Royal Commission: Uniting Church National Response Task Group

The national task group appointed to frame the Uniting Church’s response to the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse held its second meeting in Sydney on January 24, 2013.

The Task Group has advanced work on a Statement of Uniting Church Values to guide the church’s response is a variety of frameworks.

The Statement of Values draws on the Basis of Union and the church’s 1977 Statement to the Nation to declare its readiness to uphold Christian principles through its full and honest cooperation with the Royal Commission.

The Statement will be submitted to the Assembly Standing Committee for approval in mid-March as part of the National Response Framework.

The Task Group also noted for consideration the Royal Commission’s Terms of Reference which were announced on January 11 2013 and a statement by the Chair of the Commission, the Hon Justice Peter McClellan on January 16.

The National Response Task Group was set up by the Assembly Standing Committee at its meeting of November 18 2012.

The Assembly General Secretary, the Rev. Terence Corkin, is Convenor and the Group’s membership includes high level representatives of Uniting Church agencies and schools, as well as church members with experience in counselling survivors of sexual abuse and in the Church’s internal procedures for dealing with allegations of sexual abuse.

The purpose of the Task Group is to strengthen the capacity of the church across its councils, agencies and schools to engage openly and positively with the Royal Commission and its issues.

It will do this by facilitating the best possible response to the Royal Commission by enhancing national cooperation, sharing resources and providing guidance to the Church on how to prepare for and participate in the Royal Commission.

Uniting Church statements on the Royal Commission are available on the Assembly website.