We need faith-based school chaplaincy

#955 for broadcast on 2CH Sydney, 7 Sep 2014.

The NSW Council of Churches welcomes the Abbott Government’s proposal to fund school chaplaincy after a High Court decision in June ruled that the Commonwealth lacked executive power to fund the National School Chaplaincy Program.

Under the new arrangement, States and Territories will be eligible to receive the same federal funding but run the programs themselves.

“Students in NSW schools need the support that chaplains bring,” the President of the NSW Council of Churches, the Reverend Dr Ross Clifford, said today.

“We encourage the Baird Government to agree to the federal proposal to fund faith-based school chaplaincy, and guarantee continued funding of existing chaplaincy programs in NSW schools,” Dr Clifford said.

School chaplains build positive relationships with students and staff, and contribute to the spiritual and emotional wellbeing of the school community in ways that are simply not possible for social workers and mental health workers.

I’m Rod Benson for the NSW Council of Churches.