AUSTRALIA
Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Sydney
Catholic Communications, Sydney Archdiocese,
30 Sep 2015
The Archbishop of Sydney, the Most Rev Anthony Fisher OP has announced a new child protection office as part of a widespread Archdiocesan review.
On becoming Archbishop of Sydney last November, Archbishop Fisher said the safeguarding of children, young people and vulnerable adults would be a priority for him.
He called for a review of practices and policies, regarding among other matters, child protection.
The new child protection office will be known as the Safeguarding and Ministerial Integrity Office. Together with the Vicar General of the Archdiocese the new Office will work to achieve best practice when dealing with child protection, education, training, working with parishes and responding pastorally to survivors of abuse.
The Office will also work closely with government statutory bodies including the NSW Ombudsman and the NSW Office of the Children’s Guardian.
Ms Karen Larkman who has more than 25 years experience in child protection, family services and operating procedures, complaint investigation, early intervention programs and government liaison internationally and here in Australia has been appointed Director of the new Office.
She has worked in the United Kingdom in the area of child protection and also for the British Forces in Cyprus. More recently Ms Larkman was General Manager, Families and Communities and the Designated Child Protection Officer for CatholicCare working closely with the NSW Ombudsman. She also led a working party for a Royal Commission case study into abuse in Out-of-Home Care.
Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.