SU Tas response to Garrett announcement
6th September, 2011
PRESS RELEASE
Scripture Union Tasmania is the state government approved chaplaincy service provider in Tasmania, providing chaplaincy services in 95 state schools.
We welcome the announcement of an extension to the National School Chaplaincy Program which has benefited so many Tasmanian School students and communities. We would have preferred the government to keep the original purely chaplaincy focus of the programme. Chaplains provide a unique service which incorporates pastoral care, a spiritual resource for the whole school community if and when they wish to access it and a very flexible support service. The options they provide are beyond what a secular pastoral support worker could offer.
Chaplains can provide spiritual support and they do not impose religious views.
Spiritual health is part of the Tasmanian School curriculum and part of the Melbourne Declaration which is the underpinning of the coming National Curriculum. In general schools are under resourced to tackle this important, protective aspect of health and chaplains are a resource for health and wellbeing staff in tackling this aspect of education.
We are not concerned about the broadening of the program since we are confident that the vast majority of schools which have already heard about or experienced the proven benefits of school chaplaincy will opt into or continue down the chaplaincy route.
We are pleased to see minimum qualifications being set. SU Tas and the National Schools Chaplaincy Association have encouraged the government to set minimum qualification standards. We brought ours in at Diploma level for new staff in 2011.
SU Tasmania looks forward to the full details of the new program in coming days, and is ready to offer further chaplaincy services to many more school communities.
Ruth Pinkerton
CEO
SU Tasmania
