Working with Children Check Reform
The protection of children from the risk of harm is a priority for all Australian governments. Working with children check schemes form part of a broader suite of practices that help to protect children from abuse. The Commonwealth, state and territory governments are committed to continually improving these schemes in an effort to make organisations safer for children.
The National Standards for Working With Children Checks provide nationally consistent parameters for screening, including:
- who needs a check
- risk assessment
- relevant criminal history
- clearance types
- compliance.
The National Principles for Child Safe Organisations provide a nationally consistent approach to embedding child safe cultures within organisations that engage with children.
National Principle 5 focuses on ensuring people working with children and young people are suitable and supported to reflect child safety and wellbeing values in practice. A key action area for National Principle 5 is that relevant staff and volunteers are subject to appropriate pre-screening and have current working with children checks.
While the primary responsibility for recruiting appropriate staff and providing a child-safe environment rests with employers, a working with children check can support employers in fulfilling this responsibility.
Note: States and territories are responsible for implementing the National Principles (or equivalent standards) within their jurisdiction and may have requirements for organisations working with children and young people, including through relevant child safe legislation.
State and territory working with children check information
A single screening unit has been set up in each state and territory to conduct working with children checks and issue the resulting cards, registrations or permits. The following state and territory screening units are the only organisations allowed, under legislation, to conduct working with children checks:
- Australian Capital Territory
- New South Wales
- Northern Territory
- Queensland
- South Australia
- Tasmania
- Victoria
- Western Australia
Information sharing to enhance child safety
Working with children check reform is progressing under Measure 3 of the First National Action Plan of the National Strategy to Prevent and Respond to Child Sexual Abuse 2021-2030, to enhance national arrangements for sharing child safety and wellbeing information.
This work supports building a culture in which people working with children are supported to share information to identify, prevent and respond to child maltreatment, and are adequately assessed on their suitability to work with children.
Commonwealth, state and territory government agencies are working together through the National Strategy’s Information Sharing Working Group to explore options for strengthening child safety and wellbeing information sharing arrangements and to improve national consistency of working with children checks.
Reportable Conduct
Reportable conduct schemes contribute to maintaining child safe organisations by improving oversight of institutional responses to complaints and reporting. Like working with children checks, reportable conduct schemes are the responsibility of states and territories. Reportable conduct may be referred to working with children check screening agencies for consideration, and may trigger a risk assessment and lead to a negative notice being issued.
In October 2024, states and territories agreed the benefits of nationally consistent legislative reportable conduct schemes, which oblige heads of institutions to notify an oversight body of any reportable allegation, conduct or conviction involving any of the institution’s employees. They also agreed to recognise the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse reportable conduct scheme recommendations (7.10–7.12) as the national model. These recommendations address the scope and function of reportable conduct schemes and the need for periodic review of the operation of the schemes.
Further information on state and territory reportable conduct schemes are available on each jurisdiction’s website, where a scheme is in place:
Ministerial Forum on Child Safety
On the 24 November 2023, the then Attorney-General hosted a Ministerial Forum on Child Safety with all states and territories to progress national reforms to prevent child sexual abuse in Australia.
Participants in the Ministerial Forum reaffirmed existing child safety reforms, emphasising the need to ensure national consistency to protect Australia's children. This included prioritising working with children check harmonisations, ensuring this work complements broader worker screening reforms, renewed commitment to embedding the National Principles for Child Safe Organisations in legislation, and options to enhance sharing child safety and wellbeing information across sectors and jurisdictions. These options include possible legislation and administrative arrangements for an information sharing scheme as recommended by the Royal Commission into Institutional Response to Child Sexual Abuse.
Participants also agreed to further consider options to improve child safety through enhancing monitoring of working with children checks, raising awareness and understanding of child safety issues, and alignment of jurisdictional reportable conduct schemes.
Commonwealth, state and territory governments have been working together to implement the outcomes of the Ministerial Forum, including to improve information sharing about workers (paid and unpaid) and explore options to align jurisdictional reportable conduct schemes.