Our Commitment

Seventh-day Adventist Church's Commitment to Children and Vulnerable Adults

"There is no priority higher than protecting children, and other vulnerable people, within our care. This is something close to the heart of God, and cannot be done through wishful thinking or vague aspirations."
Seventh-day Adventist Church Manual, South Pacific Division Supplement p239 (20th Edition, 2022)

Our Statement of Commitment

The Seventh-day Adventist Church in Australia publicly reaffirmed its commitment to the National Principles for Child Safe Organisations with leaders at all levels of the Church organisation signing a Statement of Commitment.  Reported in the Record¹ reported that this commitment recognises the moral, ethical and biblical mandate to protect children and ensure the Church is a safe, thriving community for all.

¹ Read the Adventist Record article ‘Seventh-day Adventist Church in Australia reaffirms commitment to National Principles for Child Protection’ — reported June 2, 2025 and published in the July 5, 2025 paper edition

Statement of Commitment to the National Child Safe Principles²

• We are committed to providing a safe and welcoming environment, with child safety and wellbeing central to our activities, events, and programs. This is reflected in our policies and procedures and is understood and practiced in our ministries.
• We will ensure that the voices of children and their families are heard in relation to decisions that will affect their lives.
• We will be responsive to the needs of all children and young people.
• We have zero tolerance for child abuse. We treat all allegations and safety concerns seriously. We take steps to minimize the risk of abuse by ensuring that our physical and on-line environments are safe.
• We are committed to complying with all relevant child protection laws and regulations.
• We believe that the safety and wellbeing of children is a shared responsibility and that we must all work together as a community to ensure that our environment is child safe.

² More information about the Australian National Principles for Child Safe Organisations can be found on the Human Rights ChildSafe website

Downloadable Statement of Commitment for Churches

We invite all Churches in Australia to undertake signing a Statement of Commitment for their local church and display within their church to demonstrate a commitment to creating a "thriving Church were abuse has no place and healing begins". 

Note: It's important these files are edited with a PDF reader such as Adobe Acrobat in order to fill out the fields in the templates.