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Volunteer Chaplains

About the role

Volunteer chaplains freely give of their time to pastorally care for prisoners in Queensland. This is done in accordance to a Service Level Agreement which Inside Out Prison Chaplaincy has entered into with Queensland Corrective Services.

Typically a volunteer chaplain will be assigned to one Correctional Centre which they will visit one day a week according to the local team roster. This is referred to as a “duty day”. While in a Correctional Centre, chaplains may be asked to visit individual prisoners. A chaplain can freely enter a unit, if security protocols allow, to make themselves available to those prisoners present. Chaplains are also expected to lead a chapel service in a prison on a Sunday about once every six weeks.

Chaplains also participate in the local Chaplaincy Team Meeting at a Correctional Centre at least once a quarter although monthly is preferable. To find out more about the pastoral needs of prisoners, please consult the State Chaplaincy Board Handbook particularly pages four to 20.

Requirements

Our chaplains recognise they are bound by legal and ethical requirements. They enter into prisons as “professional religious visitors” with respect for the authorities of the Correctional Centre and the laws of Queensland and the Commonwealth of Australia. They are expected to work respectfully and ecumenically within the broader chaplaincy team of prisons.

As chaplains, we are required to comply with:

  • The Corrective Services Act, Queensland;
  • The QCS Procedure “Religious Visitors”;
  • The QCS “Code of Conduct”;
  • The local procedures of Correctional Centres as prescribed by the General Manager; and
  • The SCB “ethical guidelines”.

Breaches of these rules and procedures may result in disciplinary action and potentially criminal charges by Queensland Police.

Training

It can take up to 12 months to become a Duty Chaplain. We seek to ensure high-quality people represent Inside Out Prison Chaplaincy in the State’s prisons. Queensland Correctional Services (QCS) seeks to ensure people visiting prisons are doing the right thing. Our chaplains must complete criminal history check as well as demonstrate acceptable behaviour while visiting correctional centres. We also require chaplains to demonstrate their ability as pastoral carers through appropriate training or equivalent ministry experience.

As this role is a volunteer ministry based on demonstrated competencies, we recognise a mandatory qualification is not the most suitable way of assessing an applicant for a position and that is why we interview all applicants.

Chaplains must complete custodial awareness training by QCS and a local induction inside a correctional facility before being allowed to move throughout the facility unescorted. After this our chaplains are supervision by an experienced Duty Chaplain for about three months until they are nominated by Inside Out Prison Chaplaincy to the State Chaplaincy Board and finally approved by QCS.