9Employers must require clearance or current application

#### 9 Employers must require clearance or current application 9 Employers must require clearance or current application > > (1) An employer must not commence employing, or continue to employ, a worker in child-related work if the employer knows or has reasonable cause to believe that— > > > > > (a) the worker is not the holder of a working with children check clearance that authorises that work and that there is no current application by the worker to the Children’s Guardian for a clearance of a class applicable to that work, or > > > > > (b) the worker is subject to an interim bar. > > > > Maximum penalty—100 penalty units, in the case of a corporation, and 50 penalty units in any other case. > > > > Note— > > > > See section 8(1A), which clarifies that an employer may require a worker to hold a working with children check clearance before engaging in child-related work with or on behalf of the employer. > > > (2) It is a defence to proceedings for an offence against this section if the accused person establishes that, at the time the offence was committed— > > > > > (a) the accused person had been advised by the Children’s Guardian that the worker was the holder of a clearance or that there was a current application by the worker for a clearance, or > > > > > (b) the worker was exempted by the regulations from the requirement to hold a clearance. > > > (3) This section extends to an employer who, in the course of business, arranges for the placement of a worker in employment with others (a placement agency) if— > > > > > (a) the employment is child-related work, and > > > > > (b) the placement agency is a person or a person of a class declared by the regulations to be subject to this section. > > > (4) For the purposes of applying this section to a placement agency referred to in subsection (3), the placement agency is taken to employ the worker during any period in which the placement agency arranges for the employment of the worker in child-related work. > > **s 9:** Am 2013 No 31, Sch 1 \[3\]; 2015 No 29, Sch 2 \[5\]; 2018 No 14, Sch 1 \[5\]; 2025 No 56, Sch 1\[3\].