by Liz Hogarth
The Anglican Church of Australia’s Child Protection Committee has released a long awaited draft code of professional ethics for clergy and lay workers.
The code, released last month, gives detailed guidelines on sexual and other behaviour. It is aimed primarily at church workers, but also at congregations and the wider Anglican community.
The code bans all sexual conduct with a child or young person and also outlaws any form of sexual expression within an adult pastoral relationship. It gives direct and specific advice on how to protect young people and those supervising them. For example, a minimum ratio of one leader to ten children for activities on church premises is recommended, and at least one church worker should be of the same gender as those in the group.
The code encourages church workers to maintain a healthy lifestyle with adequate time for leisure and other interests.
“One of the principle aims of the Code is to rebuild trust within the community,” said the Chairman of the Committee, Sydney Senior Counsel, Garth Blake.
Mr Blake hopes to see the Code adopted by all 23 dioceses in Australia so that there will be national standards governing the professional ministry of church workers. He claimed dioceses like Sydney, which already have a child protection code in operation, should still implement the new Code because it is more ‘extensive’. “I don’t think the general public distinguishes between dioceses,” he said. “So we need a set of benchmarks across the nation. We are only as good as the weakest member.”
The five person Committee responsible for the draft will now hold meetings in every state capital and some regional centres over the next two months, inviting comment from anyone interested. It is hoped the Code will be presented to the General Synod in October 2004.
“It is quite genuinely a consultation,” said Philip Gerber, a member of the Committee and director of the Professional Standards Unit in Sydney Diocese. “We do want to get a feel for whether it’s going to be acceptable to people in all the dioceses around the country.”
The consultation in Sydney will take place at St Andrew’s House, Sydney Square, on Saturday August 30 at 10am. Responses can also be sent, by October 17, to codeofethics@anglican.org.au.
