What is the Working with Children Check?

The Working with Children Check, also known as the blue card, is a detailed national criminal history check including:

• any charge or conviction for an offence, whether or not a conviction is recorded
• whether a person is a respondent to or subject to an application for a child protection prohibition order or disqualification order, or
• whether a person is subject to reporting obligations under the Child Protection (Offender Reporting) Act 2004.

The Commission also considers disciplinary information held by certain professional organisations for:

• teachers
• child care service providers
• foster carers
• nurses
• midwives, and
• certain health practitioners

In addition, information from police investigations into allegations of serious child-related sexual offences will be taken into account, even if no charges were laid because the child was unwilling or unable to proceed.

A person whose application is approved is issued with a positive notice letter and a blue card.

If a person’s application is refused, they are issued with a negative notice which prohibits them from carrying on a business or providing child-related activities in the categories regulated by the Commission’s Act.

Obligations of the Commissioner

When assessing a person’s police information, the Commissioner considers:

• whether there are charges or convictions
• whether the offence committed or alleged to have been committed is a serious offence or a disqualifying offence as defined by the Act
• when the offence was committed or was alleged to have been committed
• the nature of the offence and its relevance to working with children and young people
• in the case of a conviction – the penalty imposed by the court and any reasons given if the court made no imprisonment order or no order disqualifying the person from holding or applying for a blue card, and
• any other relevant information relating to the offence or alleged offence.

If a person’s police information suggests they may be an unacceptable risk of harm to children, the Commissioner will ask them to provide a submission on any police or disciplinary information held about them, explaining why they should not be refused a blue card.

The Commissioner assesses the submission, any references or other relevant material provided, the nature of the offence/s and circumstances surrounding the case before making a final decision.

Applicants can include references from employers and peers, and any other relevant material they think will help their application.

The employer, volunteer co-ordinator or education provider (if the applicant is a student) is notified of the outcome of the person’s application for a blue card, but any details of their police or disciplinary information and any other personal information are kept strictly confidential.

A negative notice will be issued if a person has been convicted of a serious offence or disqualifying offence (where no imprisonment order was imposed) unless they can satisfy the Commissioner that heir case is an exceptional one, in which it would not harm the best interests of children to issue a blue card.

If an applicant is a disqualified person they will be disqualified from applying for a blue card. A person is disqualified from applying if they:

• have been convicted of a disqualifying offence (including a child-related sex or pornography offence, or murder of a child); or
• are a reportable offender with current reporting obligations under the Child Protection (Offender Reporting) Act 2004; or
• are under a child protection offender prohibition order; or
• are under a disqualification order prohibiting them from applying for or holding a blue card.

A disqualified person may be found eligible to apply for a blue card in very limited and defined circumstances if they lodge an ‘eligibility declaration ’ with the Commission.

The Commissioner can not declare a person eligible where they:

• have been sentenced to an imprisonment order for a disqualifying offence ; or
• have reporting obligations under the Child Protection (Offender Reporting) Act 2004; or
• are subject to a child protection offender prohibition order; or
• are subject to a disqualification order made by a court.
  

Can a person appeal if refused an ‘eligibility declaration’?

There is no right of appeal or review if the Commissioner decides to refuse to issue an ‘eligibility declaration’. This means the person is banned for life from applying for a blue card.

Last Updated: June 3, 2008