Working with children check reform
Protecting 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 to make organisations safer for children.
Delivering working with children check reform
On 14 November 2025, the Standing Council of Attorneys-General took decisive action, with all jurisdictions endorsing the Agreement to Deliver National Working with Children Check Reform.
This Agreement outlines 6 priority actions that set out the agreed pathway and timeframes to strengthen and improve consistency for a national approach to working with children checks:
- Implementing mutual recognition of negative notices
- Meaningful consistency in automatic exclusion criteria
- Meaningful consistency in risk assessment frameworks
- Clear information sharing pathways
- An operational National Continuous Checking Capability
- Mutual recognition of working with children checks
The successful implementation of each priority action within the Agreement will contribute to enhanced safeguards and better protection of children across Australia. Substantial progress has already been made on Priority Action 1, with state and territory governments urgently progressing legislative changes as required to enable mutual recognition of negative notices. The Australian, state and territory governments are working together to concurrently progress Priority Actions 2 to 5, which are critical pre-requisites to achieving mutual recognition of all working with children checks (Priority Action 6).
For more information on working with children check reform, refer to the Commonwealth Attorney-General’s Media Release, the Standing Council of Attorneys-General Communique and Agreement to Deliver National Working with Children Check Reform.
About working with children checks
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
In addition to priority actions to strengthen information sharing as part of the Standing Council of Attorneys-General Agreement to Deliver Working with Children Check Reform, all Australian governments are working together to implement 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.
At the 2023 Ministerial Forum on Child Safety, all participants reaffirmed their commitment to enhancing sharing child safety and wellbeing information across sectors and jurisdictions. This included agreement to consider options including possible legislation and administrative arrangements for an information sharing scheme, as recommended by the Royal Commission into Institutional Response to Child Sexual Abuse. This work will contribute to building organisational cultures in which people working with children are supported to share information to identify, prevent and respond to child maltreatment.
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: