Anglican Church of Australia Sydney Diocese
PSU v Drew
The Professional Advice of a Non-Professional
About the rev. Peter Barnett
By Drew
Who is the rev. Peter Barnett?
This is “Pastor Pete”, the rev. Peter Barnett[1]. Associated with the godspace resources, he is the creator, writer and frontman for The Shed. Our family have been listening to “Pastor Pete” and his puppets from The Shed for years. We saw the puppets in the kid’s tent at the Black Stump Festival and our kids’ primary school have utilised the godspace resources featuring the puppets, for Scripture. I guess as a trained teacher and Baptist minister, this all makes sense.
Then we met “Pastor Pete”, the rev. Peter Barnett and came to see a very different, very disturbing side of him.
This is who we know him to be now:
The rev. Peter Barnett is a self-appointed expert in Safe Ministry and Child Protection.
The rev. Peter Barnett, as the Director of Safe Ministry Resources Pty Ltd is contracted out to various Christian organisations to oversee or give advice on “abuse prevention and response”[2].
The rev. Peter Barnett is the National Coordinator of the Safe Training Ministry Agreement for the National Council of Churches in Australia.
The rev. Peter Barnett has been employed by numerous dioceses of the Anglican Church, Baptist Church, Uniting Church, Salvation Army, Churches of Christ and Seventh Day Adventist amongst others.
What else? From Pippa’s and my experience –
Despite the fact that he is not a lawyer he advises regarding legal matters.
Despite the fact that he is not a psychologist or counsellor he advises regarding psychological matters.
Despite the fact that he is not a social worker he advises regarding children and youth safety matters.
Despite the fact that he is the National Coordinator of the Safe Training Ministry Agreement for the National Council of Churches in Australia he can advise and has advised on how to avoid criminal charges for committing sexual abuse AND keep working with children
How Pippa and I met the rev. Peter Barnett
At our first meeting on 23 November 2012, with Lachlan Bryant, Director Professional Standards Unit, Sydney Diocese of the Anglican Church (PSU), we were introduced to the rev. Peter Barnett. We had no prior knowledge that the rev. Peter Barnett was going to be at this meeting, one that we had requested in order to simply chat with Lachlan Bryant. Lachlan Bryant told us that the rev. Peter Barnett was the Director of the Professional Standards Units in the Bathurst and Riverina Anglican Church dioceses and that he had 13 years of experience in Safe Ministry. Not surprisingly therefore, we assumed that he would actually know what he was talking about. The rev. Peter Barnett took charge of the meeting, apparently because Lachlan Bryant had only been in his positon for a number of months and was less experienced[3].
The rev. Peter Barnett’s ‘Professional’ Advice
- The rev. Peter Barnett told me at the beginning of the meeting that our discussion was not a legal one, that I could be open and speak my mind.
I have since discovered that every conversation with the Professional Standards Unit of the Sydney Diocese of the Anglican Church is a legal one, that is, it has legal consequences.
When Lachlan Bryant, a lawyer and the Director PSU representing the complainant as if he was a client, met with an unrepresented party, me, to discuss legal matters, the rev. Peter Barnett, the ‘professional’ with 13 years’ experience, did not correct such a monumental mistake. It was actually the rev. Peter Barnett who explained to us that Lachlan Bryant was a lawyer.
- The rev. Peter Barnett told me that I was guilty of a criminal offence and that the complainant could press criminal charges with the Police.
The rev. Peter Barnett has no legal qualifications to make such a statement. Lachlan Bryant does have legal qualifications and yet he failed to correct the rev. Peter Barnett’s inaccurate understanding of the criminal law.
We have had several lawyers examine the original complaint in detail and none have been able to ascertain the actions that constituted the criminal charge to which the rev. Peter Barnett was referring.
When I said to Lachlan Bryant and the rev. Peter Barnett that I had no idea that I had done anything illegal and that I was surprised that the Anglican Church had not trained me to be aware of such possible breaches, the rev. Peter Barnett said “It is your responsibility to know the law for yourself”.
The rev. Peter Barnett told me that, in his professional opinion, if I responded quickly by writing an unqualified apology, it would be unlikely that the complainant would press charges and we would be ‘back in ministry in Queensland by Christmas’.
This matter is significant because on the basis that the complainant could push for a criminal charge I agreed to do whatever the rev. Peter Barnett, the Professional Standards Director and Lachlan Bryant, Professional Standards Director for Sydney diocese told me to do.
- The rev. Peter Barnett told me that I was guilty of sexual abuse and that they would have to notify the Commission for Children and Young People (CCYP) now Office of the Children’s Guardian (OCG).
A notification was sent by Lachlan Bryant, to the CCYP, stating that I had confessed to sexual misconduct. I did not confess to sexual misconduct in that first meeting. I did everything possible to refute this. However, despite the efforts of both my wife and I, the rev. Peter Barnett labelled my actions as sexual abuse and grooming behaviour, in his professional opinion, and since Lachlan Bryant, a lawyer, agreed with the rev. Peter Barnett, I accepted that they must be right.
The notification to the OCG has now been removed by Lachlan Bryant because there was nothing in the first draft of the complaint or in the current more detailed statutory declaration of the complainant that warrants the label of sexual abuse or grooming behaviour. This is confirmed by the fact that the charge made against me before the Anglican Church Disciplinary Tribunal does not contain either term.
At our second meeting with Lachlan Bryant and the rev. Peter Barnett, we questioned the rev. Peter Barnett’s definition of sexual abuse and grooming behaviour, because these labels are defined by intent. His response was that “It is impossible to determine intent”. Ironically this is precisely what he had done in the first meeting when he labelled innocent, legal, moral actions as sexual abuse and grooming behaviour.
- The rev. Peter Barnett told me that if I wished to work for a church in Queensland that I would need to have an agreed “Safety Plan” in place.
In our first meeting the rev. Peter Barnett explained that a safety plan was necessary so that insurance would cover my presence at the church. This is the protocol for paedophiles. In these “safety plans”, strict rules apply about who the person can talk to and where they can go in the building. I was stunned that I now had such restrictions and told my wife that I would no longer work for a church or even attend church under these conditions, but I would support her if she wished to go with the children.
However, in the second meeting with Lachlan Bryant and the rev. Peter Barnett, when we inquired about attending a church in our current location in NSW, the rev. Peter Barnett’s professional advice to us was “Don’t tell me what church it is! Just go under cover”. We were staggered by his response. One moment he was talking about the need for a “safety plan” because I was a threat to children and the next he was telling us to pretend nothing had ever happened.
We told the rev. Peter Barnett we were unwilling to “go under cover” and told him the name of the church that we wished to attend. After hearing nothing from him for three months, we began attending the service but leaving quickly afterwards. The rev. Peter Barnett finally made contact with us and said that he would talk to the church on our behalf.
We gave clear instructions that we did not want him to do so. He texted “Is everything alright?” I replied, “No”. Despite this, we were called to a meeting with members of the ministry team. I fully expected them to say I could no longer attend. But we explained our battle with the PSU Sydney Diocese and they listened. I have not done any ministry with children or youth in any capacity during the last three years but have enjoyed fellowship and prayer support.
- When we asked about future ministry, the rev. Peter Barnett’s professional advice was “You could try working in another state or another denomination or in an independent Christian organisation”.
The rev. Peter Barnett explained that other denominations were not so advanced as the Anglican Church in their Safe Ministry Practice. Lachlan Bryant concurred with the rev. Peter Barnett and said that authorities (such as the police) don’t always forward information to other states[4]. They suggested that we could continue to work at the Christian camping organisation in Queensland (which mainly caters for children) where we had come from, since they had an independent board and could choose whomever they wanted to employ. Lachlan Bryant expressed surprise, two months after the first meeting that we had not returned to ministry in Queensland[5].
On one hand, the rev. Peter Barnett was saying I was guilty of child sex abuse, and on the other hand, he was encouraging us to seek work in ministry elsewhere (outside their jurisdiction). This sounded like some major cover-up such as the ones unveiled by the Royal Commission and we could not believe that this was the advice of the rev. Peter Barnett, Director PSU and Director of Safe Ministry Resources.
- At the first and second meetings, Lachlan Bryant and the rev. Peter Barnett failed to follow the Discipline Ordinance 2006 (Sydney diocese).
Lachlan Bryant told us at the conclusion of the first meeting that because I no longer worked for the Diocese, the Ordinance did not apply to me. The rev. Peter Barnett, the professional with 13 years’ experience, did not correct such a monumental mistake. Lachlan Bryant has now confessed (to our lawyer and to the Archbishop of Sydney) that he was in error in this assessment. As a result of being denied the protection of the Discipline Ordinance 2006, I was not given the usual time frame of “not less than 21 days” to reflect on the situation, to secure legal advice before responding and to submit a considered defence. The rev. Peter Barnett clearly had no issues with this denial of my rights.
- The rev. Peter Barnett, Director, Safe Ministry Resources has claimed “no legal liability” for his actions.
When we asked the rev. Peter Barnett to apologise for his unprofessional conduct at the first meeting and the subsequent denial of justice and fair process as stated above and to pay for counselling for our family (the very advice he gave us as responsible actions in response to the complaints against me) we received a reply from his lawyers which stated that the rev. Peter Barnett has no legal liability to me, my wife or our family. At least the rev. Peter Barnett had the wisdom – or at least, the sense of self-preservation – at this point, not to follow his own professional advice.
It is astounding that a Director of a company specialising in Safe Ministry Practice, with no professional qualifications in the area, is giving professional advice to multiple organisations and can act in this way with no liability for his mistakes!
Rev. Peter Barnett: if you have really been able to set up that sort of an arrangement where you can cause devastation and emotional damage to me and my wife and our four children and real financial loss; where you can threaten the faith of the very many people who passed through my hands in so many years of youth ministry; and where you can give false advice, all without accepting any responsibility let alone liability at law, then that is the area in which you are truly professional.
But a small reminder from one pastor to another: God does not pay attention to human legal liability. He is concerned about responsibility before him. Search your heart, rev. Peter Barnett, because God certainly does.
If you have had similar dealings with rev. Peter Barnett, please feel free to contact Louise Greentree on louise@churchdispute.com
Please read some of our other posts on this website. And please pray for us and our family.
End Notes
[1] Picture downloaded from http://www.godspace.org.au/meet_the_team.html visited 17 August 2015
[2] Quoted from http://www.godspace.org.au/meet_the_team.html visited 9 September 2015
[3] Archbishop Glenn Davies told us that Lachlan Bryant was “inexperienced” at that first meeting when he spoke with us in his Office on 24 February 2015.
[4] Email Lachlan Bryant to Pippa 19 April 2013
[5] Email Lachlan Bryant to Pippa 21 January 2015