishop will be notified when it's complete - he will then arrange a time for a ministry staff member to follow up to chat and to clarify if you have any questions (this meeting is usually in combination with SMT and WWCC so that there’s only one meeting rather than multiple.)
How to get your WWCC
Only those over 18 years old are required to get a WWCC. For those under 18 they must get a WWCC when they turn 18.
1) Go to https://www.service.nsw.gov.au/transaction/apply-working-children-check
2) Read the details on the page ensuring you have all of the required documentation necessary to fill out the application on hand.
3) Click “apply online.”
4) Fill out the application (10 minutes.)
5) Please send the information regarding your WWCC number, expiry date etc to eac@eac.org.au so the church can process the WWCC.
How to get your SMT certificate
1) Go to https://safeministry.training/create-account/ and either login to an existing account or create an account.
2) Once your account has been created, go to the below URL and login. https://courses.safeministry.training/login/
3) Hover the mouse over the drop down menu labelled “Training info & Enrol” then click “Enrol in online courses” from the drop down menu.
4) Select the “Essentials” course by clicking on it.
5) Select Anglican for “denomination” then select “Enrol now” (Note: This course costs money – if you would like financial support please contact Dan Bishop as he would never want financial reasons to stop someone from serving in ministry.)
6) Input your payment information then click “Complete payment now.” You have now enrolled and will be emailed further instructions on how to complete the course. The course is in two phases:
PHASE ONE
Phase one is completing the SMT content within 3 weeks. The content itself usually 2-3 hours only to complete and is done by:
a) Logging into your account.
b) Hovering over the drop down menu labelled “Dashboards” and selecting “my course dashboard” and going through all the material in order for the safe ministry training.
PHASE TWO
After completing the SMT content (Phase one), you must register and attend a “Live webinar” – (they will email you instructions on how to do this.)
Upon completing the webinar successfully you will be emailed your Safe ministry training certificate. Please forward the certificate to eac@eac.org.au for our administration staff to process.