Stage 1: Ready

Purpose: Ministry Endorsement
Due Date: 12-6mnths prior

Ready is the starting line, it establishes that your ministry is endorsed to run, that the right leadership is in place, and that what you’re planning aligns with SU NSW’s Aims, Beliefs and Working Principles.

For a new ministry it captures your vision and goals; for a continuing one it’s a simple annual check-in, because directors, risks and circumstances change year to year. You’ll appoint your director, give us the preliminary details – event type, who you’re reaching, location and dates – and the website and social media information we need to publish you. It’s also where we get early sight of anything needing extra support or attention.

Once Ready is approved, we publish your event, open team member applications, open participant Expression of Interests (if applicable) and you’re officially clear to advertise.

Stage 2: Set

Purpose: Safety Planning
Due Date: 4-3 months prior

Set is where you build your safety plan, working through every dimension of your ministry across four short forms: Program and activity risk management (2.1), People (2.2), Place and Transport (2.3), and Budget (2.4 -expenses, funding and registration fees).

This is the discipline of thorough preparation: risks identified and managed, the right people in the right roles, and the information we need to give you the green light. A risk assessment library means standard risk plans can simply be matched to your activities, location and travel (modified if required).

Once Set is approved, you can open participant registrations, send payment links to your team, and access team funds.

Stage 3: Go

Purpose: Active Risk Management & Final Approval
Due Date: 1 mnth-2 weeks prior

Go is where planning becomes action – the final check and your formal permission to proceed. Its heart is your safety briefings: team member induction, participant induction, activity safety briefings and daily team briefings. This is what stops all your good preparation from simply living on paper. It’s how the plan actually reaches the people who need it. Go also confirms your team is fully screened and approved, that participant information has been reviewed and is accessible offline during your ministry, and that any changes to program, site, transport or contingencies since Set have been logged.

Once Go is approved, you have final permission to run, your details go to the Incident Response Team, and you can begin knowing you’ve prepared well and your team knows what to do.

Stage 4: Grow

Purpose: Review & Wrap-up
Due Date: 1 month post

Grow closes the loop. It’s where ministry sharpens over time. When the event’s done it’s tempting to collapse in a heap, but this is where you capture the lessons and the celebrations while they’re still fresh: reconciling your finances, tidying up records and reports, reflecting on what worked and what you’d change, and noting dates and succession for next time.

Grow is what turns one ministry’s experience into lasting knowledge and ensures effective record-keeping.