The Vine – 1111 - York St Church of Christ

SCHOOL CHAPLAINS’ PROGRAM EXPANDED TO INCLUDE SECULAR WELFARE WORKERSSchools will be able to choose the type of support that best meets the needs of their students under proposed changesto the Government's National School Chaplaincy Program. School Education Minister, Peter Garrett, said from next yearschool communities will be able to choose to employ either a chaplain or a secular student welfare worker. The schemewill also be strengthened with the introduction of minimum qualifications, benchmark standards for service providers, andimprovements to the complaints management system."The Gillard Government is committed to extending this successful scheme to up to an extra 1000 schools from 2012, withpriority given to schools serving disadvantaged areas or in regional or remote locations and an extra $222 million infunding," Mr Garrett said. "We know chaplains are already doing great work in our school communities and I expect thatmany more schools will apply for funding to employ a chaplain when applications for the new round open later this year."But we also want to give schools greater choice. This means schools won't miss out on applying for the program if theschool community would prefer to have a secular welfare worker instead of a chaplain."The chaplaincy program has proven very popular and we want to make sure schools and students are getting the fullbenefit, which is why we held a consultation earlier this year asking what was working and what could be improved," MrGarrett said. "We had strong feedback for the program to be extended to qualified secular welfare workers, which willempower principals and school communities to choose the right person for the needs and circumstances of their school.This will also provide even more help and support to kids across the country. "The scheme will be re-named the NationalSchool Chaplaincy and Student Welfare Program to reflect its broader scope."Other changes to be introduced include:* Introducing a minimum qualification for all new workers employed under the scheme - from 2012, all new chaplains orsecular workers hired by schools will need to have a Certificate IV in Youth Work, Pastoral Care or equivalentqualification.* Requiring existing chaplains without the minimum qualifications to complete two units of the Certificate IV course:Mental Health and Making Referrals. About 500 existing chaplains will have 12 months to complete the units, with theGovernment meeting the costs. Existing chaplains can also have their current experience and qualifications formallyrecognised under Recognition of Prior Learning.* Increasing the maximum grants for schools in remote areas from $20 000 to $24 000, and giving priority for new fundingto schools in regional, remote and disadvantaged areas.* Introducing new benchmark standards for service providers, including the provision of ongoing professionaldevelopment and support, monitoring of service delivery, and appropriate risk management and compliancerequirements.* Strengthening the program's complaints management processes so that each school will be required to keep acomplaints log and have a designated complaints officer, and parents and students are fully informed about how theycan raise any concerns they may have.Mr Garrett said the changes reflected the feedback received throughout the Government's extensive communityconsultation process earlier this year. They also implement a number of recommendations from the CommonwealthOmbudsman, particularly around strengthened administrative processes and requiring minimum qualifications. "It wasgreat to see so many organisations, schools and individuals taking part in our consultation and their feedback andsuggestions played an important part in the Government's decisions to expand the scheme," he said."There are already almost 2700 schools taking part in the program, and the Gillard Government has committed anadditional $222 million to extend the scheme to 2014 and provide funding for up to 1000 more schools. "We want asmany schools as possible to benefit from what has been a popular and successful program." The new guidelines will bepublished shortly. More information on the changes to the scheme is contained in the attached fact sheet and online atwww.deewr.gov.au/schoolchaplaincy.Responding to the announcement of the changes, Australian Christian Lobby Managing Director Jim Wallace said thatfunding for new secular welfare workers must not come from the same pool of money funding chaplains. Mr Wallacesaid Prime Minister Julia Gillard had given an election commitment that the National School Chaplaincy Program wouldnot be secularised. "There is no problem with the Federal Government offering schools the choice between a secularworker and a faith-based chaplain but the Government's commitment before the election was that the chaplaincyprogram would retain its unique faith-based pastoral care emphasis," Mr Wallace said.While any large government program was likely to experience some problems, Mr Wallace was concerned theGovernment's move to introduce secular welfare workers on top of existing secular school counsellors was responding toa small number of aggressive secularists and the anti-chaplaincy Greens. "We welcome Mr Garrett's commentssupporting the great work chaplains do in school communities, but believe the government has an obligation to findadditional sources of funding for secular welfare workers rather than taking this from the chaplaincy program budgetwhich was pledged before the election," Mr Wallace said.Source: Compiled by Australian Prayer Network (APN) from information supplied by various sources6