AUSTRALIA
The Australian
DAN BOX
From: The Australian
September 19, 2013
HUNDREDS of Christian groups and organisations in NSW have not conducted background checks on church leaders working with children, despite legislation requiring them to do so being in place for 15 years.
Evidence tendered to the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse shows almost half the 700 religious organisations surveyed were found not to have registered for the Working With Children Checks, as required by laws introduced in 1998.
“Religious organisations came to attention following evidence that, in some cases, the WWCC obligations were not being met,” the July 2013 report from the NSW Children’s Guardian states.
Overwhelmingly, those found to be not complying with the scheme were from the Baptist, Catholic and other Christian churches, the report said.
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