Ann Hassan reflects on what we learned while preparing for and engaging with the Church safeguarding reviewers at our recent audit.

Last month reviewers from the National Office for Professional Standards (NOPS) visited the Tui Motu office. Two reviewers spent the day with us, meeting with The Independent Catholic Magazine Board, with the magazine’s two staff members and with two representatives from our volunteers who help to pack and post the magazine every month.

The Work of NOPS

NOPS responds to complaints of abuse involving clergy and members of Religious Congregations, and oversees the Church’s safeguarding policies and practices. NOPS is responsible for communicating the Church’s safeguarding message, identifying safe practices, responding to complaints and concerns, monitoring compliance with the national policy and providing formation and training.

Tui Motu is something of an anomaly for NOPS. We don’t fit into any of the standard categories of Catholic life in Aotearoa — we’re not a diocese, parish or school, for instance. Nor are we a Catholic provider of social services. And we’re not under the umbrella of the usual Catholic authority like a diocese or parish. We’re a company governed by a Board.

But we are a Catholic magazine and a Catholic workplace. Our shareholders are Religious Congregations: the Dominican Sisters, the Dominican Friars and the Sisters of St Joseph. Our editor, Ann Gilroy, is a Sister of St Joseph.

Safeguarding Not Just about Sexual Abuse

Safeguarding isn’t only about sexual abuse. At Tui Motu, we seldom have contact with children. Visitors to the office are a special treat — our volunteers and our printer’s agent visit regularly, but other knocks on the door are rare. Most of the time, it’s just Ann and me in the building. So for us safeguarding is understood broadly, encompassing health and safety, the particular vulnerabilities of the staff and volunteers, the way we interact with people visiting or on the phone, and the safety of information. For instance, our NOPS auditors asked questions about how and where we store personal data and what protections we’ve undertaken against cyber attacks.

Before our audit, we’d not thought we had contact with vulnerable adults. But the auditors explained that a vulnerable adult is anyone who, due to age, illness, disability, or other reasons, may not be able to protect themselves. Some of our volunteers have mobility issues, needing help to get to their cars — we had thought of this as helping the person, but not as the person being vulnerable.

And it’s true, too, that among those of us who don’t have mobility issues, and aren’t frail, there are times when we’ve been vulnerable — around a death, say, or a time of illness. So our simple idea of a vulnerable adult is being replaced with an understanding of vulnerability that better reflects all the complexity of being a person: vulnerable in some ways and not in others; vulnerable at some times but not always.

Health, Safety and Well-being

At Tui Motu we try to be vigilant about health, safety and well-being. Our offices are in a turn-of-the-last-century two-storey house on Union Street West in Dunedin – right in the heart of the Otago University campus area. The building is owned by the Dominican Friars and was at one time their University chaplaincy house. It’s still very much laid out as a “house” — the bathroom has a shower (unused) and the kitchen has an oven (non-functional).

When our volunteers come to pack the magazine, we’re in what was once the dining room — handy to the kitchen but not overly spacious. This means we’ve become conscious of keeping the space as clear as possible — boxes and bags kept up off the floor to reduce trip hazards. The only bathroom in the building is upstairs, too, so we keep the hallway completely clear. After our editor Ann Gilroy broke her leg (temporary vulnerability), we installed a handrail on the turn of the stairs. Earlier, a new back doorstep was built to reduce the step from outside to inside. And we have in place, of course, all the usual policies around what to do in case of fire and evacuation.

One of the few benefits of the Covid pandemic was that it brought with it a heightened awareness of health and safety. We adopted a range of policies around social distancing and disinfecting. Some have remained — like the very best restaurants and hotels, we offer single-use cotton flannels for drying our hands in the bathroom! But what has lingered most is that health and safety is never off our radar; we’re more conscious of sharing a responsibility for the well-being of those around our workplace.

For a long time, we’ve been conscious of theft, keeping the front door snibbed when the downstairs office is empty so that no one can walk in off the street and remove valuables like computers. But the NOPS auditors encouraged us to think about our own safety as workers, so from now on, when either Ann or I am alone in the building, the front door will be snibbed. Being alone at work was a vulnerability we’d not really considered.

Abuse and Safeguarding in the Magazine

Tui Motu has also participated in the discourse around abuse and safeguarding through its content. We’ve been fortunate to have survivors of abuse contribute to the magazine, writing about their personal experience — both their story of being abused and the long-term effects of that abuse. These can be hard stories to read, but they’re part of the story of our Church.

The abuse crisis has taught us the danger of living in a climate of secrecy and unquestioned authority. In response to this, and in the Vatican II spirit of openness and dialogue reemphasised by the Synod on Synodality, we publish regularly on aspects of Church organisation and culture, including the discussion of contested and sometimes difficult issues — abuse but also clericalism and the role of women, among others. Canon lawyers regularly contribute to the magazine, sharing their knowledge of Church rules and regulations.

Importantly, Tui Motu gives voice to lay people of all kinds — not just Catholic but other Christian and other faith — and people who may not be of any faith but are working for the common good. We’re independent — not responsible to a diocese but with a clear mandate — which means our greatest responsibility is to our readers. With media outlets of all kinds dwindling, and in a world where communications are often partisan and even propagandised, this seems more important than ever.

What We’ve Learned

NOPS will soon submit their report to The Independent Catholic Magazine Board, which will give us the full picture of what improvements we can make. But the visit of the NOPS auditors has already heightened our awareness and it’s clear that this is the vital shift: making safeguarding a priority in every aspect of our work — in our responsibilities to our volunteers, subscribers and others, and in the way we occupy our workplace. Safeguarding shouldn’t be an “add-on”, but an essential contribution to making the wider Church a safer, more inclusive and hospitable place.

Tui Motu Magazine. Issue 302 April 2025: 20-21