Resources for Members
The Buddhist Council of NSW has over thirty years of experience working with our members, giving us knowledge of the challenges faced establishing and running a religious organisation.
We have helped our members to navigate the various laws that regulate religious organisations by providing awareness of changing governance requirements and support to help members become compliant.
On this page you will find resources on the following topics:
Buddhist Council Guide to Setting up Not-For-Profit Organisations
This guide provides a helpful starting place for Buddhist groups to navigate the complex process of establishing a not-for-profit organisation in NSW.
It provides information on types of organisational structures you can choose, plus governance, legal requirements, and financial reporting obligations to be aware of, along with many useful websites and resources, all in the one place.
Download the guide below:
The Buddhist Council can assist by connecting you with others who have been through this process before, including people with legal and other skills who can support you. For more information, contact office@buddhistcouncil.org
NSW Child Safe Scheme
The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse made several recommendations to help prevent child abuse, including the development of Child Safe Standards.
Under the NSW Child Safe Scheme, religious organisations that provide services to children, or in which adults have contact with children, are required by law to implement the Child Safe Standards through their systems, policies and procedures.
For Buddhist organisations, such as temples, monasteries and retreat centres, this means ensuring that staff and volunteers have a Working With Children Check and that there are policies in place to protect children.
These policies include:
- Statement of Commitment to Child Safety
- Child Safe Policy
- Child Safe Code of Conduct
- Child Safe Reporting Policy
- Child Safe Recruitment, Induction and Training Policy
- Child Safe Risk Management Plan.
The Office of the Children’s Guardian is responsible for overseeing the Child Safe Scheme and provides tools and resources to help organisations understand and implement the Child Safe Standards. Get started with the following tools:
- Guide to the Child Safe Standards (including guides in Simplified and Traditional Chinese, Hindi, Korean, and Vietnamese languages)
- Self Assessment Toolkit for Organisations
- Child Safe Template Pack
For more information, visit the Office of the Children’s Guardian Child Safe Scheme page.
Working With Children Check
Under the NSW Child Protection Act (2012), a Working with Children Check (WWCC) is required for anyone engaged in paid or voluntary child related work that brings them in direct contact with young people. This includes religious services, religious educational activities, and any other programs for children run for children, such as language or cultural classes.
Buddhist organisations, including temples, retreat centres and religious societies engaged in child related work are obliged to ensure that people engaged in these activities have a WWCC. People who require a WWCC include ordained monastics and all volunteers who teach children’s classes.
Applying for a WWCC is simple. There is no fee for volunteers and the clearance lasts for five years.
For more information, visit the Office of the Children’s Guardian WWCC page.
Mandatory Reporters
The term mandatory reporter refers to groups of professions required by law to report suspected child abuse and neglect to government authorities, as regulated by the Children and Young Persons (Care and Protection) Act 1998.
In 2020, mandatory reporter groups in NSW expanded to include:
- any person in religious ministry (such as monks and nuns or lay teachers)
- anyone involved in providing religion based activities to children (such as Sunday school and SRE teachers)
Find out more about the responsibilities of mandatory reporters and access resources to make a report on the NSW Department of Communities and Justice ChildStory page.
Example Policies from Our Members
The following documents from some of our members demonstrate child safety policies, and inclusion and diversity policies that may be useful for your organisation.