Tearfund has extensive policies and procedures that help us operate in a safe and transparent way so that our staff, partners, supporters, volunteers and the people we serve are protected and supported.
Tearfund believes that all children should be equally empowered and protected regardless of their gender, nationality, religious or political beliefs, age, sexual orientation, family and social background and culture, economic status, physical or mental health, and criminal background.
You can report a concern regarding Child Safety or Sexual Exploitation, Abuse and Harassment in any of four ways:
Anonymous reporting is possible and is better than not raising the concern. However, Tearfund is in a better position to act on the report if it is not anonymous as further information can be gathered in a more targeted manner.
We are committed to protecting every person who engages in our programs and with Tearfund People. All Tearfund people are committed to abiding by our Code of Conduct in keeping with Tearfund’s mission and values.
Tearfund believes every child has the right to live in a safe, peaceful, and enabling environment where they can fully exercise their rights. Tearfund facilitates participation and inclusion of people from all cultural backgrounds. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children, young adults and their families will be supported to participate, to express their culture and in the enjoyment of cultural rights.
Through its Safeguarding Children Policy and Safeguarding Children Guidelines, Tearfund demonstrates its commitment to the safety and protection of children from all forms of harm and abuse (in both physical and online environments). Tearfund is committed to a culture of zero tolerance towards all forms of harm and abuse, and to work in ways that ensure that Tearfund people “do no harm” while working with Tearfund.
Our Safeguarding Children Policy outlines our approach to safeguarding children in all of Tearfund's activities, whilst our Prevention of Sexual Exploitation, Abuse and Harassment (PSEAH) Policy relates to adults.
Our PSEAH Guidelines outline Tearfund's approach to prevention of sexual exploitation, abuse and harassment, the processes around responding to allegations and reports, and the responsibilities of different roles and groups within the organisation.
Tearfund acknowledges the importance of voluntary work and desires to appreciate and affirm volunteers through meaningful roles and relationships. The following policies help ensure that volunteers have work that is safe, enjoyable and productive.
Tearfund's Work Health and Safety Policy describes our commitment to providing a safe workplace, systems and training for all who work with us.
Our Volunteer Policy defines the mutual responsibilities of Tearfund and Tearfund volunteers to ensure our work together is enjoyable and productive.
Tearfund's Conflict of Interest Policy provide guidelines for what could be a conflict of interest for staff, volunteers, and consultants and how they should be handled.
Our Disability Inclusion Policy describes Tearfund's commitments to disability inclusion. Tearfund recognises the inherent worth and dignity of all people as created in the image of God and acknowledges the rights of persons with disabilities to have equal access and opportunities to participate in their communities.
Tearfund Australia welcomes feedback and is committed to efficiently and effectively resolving complaints. We recognise the importance of complaints and regard them as an opportunity to rectify issues and better serve our supporters.
We try our best, but sometimes issues develop. If that happens, we encourage you to tell us about it so we can help make things better and hopefully prevent them from happening again. When you tell us about an issue, we will do our best to listen to you, support you, keep you safe and resolve the issue with you. We will only share information with people who need to be involved in the issue.
You can provide general operational feedback or complaints (i.e. related to our processes or communications) in any of these ways:
Use the contact us link on the tearfund.org.au website.
Email us at [email protected] or [email protected]
Call us on 1800 244 986 (9am-5pm AEST Monday-Friday)
You can raise a more sensitive complaint (i.e. complaints or concerns relating to behaviour of employees, misconduct, alleged breaches of Tearfund’s Code of Conduct, or other policy breaches or matters) by sending an email to us at [email protected] or by completing the Sensitive Complaints Form.
Tearfund aims to make raising a complaint as easy as possible. Where support is needed, we will assist complainants to put their complaint in writing, or complaints can be made by a friend or advocate of the complainant on their behalf.
Tearfund recognises that in some circumstances complainants may wish to remain anonymous. Such complaints can alert us to problems that need fixing and therefore Tearfundwill receive them, though it may not be possible to propose a remedy to the situation, to the complainant.
Our Complaints Policy outlines how complaints are handled at Tearfund so that we can learn as an organisation, do our work better, and improve relationships.
All Staff, partners, volunteers, supporters and contractors:
A wrongful act includes:
Reporting a Matter involves disclosure of reasonable grounds about past, present or likely future activities to one of our whistleblowing officers.
Tearfund will make every effort to protect those who make a whistleblowing disclosure in good faith and on reasonable grounds. We will not tolerate any detriment inflicted on whistleblowers due to making or intending to make a report under this policy.
Tearfund's Whistleblower Policy establishes a framework to provide all staff, volunteers, contractors, partners and members of the public an accessible and safe process to report concerns about a wrongful act or misconduct by someone involved with Tearfund.
