Professional Standards

About us

Caring for one another requires a little effort from us. It's something we need to choose to do. It's love in action. It's what we are called to do as Christians.

The Professional Standards Department was established by the Lutheran Church of Australia (LCA) to assist all those who engage with our church to care for one another. There is a Professional Standards Officer in every district of the LCA, including South Australia and the Northern Territory.

The Professional Standards Department:

Coordinates Safe Church Training
Develops and maintains policies, procedures and other resources relating to appropriate behaviour and safe ministry environments
Will support congregations and ministry groups to implement healthy and safe practices under the Safety Management System
Will give assistance in determining the most suitable steps when a complaint is made to ensure compliance with the biblical principles of reconciliation and the principles of natural justice

View the LCA Professional Standards webpage

View the LCA Policies webpage

LCA Standards of Ethical Behaviour

Information about complaints

LCA Child Safety Standards for congregations

In keeping with the LCA’s strong desire to maximise the safety of children and young people, its commitment to implement the Royal Commission’s recommendations, and in anticipation of future government regulation, the LCA Child Protection Project Team developed the LCA Child Safety Standards for Congregations (the CSS) as a mechanism for implementing the National Principles for Child Safe Organisations.

Following consultation with congregations, the CSS were approved by the General Church Board in October 2021. They will be launched and rolled out in congregations in 2022.

Supporting documentation and more information will be progressively added to the Child Safety Standards page on the LCA website. We recommend that you bookmark this page as the central resource for everything CSS related and become familiar with this material. Share this information with others to spread the word and engage in this strengthening of the LCA Safety Management System.

LCA Safety Management System

Safe people, safe places, safe programs are the key themes of the safety management system that is implemented in every congregation and ministry group in the LCA. This system was designed, and continues to be developed, by ChildSafe Australia. It provides practical and trusted solutions with a focus on keeping children, young people and others in vulnerable circumstances safe in all programs and activities run in our church. Please note that, when implemented, it helps keep all people safe, including workers, both paid and volunteer.

This safety management system sets a standard of safety and care for the LCA. It is a requirement that key leadership, those in a position of trust, and everyone involved in ministry programs for children and young people (anyone under the age of 18) participate in Safe Church Training to ensure awareness of this system.

There are five levels of responsibility in the safety management system:

A Team Member is any adult who supervises a ministry activity in a congregation or ministry group. This might be a group of children, youth or adults.
A Team Leader is appointed by the Safe Church Coordinator or congregation to supervise a group of Team Members.
Safe Church Coordinators (primary and alternate) are appointed by the congregation or ministry group to oversee safe planning of programs and activities within their ministry group. This includes ensuring their teams are compliant in background screening and training.
Ministry group governance* are responsible for ensuring a culture of safety exists and for appointing Coordinators in their group or congregation, parish, or ministry group.
Risk Management Officers (RMOs) oversee implementation of the system and support all other levels. In the LCA, Professional Standards Officers are RMOs.

The Safety Management System focuses on preventing harm and injury, but also informs of the actions that will be taken by the LCA to support individuals, congregations, and ministry groups when things go wrong.

The Safety Management System ensures that teams consider all safety possibilities when designing programs and increases the awareness of all current and potential team members to their duty of care responsibilities. These responsibilities are grounded in our spiritual and moral obligations as children of God, and also in government legislation. They help to ensure that our organisations provide environments that are safe from risk of harm and abuse.

*The term ‘Governance’ includes Church Board and Council members as well as other leaders who make decisions on behalf of that part of the congregation, parish, ministry group or organisation.

Safe Church training

Safe Church Training has two levels:

Level 1
This level ensures our Team Members, Team Leaders, Coordinators and Governance are aware of the standards expected, policies, procedures, the Safety Management System, and their responsibilities in relation to identifying and reporting risk of harm and abuse. . Recognition of Prior Learning is available for parts of this level.

Level 2
Ensures those who supervise other leaders know how to implement safe systems of work and support those leaders. This level provides both Safe Church Team Leader and Safe Church Coordinator training. It also informs members of governance of their responsibilities within their congregation or ministry group.

Safe Church Training is required to be refreshed every three years. If you have completed all components of Level 1 Safe Church training in 2019, you likely qualify for Refresher training – an abbreviated version of the full training.

The preferred delivery for most training is face-to-face workshops; however, all training is also available as self-paced online learning.

To view full details on this training, scheduled workshops and registrations, click here.

Working with Children Checks

Anyone in the church who previously held a police clearance for their role is now required to hold a valid Working with Children type check. This has come about as a result of the changes recommended in the recent Royal Commission.

This new rule applies to:

All pastors
All employees of the LCANZ
All church council members
Anyone in your congregation who works with children or vulnerable people
Anyone who might be in a decision-making position where the outcome could affect children or vulnerable people
Anyone in a position of trust within the congregation or ministry group

Congregations throughout the District are asked to sponsor their pastor or employees to cover the cost of their check.

South Australia

In South Australia, Working with Children Checks are provided by the Department of Human Services. Applications are completed online, through the District Office.

A WWCC through DHS is free for volunteers, but costs apply for all paid roles including lay workers and pastors. These clearances are valid for 5 years and can be used across multiple organisations.

Application Instructions

Application Form

Working With Children Checks Information

Northern Territory

In the Northern Territory a working with children type check is known as Working with Children (WWC) clearance and also known as an Ochre Card. Applications can be completed online, in person or by post.

Costs apply for all applications, although volunteers may apply at a reduced cost. WWC clearances are valid for 2 years and can be used across multiple organisations.

More information and to apply online

Application information

Safety Management Online

Safety Management Online (SMO) is the online tool used by the LCA for all Safe Church records and resources.

SMO ensures all compliance and training records for members are appropriately maintained, including for those who are not working with children. The site also provides program and incident management tools for congregational use and is being continually developed to provide even more functionality for both child-based and non-child-based activities and records.

All members who have completed training have access to their own records on SMO, while Team Leaders and Coordinator have further access to allow them to create and manage their teams, programs, and incident reports.

Each member is provided with log in details when they are first added to SMO. If you require any assistance with SMO, including new log in details, please contact the SA-NT District Office.

To log in to SMO, please click here.