AUSTRALIA
Australian Associated Press
September 5, 2017
Shae McDonald
[Anglican priests across Australia will be required to follow strict new rules to protect children from abuse after legislation was passed by its governing body.]
Clergy and church workers will now be required to abide by a code of conduct which they had previously only needed to treat as recommendations.
“It covers things like transport, no corporal punishment, issues of touch and photographs,” Royal Commission Working Group chair Garth Blake said.
Stricter screening of sex offenders in parishes will also apply and could even result in some being turned away.
Mr Blake said core standards like not abusing children had been in place since 2004, but now all of the guidelines would be mandatory unless there was “a good reason” for not following them.
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