Blue Card
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About the blue card
Certain people are disqualified from applying for a blue card. A person is disqualified if they:
- have been convicted of a disqualifying offence (including a child-related sex or pornography offence, or the murder of a child), or
- are a reportable offender with current 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 prohibiting them from applying for or holding a blue card.
It is an offence for a disqualified person to sign a blue card application. Penalties of up to five years imprisonment or a fine of up to $50,000 may apply.
A disqualified person may apply to the Commission for an ‘eligibility declaration’ and in very limited and defined circumstances may be declared eligible to apply for a blue card.
For more information on how the new legislation affects you, see:
What is a blue card?
Blue cards are issued by the Commission for Children and Young People and Child Guardian once it has carried out the Working with Children Check to see if a person is eligible to work in the areas of child-related work covered by the Commission’s Act. If a person is eligible, they are issued a positive notice letter and a blue card.
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.
New blue card application forms
The Commission has released updated application forms effective from 2 June 2008. The Commission will process old application forms provided they are received no later than 30 June 2008. The new application forms are available from the FORMS page or can be mailed to you by contacting the Blue Card Contact Centre on 3211 6999 or 1800 113 611.
To assist you in the application process we have developed ‘How to Apply’ information sheets . These information sheets are located under the relevant application form on the FORMS page of the website.
If you require any further information about applying for your blue card, please call our Blue Card Contact Centre on 3211 6999 or 1800 113 611 (freecall).
Last Updated: April 20, 2009