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Catholic Diocese of Cairns

One core course, four role-based pathways. How we built Child Safe Standards training for the Diocese of Cairns that stays relevant and easy to maintain.

The Catholic Diocese of Cairns

Snapshot

Industry
Industry
Education / Faith-based Organisations / Child Safety
Tools
Tools
Chameleon Creator, Vyond
Project Duration
Project Duration
6 months
Learning Strategies
Learning Strategies
Storytelling, branching scenarios, reflection, role-specific learning pathways, knowledge checks, downloadable resources, future refresher pathway
Delivery Method
Delivery Method
eLearning
Deliverables
Deliverables
One core Child Safety eLearning course, Four role-specific cohort courses, SCORM packages, Future refresher version for 2026/2027 rollout
Objective
Objective
Design a scalable child safety learning ecosystem that provides a shared foundation for everyone across the Diocese while delivering tailored learning pathways for different workforce cohorts and supporting ongoing compliance through future refresher learning.

Client

The Catholic Diocese of Cairns supports Catholic education, early learning, parish communities and social services across Far North Queensland. Through its schools, early childhood services, parishes and community ministries, the Diocese is committed to creating environments where children and young people are safe, respected and able to thrive.

The Catholic Diocese of Cairns

To strengthen child safety capability across its diverse workforce, the Diocese partnered with Hungry Minds to create a contemporary learning experience aligned to the Queensland Child Safe Standards and tailored to the unique responsibilities of different learner groups.

The need

The Diocese needed more than a compliance course.

With learners spanning teachers, school leaders, parish staff, childcare educators, volunteers and corporate employees, a single generic course would struggle to remain relevant to everyone. The learning needed to establish a consistent understanding of child safety across the organisation while recognising that each cohort has different responsibilities, decision-making contexts and reporting obligations.

The Catholic Diocese of Cairns

The solution also needed to be sustainable, allowing future updates and refresher training without rebuilding the entire program.

The learning solution

Rather than developing five completely separate courses, we developed a scalable learning architecture consisting of a core Child Safety course that establishes the shared knowledge every learner needs, followed by role-specific courses that explore the responsibilities, scenarios and decisions most relevant to each cohort.

This approach reduced duplication, created consistency across the Diocese and ensured every learner received training that felt meaningful to their role.

Applying our full ADDIE learning design methodology, we worked to transform legislation, policies and Child Safe Standards into engaging, learner-centred experiences that promote understanding, reflection and practical application.

The Catholic Diocese of Cairns

The learning ecosystem included: 

  • A shared core Child Safety course completed by all learners
  • Four tailored cohort courses for different workforce groups
  • Realistic scenarios that allow learners to practise making decisions in context
  • Reflection activities that encourage learners to consider how child safety applies in their own role
  • Interactive learning experiences designed to simplify complex legislation and policy
  • Downloadable workplace resources to support learning beyond the course
  • SCORM and HTML delivery for flexible implementation across learning platforms

The outcome

The Diocese now has a scalable learning ecosystem that provides a consistent child safety foundation while delivering learning that is relevant to the everyday responsibilities of different workforce groups. By designing one shared learning architecture with tailored pathways, Hungry Minds created a solution that is easier to maintain, more engaging for learners and better positioned to evolve alongside future legislative and organisational requirements.

The inclusion of a dedicated refresher pathway also ensures the program can continue supporting compliance and capability development well beyond its initial rollout, providing lasting value for the Diocese.

The team

Michael

Michael

Managing Partner & Senior Learning Designer
20 years across senior HR, organisational development, L&D, sales/marketing, instructional design and general management roles.
Claire

Claire

Senior Instructional Designer
A passionate educator who has taught in primary and secondary schools. Her superpower is graphic design – adding critical visual communication value for her lucky clients.
Anthony

Anthony

UI/UX & LX Designer
A rich background in UI/UX, web and graphic design – crafting immersive learning programs that blend aesthetics with effective pedagogy.