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(VIC) Permit the Use of Police Intelligence, Child Protection Reports, and Court Orders in Working with Children Check Assessments
- Lisa Mariah
- Aug 15
- 7 min read
Updated: Aug 16
Author: Lisa Mariah | Publish date: 15/08/2025
Problem Identification:
In VIC, when assessing a person’s Working with Children Check (WWCC) application, the worker screening authority cannot consider information beyond formal charges, convictions and relevant disciplinary or regulatory findings. This applies even if the information may relate to a potential risk to children.
Division 3 of the Worker Screening Act 2020 (VIC) (the Act) specifies the types of information the worker screening authority, WWCC Unit Victoria (the WWCC Unit), can consider when assessing or reassessing a WWCC application. Category C considers certain limited criminal charges, convictions and other findings of guilt, but these applications must otherwise be granted clearance.
The Victorian Ombudsman has noted this means other information that could indicate a person is unsuitable to work with children cannot be included in the assessment, hence posing a significant risk to child safety.
Context:
WWCCs refer to a screening process conducted by the state’s WWCC Unit to assess whether a person poses a risk to children, primarily using criminal history records. WWCCs are a legal requirement in VIC for anyone engaged in child-related work or volunteering. The WWCC Unit is also responsible for reassessing existing clearances.
According to the Victorian Ombudsman, the WWCC Unit ‘must grant clearances to applicants who have been investigated but not charged in relation to serious criminal allegations, unless other grounds exist to refuse them.’ Cases have been reported in which individuals investigated for child abuse, but not charged, retained WWCCs and continued working with children.
A 2022 Victorian Ombudsman investigation found a former youth worker kept their WWCC clearance despite multiple child protection concerns and court orders in other states. During this investigation, the WWCC Unit confirmed that NSW child protection reports, a police investigation into alleged sexual offences, and a rape disclosure did not qualify the case for a WWCC reassessment under VIC law.
Further, in 2025, the ABC reported on a man arrested in 2021 for accessing child abuse material. Victoria Police continued to investigate but the WWCC Unit could not act until he was formally charged and convicted, following a guilty plea, 4 years later.
In 2022, the Victorian Ombudsman recommended amending the Act to allow the WWCC Unit to act on any information indicating an unjustifiable risk to children, regardless of charges. It argued that the proposed reforms would align VIC with other jurisdictions by enabling consideration of police and child protection intelligence (even where no charges have been laid), intervention orders and other court-imposed restrictions, and other relevant information, including from interstate. The report also said that the WWCC Unit should be able to reassess and revoke a person’s clearance ‘if reasonably satisfied they pose an unjustifiable risk to the safety of children.’ This would support cancelling WWCCs sooner.
The VIC government has said that from August 2025, the WWCC Unit will be able to consider ‘prohibition notices issued from the Department of Education when determining or revoking a person's clearance to work with children.’ However, it is known that these changes still exclude information such as police intelligence and child protection reports.
Precedent:
There are domestic precedents for using broader criteria when assessing applicants’ suitability for working with children:
NSW may consider any court or tribunal order, ‘as well as “any other matters” considered necessary’, with no restriction on reassessment.
ACT and SA may include child protection and family violence orders in assessments.
QLD may use police investigative information, including uncharged alleged offences.
TAS may consider criminal intelligence from local or interstate law enforcement, not limited to charged offences.
Advice/Solution Identification:
The VIC Attorney-General and the Minister for Government Services should amend section 64 of the Worker Screening Act 2020 (VIC) to include a person:
‘(f) who has been the subject of police and/or child protection intelligence, including suspected offences; or
(g) who has had an Intervention Order or other similar court orders issued against them; or
(h) any other forms of information likely to be relevant to an applicant’s risk to children and young people.’
This could help to identify potential risks earlier and support more informed decisions about a person’s suitability to work with children, even in the absence of criminal charges.
Public Support:
News Coverage:
Trigger Warning - Child Safety
ABC News - ‘Victoria's working with children check system slammed over repeated failures’. Documented a case where a childcare centre’s CCTV recorded an educator physically assaulting a child. The educator continued to work in childcare centres ‘despite being the subject of four different investigations into their behaviour’. By: Josie Taylor | Thu 10 April 2025. Read the full article here.
ABC News - ‘Victorian government to change state's Working with Children Check system’. Changes to VIC WWCC laws to include taking into account prohibition notices issued by the Department of Education when assessing or reassessing a WWCC clearance. By: Josie Taylor | Wed 2 July 2025. Read the full article here.
SBS News - ‘‘Families cannot wait’. Victoria announced sweeping reforms after alleged childcare abuse’. The VIC Premier announced new measures to improve childcare safety and the federal government will work on strengthening WWCCs. By: Alexandra Koster | Wed 2 July 2025. Read the full article here.
ABC News - ‘Man held valid WWCC check for years after arrest for accessing child abuse material’. Article highlighting gaps in the VIC WWCC process. By: Julia Bergin | Sun 6 July 2025. Read the full article here.
ABC News - ‘Australia at a 'turning point' for broken Working with Children Check system’. Article that references child abuse cases across multiple states, current limitations in the WWCC scheme, and the need for a national WWCC system. By: Josie Taylor | Thu 10 July 2025. Read the full article here.
ABC News - ‘Mother of child dropped by alleged child sex offender Joshua Dale Brown, says investigation into incident was flawed’. Report on an investigation into a child being dropped by Joshua Dale Brown 2 years before he was arrested and charged with 70 child-related offences. By: Alysia Thomas-Sam | Mon 14 July 2025. Read the full article here.
Where to go to learn more:
Trigger Warning - Child Safety
Victorian Ombudsman’s 2022 Investigation into a former youth worker’s unauthorised access to private information about children - This report identified the changes to VIC legislation required to broaden the information that could be considered when assessing or reassessing a WWCC application. Read the full report here.
2023 Review of Child Safety Arrangements under the National Quality Framework - Chapter 5 highlighted the inconsistencies across jurisdictions regarding WWCC criminal history screening. Find chapter 5 here.
More than a check - Enhancing the Working with Children Check scheme to strengthen the safety net around children - An 2025 Australian Childhood Foundation report that examined the existing WWCC scheme and discussed the potential role that mandatory training could have in improving the protection of children. Read the section ‘Reviews and critiques of the current Working with Children Check schemes’ here, which notes the limitations in information sharing across jurisdictions.
Pre-employment and volunteer screening checks - This resource sheet provides an overview of screening checks for people who engage with vulnerable groups such as children in employment or volunteer activities in Australia. It also details the information considered in screening checks in each state. Find it here.
Worker Screening Act 2020 (VIC) - The legislation governing worker screening for both working with children and young people, and working with people with disability under the NDIS. Find the full Act here. Section 64 of the Act documents the specific charges, convictions and other findings of guilt that can be considered when assessing a WWCC application. Under section 64 (category C applications), in the absence of these, the worker screening authority must give WWC clearance. Find Section 64 here.
Human Perspective:
Trigger Warning - Child Safety Maya enrolled her daughter Chloe in a local council’s school holiday program, trusting staff to provide a safe and supportive environment. But within days, Chloe became withdrawn and refused to return, bursting into tears as she said one of the workers, Lee, was mean to her. Maya asked another parent if their child was happy in the program, and learned Lee had been reported to Child Protection after grabbing a child by the wrist and dragging them across the room. Horrified, Maya raised her concerns with the WWCC Unit Victoria, but was told Lee held a valid Working with Children Check and that child protection investigations couldn’t be used to reassess or suspend his clearance. She reported the incident to the program coordinator and Lee was immediately removed, pending investigation. Maya was relieved to hear his contract wouldn’t be renewed but when the new school term started, she discovered Lee was now working in the after-school program. Maya felt angry and powerless, knowing Lee was still around children. Having lost trust in the WWCC system, she moved Chloe to another school, uprooting her from friends, to keep her safe. If the WWCC Unit had been able to act on the earlier child protection concerns, Lee’s clearance could have been cancelled, preventing his employment in the after-school program. Maya could have felt confident her daughter was safe, and Chloe could still be sharing snacks and playing games with her friends after school.
To protect the anonymity of those involved, this is a fictionalised account drawn from an amalgamation of real-life stories, experiences, and testimonials gathered during the research process for this brief. Any resemblance to actual individuals is purely coincidental.
Conflict of interest/acknowledgment statement:
N/a
Support
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Reference list:
Bergin, J. (2025, July 6). Man held valid WWCC check for years after arrest for accessing child abuse material. ABC. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-07-06/man-held-valid-wwcc-arrest-for-accessing-child-abuse-material/105496912
Taylor, J. (2025, April 10). Victoria's working with children check system slammed over repeated failures. ABC. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-04-10/push-to-reform-working-with-children-check-victoria/105145224
Taylor, J. (2025, July 2). Victorian government to change state's Working with Children Check system. ABC. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-07-02/victorian-government-to-change-working-with-children-check-laws/105481034
Victorian Government. (2024, April 2). Working with Children Check. Retrieved July 22, 2025, from https://www.vic.gov.au/working-with-children-check
Victorian Ombudsman. (2022, September 14). Investigation into a former youth worker’s unauthorised access to private information about children. https://assets.ombudsman.vic.gov.au/assets/VO-PARLIAMENTARY-REPORT_JONES_Sep-2022.pdf
Worker Screening Act 2020 (Vic). https://content.legislation.vic.gov.au/sites/default/files/2025-06/20-34aa009-authorised.pdf
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