News

The Salvation Army has initiated a voluntary restructure of its Professional Standards Office.

Restructuring the Professional Standards Office builds on The Salvation Army’s work with the Royal Commission and child protection agencies to ensure best-practice procedures are continuously in place.

A key outcome of this restructure will see all reportable conduct investigations now carried out by independent, third party, external investigators. This was previously handled through a mix of using internal and external investigators.

Outsourcing all investigations will guarantee any allegation of abuse brought to the attention of The Salvation Army will be investigated in an objective, professional, and independent manner, free from any perceived conflicts of interest.

Another key feature of this restructure is the geographical expansion of Professional Standards Office, with a new position created and to be based in Queensland, supporting survivors in that state.

The work of facilitating access to counselling and case management services to survivors will also be strengthened. Professional Standards Office will now provide a more comprehensive case management services model to meet the diverse needs of survivors.

Naturally, this restructure has seen some internal roles change. All affected staff have been offered support and where possible, redeployment to alternative roles within The Salvation Army.

The Salvation Army will continue working with the Royal Commission in an open and transparent manner in order to review, strengthen and improve its child protection processes.

The Salvation Army is determined to continuously strengthen and improve its child-protection processes and procedures and as such is undertaking this work proactively ahead of any final recommendations delivered by the Royal Commission.

The Salvation Army encourages anyone who has suffered abuse to contact our Centre for Restoration on (02) 9266 9781 or at centreforrestoration@aue.salvationarmy.org