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Employer and Volunteer Organisation Obligations

As an employer, volunteer organisation or agency, you have certain obligations when you engage people in ‘child-related work’ as defined in the Working with Children Act 2005 (the Act). If you do not comply with these obligations, you may be subject to criminal penalties.

Under the Act you must:

• ensure that all employees or volunteers who are required to apply for a Working with Children (WWC) Check do so  
• ensure that you do not engage a person in child-related work if they are required to apply for a WWC Check and have not done so  
• where your employees or volunteers are not required to apply for a WWC Check because their contact with children is directly supervised, ensure that the supervisor has applied for and passed the WWC Check unless they are exempt under the Act, for example a teacher with current registration with the Victorian Institute of Teaching
• ensure that employees or volunteers who have been issued with a Negative Notice do not undertake child-related work, even if directly supervised 
• ensure that your employees undertaking paid child-related work apply for and hold an ‘Employee’ card. It is an offence for a person to undertake paid child-related work on a 'Volunteer' card
• ensure you do not disclose information about an employee or volunteer that you have acquired from the carrying out of the WWC Check, except in certain circumstances listed in the Act, such as for the purposes of a reference check or making employment-related decisions in respect of child-related work.

In addition, you are responsible for making sure you:

• record the unique Application Receipt Number which your employee/volunteer will receive from Australia Post when they lodge their application
• file the copy of a new cardholder’s card which the department sends you as this document gives you valuable information about the person’s Check e.g. the card number and expiry date, the person’s photograph and the type of card they have been issued with i.e. ‘Volunteer’ or ‘Employee’
• sight your employees’ / volunteers’ WWC Check card to verify that they have passed the WWC Check
• sight the WWC Check card of a self-employed person you engage e.g. a music or math's tutor
• ensure all cardholders have advised the department they work or volunteer with your organisation, so you receive notices about the validity and status of the person’s WWC Check card
• ensure a new employee or volunteer advises the department within 21 days of commencing paid or volunteer 'child-related work' with your organisation as it is an offence if the cardholder fails to do so
• ensure card holders promptly notify the department every time they change their address and phone numbers using Online Change of Details.
• periodically go to the WWCC website and check the status of all your employees and volunteers with WWC Check cards using Online Change of Details.
• develop human relations and workplace procedures in the event the department issues one of your employees or volunteers with an Interim Negative Notice or Negative Notice.

Check Status

You have an obligation under the Act to make sure that all staff and volunteers who are required by law to pass the Check, have a valid WWC Check card. It is an offence for you to engage someone in child-related work without a valid WWC Check card.

So you must:

• check the status of the cards and applications of all new employees, volunteers and self-employed people who you engage in child-related work
• regularly check the status of all WWC Check cardholders in your organisation as the department investigates new relevant charges, offences and findings that it is made aware of through regular monitoring of all cardholders and may suspend or revoke a person’s WWC Check card.

You can verify the validity of WWC Check cards and applications of your employees and volunteers using Check Status or call the Information Line.