Posts in category: Q&A

Dr Patricia Bonello is a social worker and Head of DISCERN, the Archdiocese of Malta’s research institute. Dr Bonello reflects on DISCERN’s collaboration with the Safeguarding Commission and its recent research concerning the care and accompaniment of Subjects of Complaint (SOCs).

This research marks one of the first formal collaborations between DISCERN and the Safeguarding Commission. From your perspective, what made this collaboration important?

DISCERN, as the Archdiocese’s Institute for Research on the Signs of the Times, is firmly committed to collaborating with entities both within and beyond the Archdiocese on research projects related to the Catholic Church in Malta. Safeguarding within Church communities is becoming increasingly important and, locally, the Safeguarding Commission is at the forefront of safeguarding initiatives, giving a clear sign that the Church needs to be a safe space for everybody and taking concrete action to make it safer.

When approached by the Safeguarding Commission to undertake this research, DISCERN therefore welcomed the opportunity, both to strengthen the evidence-based dimension of the Commission’s work and as a way of contributing to a safer Church.

What has the experience of conducting this research been like so far, especially when listening to different voices and contexts within Church life?

The care of Subjects of Complaint (SOCs), which was the focus of this research, is a sensitive and complex area. Throughout the research, particular care was given to listening attentively and respectfully to the different experiences and perspectives that emerged.

One consistent message was that the safety, care and needs of victims and survivors must remain the central priority in safeguarding. At the same time, participants reflected on the challenges involved in responding appropriately to SOCs and in supporting those who accompany them through safeguarding processes.

The research has highlighted the importance of clear structures of care, appropriate support, and a safeguarding approach that holds together compassion, accountability and the prevention of further harm. It has also shown the value of listening carefully to the different people affected by safeguarding processes and recognising the complexity of the situations involved.

Without going into the findings themselves, were there any aspects of the research process that helped you see safeguarding work in a new or deeper way?

The research reinforced how important it is for safeguarding systems to provide appropriate care and support to everyone affected by a safeguarding process, while keeping the safety and needs of victims and survivors at the centre.

It also highlighted the complexity of accompaniment. Supporting a Subject of Complaint (SOC) can require careful boundaries, clarity of roles and appropriate structures, particularly where several people or communities are affected by the same situation.

More broadly, the research showed that safeguarding is not only about responding to individual concerns. It also involves supporting the wider communities affected, strengthening accountability and helping to create conditions in which further harm is less likely to occur.

Why is research of this kind important for strengthening safeguarding practice, policy and accountability in Malta and Gozo?

Effective safeguarding depends on clear policies, sound practice and strong structures of accountability. Research helps ensure that these are informed not only by principles and standards, but also by the experiences of people involved in safeguarding processes.

This project also explored an area that can sometimes receive less attention: appropriate care for the Subject of Complaint. An SOC is a person against whom a safeguarding concern or allegation has been raised; the term does not in itself mean that the allegation has been substantiated.

Respect for the dignity of an SOC does not lessen the priority given to victims and survivors, nor does support replace accountability. Where harmful behaviour is established, appropriate support can form part of a wider response that promotes responsibility, addresses risk and seeks to prevent further harm.

Research of this kind can therefore help safeguarding practice continue to develop in ways that are evidence-based, accountable and attentive to the complexity of real situations.

As this work moves towards being shared more widely, what do you hope people will take from the research and from this collaboration?

I hope the research helps people recognise that the care of Subjects of Complaint is a difficult but necessary part of a comprehensive safeguarding response. Appropriate support can be provided while maintaining the safety, dignity and priority owed to victims and survivors.

The collaboration between DISCERN and the Safeguarding Commission also shows the value of bringing research and safeguarding practice into conversation. Research can offer a critical and independent perspective, while safeguarding practice brings experience of the realities and challenges encountered in this field.

By working together, the two organisations can continue to examine difficult questions carefully and constructively, with the wider aim of strengthening safeguarding practice within the Church.

For more information about DISCERN, please visit: https://discern.mt

Ahead of the International Safeguarding Conference at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome, Ms Carly Attard Zarb reflects on safeguarding leadership, social work, prevention, and the formation of future practitioners.

You are facilitating one of the online working groups before the International Safeguarding Conference in Rome this June. What has that experience been like?

The preparatory phase has been an enriching and formative experience, bringing together practitioners from diverse cultural and professional contexts with a shared commitment to advancing safeguarding for children and vulnerable adults. It has provided a valuable platform for the exchange of knowledge, good practice, and perspectives across different systems and realities.

Representing the Safeguarding Commission of the Church in Malta in this context has been both an honour and a responsibility. I anticipate that both the preparatory work and the conference itself will highlight that, despite contextual differences, the core principles and values underpinning safeguarding remain universally shared and consistently upheld.

What does being Lead Safeguarding Officer involve?

While our safeguarding practice is inherently collaborative and grounded in shared responsibility, the role of Lead Safeguarding Officer has required a heightened level of accountability, particularly in overseeing investigations and assessments.

This has necessitated meticulous attention to detail, ensuring that processes are thoroughly followed and that safeguarding principles are consistently translated into practice. The role has also underscored the importance of supporting and guiding the team, bringing the different teams together, while working closely with and under the guidance of the Head of Safeguarding to uphold the highest professional standards.

Ultimately, it has demonstrated that leadership in safeguarding is defined by integrity, responsibility, and a steadfast commitment to those whose lives are impacted by our work.

How are safeguarding and social work connected?

Safeguarding is often narrowly perceived as the remit of child protection services or reduced to a matter of procedural compliance. In reality, it is a shared, cross-sectoral responsibility that extends beyond responding to risk once statutory thresholds are met.

Safeguarding encompasses prevention, early identification, ethical responsibility, responsiveness, and accountability. It converges with social work through shared values, principles, and ethical foundations. Safeguarding, similarly to social work, also demands a distinctly proactive and preventative approach, moving beyond risk management towards a culture of awareness, care, responsibility, and continuous improvement in practice.

What do you wish you had known about safeguarding at the start of your career?

Despite its inherent challenges, safeguarding can have a profound and meaningful impact when grounded in research, evidence-based practice, multidisciplinary collaboration, and strong ethical responsibility.

Experience has shown me that, when these elements are in place, safeguarding practice can truly make a difference in people’s lives and can become very rewarding on a professional-practice level.

What should Malta emphasise when forming future social workers in safeguarding?

I would advocate for greater emphasis on practical exposure to safeguarding preventative approaches, policy development, and safeguarding risk management procedures.

Strengthening these areas would better equip future social workers with the skills and insight needed to engage with safeguarding not only as a reactive function, but as a proactive and strategic aspect of professional practice.

Ms Carly Attard Zarb is Lead Safeguarding Officer at the Safeguarding Commission of the Church in Malta. Her work involves safeguarding investigations and assessments, multidisciplinary collaboration, prevention, policy awareness, and risk management.

Casey Scicluna

Senior Manager, Richmond Foundation’

Where do you most often see safeguarding misunderstood or reduced within mental healthcare?

Safeguarding in mental healthcare is most often reduced to procedural compliance rather than understood as a continuous, relational responsibility. It is frequently treated as synonymous with reporting abuse to authorities or completing risk assessment forms, rather than as an embedded ethos of care. In many settings, safeguarding becomes conflated with risk management — particularly the management of risk to others — rather than protection from harm, coercion, neglect, or systemic failure.

Another common misunderstanding is equating safeguarding solely with children’s services or with severe physical abuse. In adult mental healthcare, issues such as overmedication, inappropriate use of restrictive practices, financial exploitation, digital vulnerability, or institutional neglect may not be recognised as safeguarding concerns.

What makes safeguarding distinct from, but inseparable from, good clinical care?

Safeguarding is distinct because it focuses specifically on protection from harm, abuse, neglect, exploitation, and violations of rights. It introduces legal, ethical, and human rights frameworks that extend beyond symptom treatment or diagnosis. Good clinical care may reduce particular mental health challenges whilst safeguarding ensures that, in doing so, the person’s dignity, autonomy, and safety are preserved.

However, safeguarding should be an integral part of good care because harm in mental health settings can occur through clinical processes themselves — for example, inappropriate restraint, failure to obtain informed consent and lack of trauma-informed approaches. A technically competent intervention delivered without attention to power imbalance or vulnerability can inadvertently create harm.

What struck you most about how safeguarding was framed at the Safeguarding Commission 2025 conference?

What stood out most was the shift from viewing safeguarding as reactive investigation toward understanding it as systemic prevention. The emphasis appeared to move beyond incident response and toward culture, governance, and accountability.

What concrete vulnerabilities in Maltese mental healthcare need clearer safeguarding responses?

In Malta, centralisation of services may create safeguarding pressures. Mental Health Facilities can carry significant demand or aging infrastructure can heighten risks related to privacy, dignity and institutional neglect.

Limited community alternatives may increase reliance on inpatient care and restrictive practices.  Transitions, such as movement from child to adult services, present vulnerability point requiring coordinated safeguarding oversight.

Malta’s close-knit social structure may complicate confidentiality and reporting. Stigma remains a safeguarding concern; when individuals with mental illness are perceived as unreliable, disclosures of harm may be discounted.

If Malta treated safeguarding in mental health as a national priority, what would need to change first?

If safeguarding in mental health were to be treated as a true national priority in Malta, the first essential change would be the development of a comprehensive, unified national safeguarding framework specifically tailored to mental health services. While safeguarding responsibilities currently sit across health, social services, and legal structures, greater clarity, coordination, and accountability are needed. A national strategy should clearly define reporting procedures, interagency collaboration, risk management standards, and oversight mechanisms.

Investment in workforce development would also be critical. Mandatory and ongoing training in trauma-informed care, risk recognition, and early intervention should extend beyond mental health professionals to educators, community workers, and law enforcement.

Improved data collection and monitoring systems would strengthen transparency and allow for evidence-based planning. Finally, meaningful service user and family involvement in policy design would be necessary. Sustainable safeguarding depends not only on legislation, but on fostering a culture that consistently prioritises prevention, dignity, and timely response across all services.