Tag: expiry

How does the one month grace period work with online training?

A person must complete their online training including the webinar within 3 years and 1 month from their last training. The one month extra is a grace period and should not be taken unless absolutely necessary.

It is important to keep in mind that at busy times of the year, it may take 2-3 weeks after completing the self-paced part of the course before a space in a webinar is available.
It is recommended that you allow 1-2 months to complete all components of the online training before the expiry date of any current training.

What happens if my course enrolment expires before I finish the course?

The online Safe Ministry Essentials and Refresher course both have an enrolment period of six months.
You should complete all the self-paced topics, the live webinar and the post-webinar topic within that period.

If your course enrolment (six months) expires before you can complete your training (including the webinar and post webinar Topic), then you will need to ‘Enrol‘ and pay for your course again, which will gain you an additional enrolment period, and you will need to start your course from the beginning .

What happens when my Safe Ministry training expires?

Safe Ministry Training lasts for three years.

When the Safe Ministry Training expiry date approaches for an existing worker in your church (volunteer or paid), they should:

  • Make every effort to complete the Refresher course BEFORE the expiry date.
  • If this is impossible to comply with*, they should complete the Refresher course within 30 days after their certificate expiry date. Note: where training is completed online, all aspects of the training including the webinar must be completed prior to the 30 day grace period expiring.

If a Refresher course is not completed within 30 days after their certificate expiry date, the leader should step down from their ministry role(s), and complete the ‘Essentials‘ course again before resuming their role.

*If there are very unusual circumstances such as serious medical reasons or the person is overseas, some leniency should be offered, but before doing so, the Safe Ministry Rep or Minister should contact the Safe Ministry Parish Consultant to discuss the details.
The Safe Ministry Board clarified and confirmed the above details as policy at their December 2016 meeting. This underscores the importance for all church workers keeping track of their training dates.

How long do the online courses take to complete?

In general, the online courses will probably take a similar amount of time as the face to face training has done – 2.5 hours for Refresher and up to 5 hours for Essentials. The actual amount of time will however depend on the individual and how fast they read, absorb and interact with the information.

Remember that much of the online courses are self-paced, meaning that you do not have to complete them in one sitting, however, the live webinar only happens at fixed days/times each month, and if it is a busy period, you may need to wait up to two weeks for a free spot in a webinar.

When you enrol in online training, your enrolment lasts for six months and ALL aspects of the training need to be completed within that period.
Your enrolment expiry is displayed on your Dashboard and the course landing page and you will be sent reminder emails throughout the enrolment period.