Organisations Working with Children Check obligations and responsibilities

A prescribed position is one where an employee or volunteer who works with children, or works in a position where during the ordinary course of their duties, it’s reasonably foreseeable that they'll work with children.

You must not employ a new person, or continue to employ a person, in a prescribed position unless you have verified that the person has had a Working with Children Check (WWCC) conducted in the preceding 5 years, and that they're not prohibited from working with children.

Verification

Verification is the process of confirming that a potential new employee or an existing employee has had a WWCC and is not prohibited from working with children.

Employers and organisations verify a WWCC through their organisation portal by generating a Certificate of Interrogation. Sighting a person’s WWCC outcome email is not sufficient.

Login to the organisation portal

Employers and organisations who register an interest in their employees and volunteers will get email notifications from the Screening Unit if the person’s WWCC status changes. For example, if the WWCC expires.

Prohibited from working with children

If you get an email from the Screening Unit advising you that a current employee has become prohibited from working with children, you must immediately remove them from a prescribed position. It does not matter if they are paid or unpaid, supervised or unsupervised.

Employers who do not comply with these requirements are guilty of an offence under the Child Safety (Prohibited Persons) Act 2016.

Responsibilities

As an employer you must:

• identify and keep records of roles within your organisation that are prescribed positions and need a Working with Children Check
• register your organisation with the Screening Unit and set-up an organisation portal, nominate users to perform certain functions and receive notifications from the Screening Unit
• keep your organisation portal user contact details up to date
• verify new employees and volunteers have a WWCC before they work in a prescribed position
• confirm existing employees or volunteers renew their WWCC every 5 years
• keep records of when you have verified an employee's WWCC
• register an interest of everyone working in a prescribed position through your organisation portal
• manage employee WWCC expiry and renewal, including starting applications on their behalf
• remove any employee from a prescribed position:
  • whose WWCC has expired and ensure the person doesn't work with children
  • who is prohibited from working with children and ensure prohibited persons do not work with children.