Working with children - national obligations

Each State and Territory within Australia has its own legislation which regulates working with children. 

The University has an obligation to ensure that working with children checks (or the State or Territory equivalent) has been undertaken before University staff, students or volunteers are permitted to engage in child-related work in any State or Territory.

The following is a summary of the different schemes that operate across Australia to regulate working with children.

State/Territory Name Agency and Website
Queensland Blue Card System Blue Card Services (a division of Queensland Public Safety Business Agency)
NSW Working with Children Check Office of the Children's Guardian
Victoria Working with Children Check Department of Justice and Regulation
ACT Working with Vulnerable People Registration Access Canberra
South Australia Child-Related Employment Screening Department for Communities and Social Inclusion
Northern Territory Working with Children Check Northern Territory Government
Western Australia Working with Children Check Department for Child Protection and Family Support
Tasmania Working with Children Registration Department of Justice

The requirements in each state or territory are different, so it is not possible to provide a comprehensive list of activities for which working with children checks are required.

Information about who requires a working with children check in NSW and Queensland is available in the University's Child Safe Environment Policy and Procedures. Please refer to the webpages listed above for information about the requirements in other states and territories.

If you think that you, or someone you supervise or are responsible for, are engaged in activities where contact with children is likely (including working, volunteering or undertaking placement where you will have contact with children) please contact in order to ensure that working with children requirements have been met.

In all states and territories other than South Australia, if your only contact with children is with enrolled University students, who may occasionally be under the age of 18, you are not required to undergo a working with children check or equivalent.