What it does
The Child Protection (Working with Children) Act 2012 (NSW) establishes a statewide scheme whose core purpose is to minimise the risk that persons who engage in child-related work will harm children. Section 3 states the object bluntly: to protect children (a) by not permitting certain persons to engage in child-related work, and (b) by requiring persons engaged in child-related work to have working with children check clearances. Section 4 elevates the safety, welfare and well-being of children, and in particular protecting them from child abuse, to the paramount consideration in the operation of the entire Act.
The Act operates by prohibiting engagement in “child-related work” unless the worker holds a clearance of the appropriate class or has a current application pending (s 8(1)). “Child-related work” is defined in s 6(1) as work involving direct contact (physical or face-to-face) with a child that is a usual part and more than incidental to the work, where the work is in one of the fields declared by regulation to be child-related (child development, protection, health services, clubs, disability services, early education, education, entertainment, justice, religious, residential or transport services). Section 6(3) also lists specific roles that are automatically child-related, including approved providers and nominated supervisors of education and care services, authorised carers, assessment officers under the Children and Young Persons (Care and Protection) Act 1998, and principal officers of designated agencies or accredited adoption service providers.
Employers are prohibited from commencing or continuing to employ a worker in child-related work if they know or have reasonable cause to believe the worker lacks a clearance or current application or is subject to an interim bar (s 9(1)). Since 2015 employers have been under a positive obligation to verify and record clearance details against the working with children register and to update those records within five working days of expiry (s 9A). Similar verification obligations apply to licensing authorities (s 9AA) and to “responsible agencies” for adults residing with authorised carers or prospective adoptive parents (s 11B).