“We pray and work for healing and comfort for survivors,
and that those who walk alongside them may have
wisdom, compassion and courage.”
In recent years, approximately one third of our NSW/ACT Baptist churches have received a Request for Information under the National Redress Scheme. Engaging with a redress application is usually something church leaders have never had to face before.
Our role is to support churches to respond to Redress applications with honesty, care and integrity, while keeping survivors and their experiences at the heart of the process. These responsibilities belong together as we seek justice, accountability and healing. It is a difficult privilege for the Ministry Standards Team at the Baptist Association to quietly come alongside and support church leaders in this process.
The National Redress Scheme was established following the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, which heard from more than 8,000 survivors. 1.2% of these 8000 survivors who came forward reported abuse in a Baptist Church context. The Scheme provides a pathway for people who experienced child sexual abuse in institutional settings to seek acknowledgement and redress.
Whether it’s a church a few suburbs away or one several hours from Sydney, a member of the Association’s redress team will meet with pastors and church leaders to explain the process, answer questions and help them prepare a response. It’s practical support that reflects one of the strengths of belonging to the Baptist Association of NSW & ACT: helping churches access experience, resources and support when difficult situations arise.
“The value of being part of the Association is that we’re in this together,” says Keith, “we support each other, we learn from each other and we get alongside each other.”
Having previously served as National Ministries Director of Australian Baptist Ministries, Rev. Keith Jobberns was instrumental in engaging with the federal government and leading our national Baptist movement to join the National Redress Scheme when it commenced in 2018. Today, he uses his prior ministry experience to support local Baptist churches as one of the Association’s Redress Claims Facilitators, alongside Tim Williams, Rev Andy Yule and Rev Pete Davies. Rev Jonathan Bradford, who leads this Redress Team comments that “our NSW/ACT Baptist movement is blessed to have such an experienced, wise and committed staff team to assist local churches respond to redress applications.”
When an application names a church, Jonathan and Tim receive the Request For Information and send one of the redress team to help the local church leaders understand the process, establish a confidential working group and prepare the church’s response.
“The process isn’t about questioning whether abuse occurred,” Keith says. “It’s about carefully establishing the information the Scheme requires and responding with honesty, fairness and compassion.”
Jonathan explains that since 2018 NSW/ACT Baptists have responded to 128 redress applications from 97 different Baptist institutions, mostly church congregations, but also including some Baptist schools, childcare and camping centres. Sometimes these applications relate to incidents of abuse previously known by the church, but they are often new disclosures. Sometimes our Baptist church might be wrongly identified in the application, or the details provided don’t align with the history of that church, so the response process requires careful, compassionate and meticulous historical research. Whilst the majority of applications are yet to have their outcome determined by the Scheme, we are encouraged that the Scheme staff carefully consider the information we provide, and that outcomes are generally fair and reasonable. Keith has taken many learnings away from this role.
One lesson is the importance of maintaining strong Safe Church practices. “Our Safe Church protocols matter,” Keith says. “They help create churches where children and vulnerable people are protected.” The Ministry Standards Team works with churches to ensure, as much as possible, that the abuse of the past does not happen again. The Safe Church Health Check guides churches through the ten national principles for a child-safe organisation to ensure compliance and best practice. The CSS Team trains thousands of volunteers and ministry workers through Creating Safe Spaces, providing leading education and training in legal responsibilities, WHS, risk management and strategies to address protection of children and vulnerable people. They provide support for pastors who may have identified concerning situations, including a hotline for church leaders seeking urgent reporting advice.
For Keith, the process has also highlighted the importance of good record keeping. “Church records need to be kept securely and preserved well,” explains Keith, “older records should be deposited in the Baptist Archives, so they’re protected. Sometimes records from decades ago become incredibly important.”
Perhaps most of all, Keith says the work is a sobering reminder of humanity’s brokenness.
“These situations remind us of how grateful we are that Jesus came to deal with our brokenness,” reflects Keith, “that doesn’t remove our responsibility to seek justice and care well for people, but it shapes the way we respond.”
Keith asks Baptist churches to pray for everyone involved, for survivors seeking healing, for church leaders responding to Requests for Information, and for Jonathan and the Redress team as they seek to serve with wisdom, compassion and integrity.
Jonathan reflects that “hearing and responding to those who have suffered abuse in our NSW/ACT Baptist churches is a challenging but important responsibility. It is an honour and privilege to seek to reflect God’s heart of compassion to any victim-survivors, and to work towards healing and renewal wherever possible.”
In every Request for Information, the Association’s commitment remains the same: pursuing justice for those who have been harmed, supporting churches to respond faithfully, and continuing to build churches that are safe places for everyone.
If the content covered in this article has raised concerns, you can call 1800RESPECT (1800 737 732). Or get in touch with our Ministry Standards Team at standards@nswactbaptists.org.au or the Ministry Standards Hotline on 1300 647 780.
