Section outline

  • Eleven units | Approximately one hundred and ten minutes | Followed by the Module 6 quiz

    What this module is about

    This is where the course earns its claim to serve the English-speaking world. It covers the principles that hold in every jurisdiction, the distinction between confidentiality and secrecy, the genuinely contested question of the seal of confession, the frameworks of the United Kingdom and Ireland, the United States and Canada, Australia and New Zealand, and South Africa, and the skill of verifying your own duty from a primary source.

    Every unit here carries the short-form disclaimer, and every jurisdiction unit closes with the date its content was verified. This course is education, not legal advice.

    What is assessed, and what is not

    You are assessed on the principles that hold everywhere, on which framework governs where you serve and broadly what it requires, and on the skill of verification. You are never assessed on a section number, a statutory threshold, or the law of a specific state, province, or territory — because those change, and a course that tested you on them would be testing you on something that may be wrong by the time you sit the quiz.

    By the end of this module, you will be able to:

    • State the six principles that hold everywhere, including that internal reporting never discharges an external duty.
    • Distinguish confidentiality, privacy, and secrecy by asking who is being protected.
    • Set out the range of positions on the seal of confession without adjudicating between them, and settle your own in advance.
    • Identify which framework governs you across the nine jurisdictions this course covers.
    • Verify your own duty from a primary source, record the date, and re-check annually.
    • Explain why data protection permits safeguarding sharing and has never prohibited it.
    • Handle an allegation against a leader with protective restriction, fair process, and non-retaliation.
    • Hold both truths about allegations: unsubstantiated is not false, and fear of false allegation must never silence concern.

    Sources

    All legal content in this module derives from the Institute's Source and Legal Verification Report and is re-verified annually. Source tables identify the material that supports the teaching. Where a table uses the key, ✓ means that teaching drawn from the source forms part of the assessed content; ✕ identifies optional further reading, which is not assessed directly. You are not required to read every linked external resource in full.

    Assessment

    Twenty questions drawn at random from a bank of sixty, twenty-five minutes, eighty per cent to pass, two attempts, highest grade. It covers this module only.

    Before you move on

    • All eleven units marked as done.
    • Unit 6.8 completed in earnest: your own duty verified from a primary source, the date recorded, and a reminder set twelve months out.
    • The Module 6 quiz passed.
    • Unit 6.1 — Law is the floor, not the ceiling Page
    • Unit 6.2 — Confidentiality, privacy, and secrecy Page
    • Unit 6.3 — Confession and pastoral confidence: where traditions and laws differ Page
    • Unit 6.4 — The United Kingdom and Ireland Page
    • Unit 6.5 — The United States and Canada Page
    • Unit 6.6 — Australia and New Zealand Page
    • Unit 6.7 — South Africa Page
    • Unit 6.8 — Finding and verifying your own duty Page
    • Unit 6.9 — Data protection and safeguarding records Page
    • Unit 6.10 — Allegations against leaders, whistleblowing, and non-retaliation Page
    • Unit 6.11 — False, malicious, and unsubstantiated allegations Page
    • Module 6 Quiz — Law, reporting, confidentiality, accountability