No tolerance for abuse and harm – safeguarding officers are in every diocese

Safeguarding everyone in our Church – especially our vulnerable adults, young people and children – is a priority. Our Church has zero tolerance for abuse and harm. The National Office for Professional Standards (NOPS) is working hard to foster a culture of safeguarding in every aspect of our Church life through training, information and support that acknowledges and upholds the dignity of everyone. This is why we have safeguarding officers in each of our six dioceses; to work with everyone to prevent harm and abuse happening.

The safeguarding officers and their email addresses are:

Auckland: Lisa-May Gray - lisam@cda.org.nz

Christchurch: Clodagh Ward - CWard@chch.catholic.org.nz

Dunedin: Maria and Mike Noonan - safeguarding@cdd.org.nz

Hamilton: Peter Richardson – peterh@cdh.org.nz

Palmerston North: Matthew Balm - mbalm@pndiocese.org.nz

Welllington: Brendy Weir – bweir@wn.catholic.org.nz

National Safeguarding Lead at NOPS: Pamela Arthurs – safeguarding@nzcbc.org.nz

NOPS has recently updated its website, so if you’ve not looked at it for a while, you’ll see a different look about it which we hope makes it easier to find what you’re looking for and to make clearer the five Safeguarding Culture Standards that underpin safeguarding in our Church. Lots of information, including an abuse reporting form and a list of the Diocesan Safeguarding Officers is available on the website: https://safeguarding.catholic.org.nz/