The most important thing we can do to safeguard children and vulnerable people is invest in leadership, governance and culture, writes Ursula Stephens.

A standardised and nationalised system for working with children checks is long overdue.

Indeed, the Catholic Church called for such a system 12 years ago in response to a paper issued by the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse.

But our efforts need to go well beyond that.

The recent shocking revelations of alleged abuse of children in a childcare centre in Victoria are an urgent reminder of the need to strengthen child safety standards across all sectors engaged with children and young people.

Navigating the tangled web of state and territory working with children checks has been a difficult task for the Catholic Church.

The Australian Catholic Ministry Register, or ACMR, is a system used by Catholic dioceses and many religious institutes to make sure clergy and religious have a working with children check and meet additional internal standards needed to safely work with children and vulnerable people anywhere in Australia.

As well as capturing relevant state and territory working with children check details, the ACMR requires declarations from church leaders about the ‘good standing’ of clergy and religious, in that they have not behaved in a way that suggests a risk to the safety and welfare of children or adults.

The Church fully supports urgent national reform of working with children checks.

But our commitment goes much further.

A working with children check is not a safeguarding strategy on its own and it must be part of an integrated approach that includes robust recruitment, ongoing supervision, clear standards of behaviour, and effective complaint and investigation processes.

We need a national registration system for children’s service workers, an investment in training and supervision, and specialised abuse intervention and prevention services.

Leadership

Above all, we need to transform our leadership.

This requires us to shift away from emphasising perpetrator-focused initiatives, to supporting those living with the experience of abuse.

It places the emphasis on healing, restoration, and empowerment – particularly in contexts marked by trauma, injustice, or suffering.

It is rooted in our Catholic values such as compassion, integrity, humility, and a commitment to justice.

We are now seeing powerful examples of redemptive leadership seeking not only to guide and inspire us, but also to redeem broken systems and uplift those who have been marginalised or harmed.

This approach plays a crucial role in supporting victims of abuse in several ways:

• Creating safe spaces: Where we prioritise psychological and physical safety, fostering environments where everyone feels secure, heard, and supported.
• Empowerment and advocacy: Where we actively work to empower survivors by advocating for their rights, amplifying their voices, and ensuring they have access to resources such as counselling, legal aid, and shelter.
• Restorative practices: Where rather than focusing on punishment, we encourage restorative justice – helping survivors to heal and rebuild their lives while addressing the root causes of abuse.
• Modelling compassionate leadership: By embodying empathy, integrity and moral courage, redemptive leadership sets a standard for others, challenging cultures of silence and complicity around abuse.
• Systemic change: Most importantly within our Church, working to transform institutions and policies that perpetuate abuse or neglect survivors, promoting long-term cultural and structural change.

In essence, redemptive leadership is not just about leading – it’s about healing.

It offers a powerful framework for supporting those who have experienced abuse, helping them move from victimhood to empowerment, and fostering communities where dignity and justice prevail. Safeguarding is a sacred duty.

This opinion piece was first published in The Daily Telegraph on July 24, 2025. Ursula Stephens, a former senator, is Chief Executive Officer of Australian Catholic Safeguarding Ltd, which works with Catholic entities to promote and oversee a nationally consistent, comprehensive and sustainable framework for the protection of children and adults at risk within the Church in Australia.