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Working with Children During the Application Process

Once you have submitted a valid Working with Children (WWC) Check application you can undertake ‘child-related work’ if:

• your application is still being assessed
• you have been given an Interim Negative Notice and are awaiting the department's decision to issue you with a WWC Check card or a Negative Notice

provided that your work does not fall into one of the categories of work listed in the Children’s Services Regulations 2009 in which case, you must wait until your application has been assessed and a WWC Check card issued before engaging in ‘child-related work’.

While the Working with Children Act 2005 allows an applicant to commence ‘child-related work’ before passing the WWC Check, the recruitment practices and policies of some employers, volunteer organisations or agencies require people to pass the WWC Check before commencing work or volunteering with them.

However, a person who has been given a Negative Notice and unsuccessfully appeals the department's decision in the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal cannot commence or continue to undertake 'child-related work'.

If you have submitted a WWC Check application you cannot undertake ‘child-related work’ if you:

• are subject to the reporting obligations imposed by the Sex Offenders Registration Act 2004
• are subject to an extended supervision or interim extended supervision orders under the Serious Sex Offenders Monitoring Act 2005
• are subject to a supervision order (or interim supervision order) or detention order (or interim determination order) under the Serious Sex Offenders (Detention and Supervision) Act 2009
• failed the WWC Check, been given an Interim Negative Notice and re-applied 5 years after the date of the Negative Notice.