Integrity in our Common Mission is a National Code of Conduct for those exercising pastoral ministry in the dioceses of the Catholic Church in Australia. These include bishops, priests, deacons, seminarians, religious, lay men, and lay women who are exercising a pastoral ministry in the name of the diocese, its parishes and agencies. This pastoral ministry may be by appointment or may be exercised in a voluntary capacity. It provides a framework to be applied to a variety of settings, experiences, relationships, and pastoral engagements in daily ministry. 

The principles in Integrity in Our Common Mission have been developed to guide, form, strengthen, and affirm those behaviours which are expected of all engaged in the ministries of the Church: in parish and sacramental life, education, health and community services, pastoral care, social welfare support, and the variety of other ministries to which people of faith are called.

Integrity in our Common Mission was developed in response to a recommendation of the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse which stipulated that Codes of Conduct in religious institutions should explicitly and equally apply to people in religious ministry and to lay people. Any person performing pastoral work at the request of or under the ultimate supervision of a diocesan bishop must comply with this Code of Conduct. 

Integrity in our Common Mission was implemented in 2023 and replaces all previous Codes of Conduct. It is endorsed by the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference. 

“It is our firm hope this code of conduct will be a living resource that will form a culture of quality and excellence that directs, guides and strengthens our shared mission” – (ACBC 2023)

You can access Integrity in Our Common Mission here: Integrity-in-our-Common-Mission-November-2023.pdf (acsltd.org.au)