News

Employers can now be penalised if they don’t verify that their workers or volunteers who work with kids have a valid Working With Children Check or have applied for one. The guidelines for issuing penalty notices can be found on the Office of Children’s Guardian website, along with information about the Working With Children Check compliance program.

A strength of the NSW system is that it is underpinned by ongoing, continuous checking. By registering and verifying online, employers can be contacted by the Office of the Children’s Guardian should anyone become barred through the continuous monitoring process.

To verify workers and volunteers who work with children:

• Register your organisation or log into the Office of the Children’s Guardian’s system if you are already registered
• Add each worker’s Check (or application) number, surname and date of birth.

The outcome must be either cleared or in progress to allow the worker to be engaged in child-related work. Fines for not verifying can be issued to every organisation where people work or volunteer with children. Remember to keep records too.

For more information about the Working With Children Check compliance program click here.