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What is Checked

The Working with Children Check involves:

1. a national police records check
2. a review of relevant findings from prescribed professional disciplinary bodies (currently only the Victorian Institute of Teaching and the out of home care Suitability Panel but other professional bodies may be included in the future).

Broadly, the criminal offences of most significance for a Working With Children Check are:

• serious sexual offences
• serious violent offences
• serious drug-related offences
• offences against the Working With Children Act itself.

The national police records check may reveal criminal history information held by police in Victoria and other States and Territories. Further information can also be sought from other bodies, such as the courts, Corrections Victoria and employers. This information can include circumstances where a court has:

• made a formal finding of guilt in relation to an offence
• convicted you of an offence
• accepted a plea of guilt from you
• acquitted you of an offence because of mental impairment.

It can also include information about:

• any spent convictions you have
• convictions and findings of guilt from when you were a child (aged under 18)
• any charges which are pending against you
• the circumstances surrounding any of these charges or convictions.