Child Protection (Working with Children) Regulation 2013
In ForceNSW
Jurisdiction
New South Wales
Act Number
156 of 2013
Collection
regulation
Plain English Summary
7/10 complexity
The Regulation details how the Child Protection (Working with Children) Act operates: it defines which roles are "child‑related," who must be screened, what exemptions apply, how clearances are applied for and proved, fees (and CPI indexing), and penalty notice amounts. It imposes notification and 30‑year recordkeeping duties on reporting bodies, lets employers request limited clearance data, and makes the Children’s Guardian and Service NSW the central administrators with powers over forms, identity proofing and notices.
The Child Protection (Working with Children) Regulation 2013 operationalises the screening regime established by the Child Protection (Working with Children) Act 2012 (the Act). Its primary function is to give concrete content to the Act’s concepts of “child-related work” and the associated clearance obligations. Part 2 (cll 4–16E) contains an exhaustive, sector-by-sector taxonomy. For example, cl 4(1) brings mentoring and counselling services within child-related work only when delivered as part of a formal government or non-government agency program. Clause 6(1)–(3) captures health practitioners in paediatric wards or providing child health services and non-practitioner staff in paediatric settings; cl 6(3A) expressly deems direct contact in those roles to be “a usual part of and more than incidental to the work”, removing any argument about incidental contact. Similar granular treatment appears for clubs and sporting bodies (cl 7), disability respite (cl 8), commercial child care and au pairs (cl 9), schools and private tuition (cl 10), commercial entertainment venues (cl 11), justice and detention settings (cl 12), religious organisations (cl 13), residential services and home-stays longer than three weeks (cl 14), government-funded or commercial transport (cl 15), and youth workers (cl 16).
The regulation then prescribes additional child-related roles under the Act s 6(3): school cleaners (cl 16A), governing body members of designated agencies, specialised substitute residential care providers and accredited adoption service providers (cl 16B), principal officers of specialised substitute residential care entities (cl 16C), heads of child safe organisations (cl 16CA), and workers providing ongoing non-contact counselling, mentoring or distance education (cl 16D). Clause 16AA adds inspectors under the .
Current sections
Direct links to the current provisions in Child Protection (Working with Children) Regulation 2013.
This Regulation commences on 15 June 2013 and is required to be published on the NSW legislation website.
3
Definitions
3 Definitions
3 Definitions
(1) In this Regulation—
close relative of a person means—
(a) a spouse or de facto partner of the person, or
(b) a child, step-child, sibling, step-sibling, parent, step-parent, grandparent, step-grandparent, aunt, uncle, niece or nephew of the person,
and includes, in the case of an Aboriginal person or a Torres Strait Islander, persons who are part of the extended family or kin of the person according to the indigenous kinship system of the person’s culture.
home-stay means residence with another family for a period for the purposes of a cultural or educational program.
parent of a child means the person having, in relation to the child, all the duties, powers, responsibilities and authority which, by law, parents have in relation to their children.
school cleaner—see clause 16A.
Service NSW service centre includes a place designated by the Chief Executive Officer of Service NSW to—
(a) receive payment of the application fee for a clearance, or
(b) confirm proof of identity in relation to an application for a clearance.
working with children register means the register established under section 25 of the Act.
Note.
The Act and the Interpretation Act 1987 contain definitions and other provisions that affect the interpretation and application of this Regulation.
(2) In this Regulation, a service is provided on a commercial basis if the service is provided on a fee for service basis, whether or not the fee concerned is imposed or funding for the service is obtained by a grant or other means.
(3) Notes included in this Regulation do not form part of this Regulation.
For the Act, section 5(1), definition of notifiable person, paragraph (f), the NSW Education Standards Authority is prescribed as a notifiable person if the applicant or holder—
(b) has applied for accreditation within the meaning of that Act.
cl 3A: Ins 2022 (725), Sch 1[1].
Part 2
Child-related work
Part 2 Child-related work
Part 2 Child-related work
4
Child development and family welfare services
4 Child development and family welfare services
4 Child development and family welfare services
(1) Work in mentoring and counselling services for children is child-related work, if the mentoring and counselling services are provided to children as part of a formal mentoring program provided by a government or non-government agency.
(2) Work in providing family welfare services is child-related work, if clients to whom the services are provided ordinarily include children.
5
Child protection
5 Child protection
5 Child protection
Work in child protection services provided by a government or non-government agency is child-related work.
6
Children’s health services
6 Children’s health services
6 Children’s health services
(1) Work as a health practitioner providing health services in wards of hospitals where children are treated is child-related work.
(2) Other work as a health practitioner providing child health services is child-related work.
(3) Work by persons (other than health practitioners) who provide health and care services in paediatric or adolescent health services is child-related work.
(3A) For the purposes of section 6(3A) of the Act, any direct contact that a worker has with a child or children when engaged in work referred to in subclause (1), (2) or (3) is taken to be a usual part of and more than incidental to the work.
Note.
A worker who is found to be engaged in child-related work may still be exempt from the requirement to obtain a working with children check clearance if the worker is exempted by a provision of Part 4 of this Regulation.
(4) Work as a student in the course of a student clinical placement in a hospital or other health service is not child-related work.
cl 6: Am 2013 (269), Sch 1 [1]; 2017 No 50, Sch 5.3; 2018 No 14, Sch 2.1 [1].
7
Clubs or other bodies providing services for children
7 Clubs or other bodies providing services for children
7 Clubs or other bodies providing services for children
(1) Work for a club, association, movement, society or other body of a cultural, recreational, sporting or community service nature that involves providing programs or services primarily for children is child-related work.
(2) Without limiting subclause (1), work as a coach or as a team manager, or an assistant coach or assistant team manager, for a sport or activity for children is child-related work.
(3) However, the work is not child-related work if the work is work as a referee, umpire, linesperson or otherwise as a sporting official or a groundsperson, and the work does not ordinarily involve contact with children for extended periods without other adults being present.
8
Disability services
8 Disability services
8 Disability services
(1) Work in providing respite care or other support services primarily for children with a disability is child-related work.
(2) However, the work is not child-related work if the work does not ordinarily involve contact with children for extended periods without other adults being present.
9
Early education and child care
9 Early education and child care
9 Early education and child care
(1) Work in education and care services, child care centres, nanny services and other child minding services provided on a commercial basis is child-related work.
(2) Work in providing baby sitting services is child-related work, unless the services are provided under a private arrangement (whether or not a fee is payable).
(3) Work as an au pair is child-related work, if the work involves the provision of child care.
10
Education
10 Education
10 Education
(1) Work in schools or other educational institutions (other than universities) is child-related work.
(2) Work providing private coaching or tuition to children is child-related work.
11
Entertainment for children
11 Entertainment for children
11 Entertainment for children
(1) Work at sporting, cultural or other entertainment venues where services, activities or entertainment is provided on a commercial basis primarily for children is child-related work.
(2) Work that involves providing entertainment services primarily for children on a commercial basis is child-related work.
(3) However, providing food or equipment at or for a sporting, cultural or other entertainment venue or providing a venue is not child-related work.
12
Justice centres
12 Justice centres
12 Justice centres
(1) Work at detention centres and juvenile correctional centres is child-related work.
(2) Work as a supervisor or case manager of children on community justice placements, for a government or non-government body, is child-related work.
(3) Work for a residential parent and child program provided by a government or non-government agency involving inmates or detainees, and their children, at a correctional centre, juvenile correctional centre or detention centre or other place is child-related work.
Work for a religious organisation where children form part of the congregation or organisation is child-related work, if the work is carried out—
(a) as a minister, priest, rabbi, mufti or other like religious leader or spiritual officer of the organisation, or
(b) in any other role in the organisation involving activities primarily related to children, including youth groups, youth camps, teaching children and child care.
14
Residential services
14 Residential services
14 Residential services
(1) Work at the following services is child-related work—
(a) refuges used regularly by children,
(b) boarding houses or places providing other residential services for children,
(c) overnight camps for children.
(2) Work in providing home-stays of 3 weeks or more for children is child-related work.
15
Transport services for children
15 Transport services for children
15 Transport services for children
Work in providing transport services especially for children on a government funded or commercial basis, including school bus services and taxi services for children with a disability and supervision of school road crossings, is child-related work.
16
Youth workers
16 Youth workers
16 Youth workers
Work as a youth worker, for a government or non-government agency, is child-related work.
16AA
Inspectors under Public Health (Tobacco) Act 2008
16AA Inspectors under Public Health (Tobacco) Act 2008
For the Act, section 6(2)(m), work as an inspector, within the meaning of the Public Health (Tobacco) Act 2008, carrying out functions under that Act is child-related work.
cl 16AA: Ins 2022 (725), Sch 1[2].
16A
School cleaners
16A School cleaners
16A School cleaners
For the purposes of section 6(3) of the Act, the role of a cleaner providing cleaning services at a school (a school cleaner) is prescribed as a child-related role.
cl 16A: Ins 2013 (676), Sch 2 [2].
16B
Membership of governing body of certain agencies
16B Membership of governing body of certain agencies
16B Membership of governing body of certain agencies
For the purposes of section 6(3) of the Act, the role of each member of the governing body of any of the following is prescribed as a child-related role—
(a) a designated agency,
(b) an entity providing specialised substitute residential care,
(c) an accredited adoption service provider (within the meaning of the Adoption Act 2000).
cl 16B: Ins 2014 (681), Sch 1 [2]. Am 2022 (377), Sch 1[2].
16C
Principal officer of entity providing specialised substitute residential care
16C Principal officer of entity providing specialised substitute residential care
16C Principal officer of entity providing specialised substitute residential care
(1) For the purposes of section 6(3) of the Act, the role of the principal officer of an entity providing specialised substitute residential care is prescribed as a child-related role.
(2) In this clause—
principal officer of an entity providing specialised substitute residential care has the same meaning as in the Children’s Guardian Act 2019, section 8ZC.
cl 16C: Ins 2014 (681), Sch 1 [2]. Am 2022 (377), Sch 1[3]–[5].
16CA
Head of child safe organisation
16CA Head of child safe organisation
16CA Head of child safe organisation
(1) For the Act, section 6(3)(g), the role of the head of a child safe organisation is prescribed.
Counselling, mentoring or distance education not involving direct contact
16D Counselling, mentoring or distance education not involving direct contact
16D Counselling, mentoring or distance education not involving direct contact
For the purposes of section 6(3) of the Act, the role of a worker providing ongoing counselling, mentoring or distance education for children using any form of communication that does not primarily involve direct contact is prescribed as a child-related role.
cl 16D: Ins 2017 (301), cl 3 (1).
16E
Declaration of relevant licence
16E Declaration of relevant licence
16E Declaration of relevant licence
For the purposes of the definition of relevant licence in section 9AA(8) of the Act, an accreditation by the NSW Education Standards Authority is declared to be a relevant licence.
cl 16E: Ins 2019 (570), Sch 1[1].
Part 3
Clearances
Part 3 Clearances
Part 3 Clearances
17
Application fees
17 Application fees
17 Application fees
(1) The application fee for a clearance is as follows—
(a) for a volunteer clearance—nil,
(b) otherwise—the fee calculated in accordance with Schedule 1A.
(2) The application fee is to be paid at a Service NSW service centre.
(2A) Despite subclause (2), an applicant invited to provide proof of identity through an online system under clause 18(2) may pay the application fee by an online method of payment.
(3) The following persons are exempt from the requirement to pay an application fee for a clearance—
(1) An applicant for a clearance is to provide proof of the applicant’s identity at a Service NSW service centre in accordance with the requirements set out in the application form approved by the Children’s Guardian.
(2) An applicant for a clearance who is the holder of a clearance may, at the written invitation of the Children’s Guardian, provide proof of the applicant’s identity through an online system.
(3) The following applicants may provide proof of identity in the manner approved by the Children’s Guardian—
(a) an authorised carer, or a person who resides at the home of an authorised carer or at a home where a family day care service is provided, who is not physically capable of attending a Service NSW service centre,
(b) an authorised carer who resides in another State or a Territory, and any person who resides at the home of that authorised carer.
(1) This clause applies if an applicant for a clearance is unable to comply with the identification requirements in the application form.
(2) Despite clauses 17 and 18—
(a) the application fee is to be paid to the Office of the Children’s Guardian, and
(b) the applicant for the clearance is to provide proof of the applicant’s identity to the Office of the Children’s Guardian in the manner approved by the Children’s Guardian.
cl 18A: Ins 2019 (570), Sch 1[5].
19
Information to be provided to applicant for or holder of clearance
19 Information to be provided to applicant for or holder of clearance
19 Information to be provided to applicant for or holder of clearance
The Children’s Guardian must provide, by notice in writing—
(a) an application number to each applicant who applies for a clearance, and
(b) a clearance number to each applicant who is granted a clearance.
cl 19: Am 2013 (269), Sch 1 [2].
19A
19A
19A (Repealed)
Part 4
Exemption of workers and employers from Act
Part 4 Exemption of workers and employers from Act
Part 4 Exemption of workers and employers from Act
20
Exemption from Act for specified workers and employers
20 Exemption from Act for specified workers and employers
20 Exemption from Act for specified workers and employers
(1) The following workers engaged in child-related work (and employers of those workers in that capacity) are exempt from the Act (other than section 7 of the Act)—
(a) a worker (other than a school cleaner) who provides administrative, clerical or maintenance services, or other ancillary services, if the work does not ordinarily involve contact with children for extended periods,
(b) a worker who works for a period of not more than a total of 5 working days in a calendar year, if the work involves minimal direct contact with children or is supervised when children are present,
(c) a worker who carries out the work in the course of an informal domestic arrangement that is not carried out on a professional or commercial basis,
(d) a worker whose work involves direct contact only with children who are close relatives of the worker, other than a worker who carries out the work in the capacity of an authorised carer,
(e) a parent, or close relative, of a child who attends a school, an education and care service or other educational institution when volunteering at or for activities of the school, service or institution,
(f) a parent, or close relative, of a child when volunteering in connection with a team, program or other activity of which the child is a member or in which the child usually participates,
(g) a worker who is under the age of 18 years,
(h) a police officer or a member of the Australian Federal Police when working in his or her capacity as a police officer,
(i) a worker who is a health practitioner in private practice, if the provision of services by the practitioner in the course of that practice does not ordinarily involve treatment of children without one or more other adults present,
(j) a co-worker or work supervisor of a child, other than a worker engaged in work referred to in clause 12(2) or 16AA,
(k) a home care worker who holds a police certificate that is current for the purposes of the Accountability Principles 1998 made under the Aged Care Act 1997 of the Commonwealth, if the work is home care work and the clients are not primarily children,
(l) a health practitioner who is working in and visiting New South Wales from outside the State, if the period of work does not exceed a total of 5 days in any period of 3 months,
(m) a worker who is working in and visiting New South Wales from outside the State for the purposes of a one-off event such as a jamboree, sporting or religious event or tour, if the event is the only child-related work carried out by the worker in New South Wales in that calendar year and the period of the work does not exceed 30 days,
(n) a worker who is working in and visiting New South Wales from outside the State for the purposes of child-related work (other than a worker referred to in paragraph (l) or (m)), if the worker is the holder of an interstate working with children check in the jurisdiction in which the person ordinarily resides, or is exempt from the requirement to have such a check in that jurisdiction, and the period of the child-related work in New South Wales does not exceed a total of 30 days in any calendar year,
(o) a visiting speaker, adjudicator, performer, assessor or other similar visitor at a school or other place where child-related work is carried out if the work of the person at that place is for a one-off occasion and is carried out in the presence of one or more other adults.
(2) Subclause (1)(e) and (f) do not apply to a parent or close relative, if the volunteering involves any of the following—
(a) providing personal care services to children with disabilities, being services that involve intimate contact with those children, such as assistance with toileting, bathing or dressing,
(b) providing mentoring services as part of a formal mentoring program provided by a government or non-government agency,
(c) attending at an overnight camp for children.
(3) In this clause—
holder of an interstate working with children check means a person who has undergone interstate child-related work screening under a law of another jurisdiction in which the person ordinarily resides and who is permitted by that law to carry out child-related work.
interstate child-related work screening has the same meaning as in section 34 of the Act.
cl 20: Am 2013 (676), Sch 2 [4]; 2018 No 14, Sch 2.1 [2]; 2022 (725), Sch 1[3].
21
Short-term emergency exemption
21 Short-term emergency exemption
21 Short-term emergency exemption
A worker engaged in child-related work and any adult person who resides at the home of the worker, and the employer of the worker, are exempt from the Act if—
(a) the employer is of the opinion that the engagement of that worker is necessary in the circumstances of the case to prevent an increased risk to the safety of children, and
(b) the worker has been engaged for a period of not more than 5 consecutive working days without complying with Division 2 of Part 2 of the Act.
22
Exemption for certain household members where out-of-home care not provided
22 Exemption for certain household members where out-of-home care not provided
22 Exemption for certain household members where out-of-home care not provided
An adult person who resides at the home of an authorised carer who provides out-of-home care (within the meaning of the Children and Young Persons (Care and Protection) Act 1998) is exempt from the requirements of section 10 of the Act if the authorised carer only provides that care at a place other than the home.
Exemption for birth parents resident in households of authorised carers
22A Exemption for birth parents resident in households of authorised carers
22A Exemption for birth parents resident in households of authorised carers
An adult person who resides at the home of an authorised carer is exempt from the requirements of section 10 of the Act if the person is the birth parent of a child for whom care is provided by the authorised carer at that home.
cll 22A: Ins 2013 (676), Sch 2 [5].
22B
Exemption for authorised carers and adult residents who reside overseas
22B Exemption for authorised carers and adult residents who reside overseas
22B Exemption for authorised carers and adult residents who reside overseas
(1) An authorised carer who resides outside Australia, and any adult person who resides at the home of that authorised carer, are exempt from the Act.
(2) This exemption ceases to apply to an authorised carer or adult person during any period that the authorised carer or person remains in Australia for more than 7 consecutive days.
cll 22B: Ins 2013 (676), Sch 2 [5].
22C
48 hour exemption if adult resident no longer has clearance or current application
22C 48 hour exemption if adult resident no longer has clearance or current application
22C 48 hour exemption if adult resident no longer has clearance or current application
(1) This clause applies to an adult person who resides at the home of an authorised carer if the adult person—
(a) has a working with children check clearance which is cancelled, or
(b) has an application for a clearance that is refused.
(2) An adult person or a designated agency does not commit an offence against section 10 of the Act because of a cancellation or refusal referred to in subclause (1) unless the person or agency has been notified of the cancellation or refusal and more than 48 hours have passed since that notification.
cll 22C: Ins 2014 (681), Sch 1 [3].
22D
Exemption if adult resident residing with carer whose authorisation suspended
22D Exemption if adult resident residing with carer whose authorisation suspended
22D Exemption if adult resident residing with carer whose authorisation suspended
Section 10 of the Act does not apply to a person residing at the home of an authorised carer if the carer’s authorisation is suspended.
cll 22D: Ins 2014 (681), Sch 1 [3].
22E
Exemption from notification by reporting bodies of certain historic matters
22E Exemption from notification by reporting bodies of certain historic matters
22E Exemption from notification by reporting bodies of certain historic matters
(1) A reporting body within the meaning of section 35 of the Act is exempt from the requirement under that section to notify the Children’s Guardian in respect of a finding made by the reporting body before 3 July 1995.
(2) This clause does not apply in respect of a finding made by a reporting body if the Children’s Guardian gives a written direction to the reporting body that this clause does not apply to the finding.
(3) A direction of the Children’s Guardian may specify a particular finding or may specify findings of a particular class (such as findings against a specified person or findings during a specified period).
(4) Nothing in this clause prevents a reporting body from notifying the Children’s Guardian under section 35 of the Act about a finding in respect of which an exemption under this clause applies.
(5) This clause ceases to have effect on 29 October 2016.
cl 22E: Ins 2014 (681), Sch 1 [3]. Am 2015 (656), cl 3.
Part 5
General
Part 5 General
Part 5 General
23
Information that may be made available
23 Information that may be made available
23 Information that may be made available
(1) The following information about a person contained in the working with children register may be made available by the Children’s Guardian to an employer or proposed employer of the person on a request by the employer or proposed employer—
(a) the application number of any application for a clearance made by the person,
(b) the current clearance status of an applicant or holder,
(c) the number, class and expiry date of any clearance held by a person.
(2) The Children’s Guardian must not make the information available unless the request is made in the form approved by the Children’s Guardian and contains the particulars required by the Children’s Guardian.
(3) The following information about an employer held in a database maintained by the Children’s Guardian may be made publicly available by the Children’s Guardian—
(a) the trading name or registered business name, if any, of the employer,
(b) the child-related work for which the employer engages a child-related worker,
(c) the postcode or name of the place in which the business of the employer is located,
(d) whether any requests for information about clearance status were made to the Children’s Guardian by the employer within a specified period.
cll 23: Am 2013 (269), Sch 1 [2].
24
Notifications by reporting bodies
24 Notifications by reporting bodies
24 Notifications by reporting bodies
(1) A notification by a reporting body under section 35 of the Act must be made in the form approved by the Children’s Guardian and submitted to the Children’s Guardian online via the website of the Children’s Guardian.
(2) The reporting body must, on the written request of the Children’s Guardian, provide the Children’s Guardian with copies of records of allegations, investigations and findings concerning the subject of the notification.
(3) Records of allegations, investigations and findings concerning the subject of any such notification must be kept by the reporting body or any successor of that body for not less than 30 years, unless the records are given to the Children’s Guardian.
(4) If a reporting body or any successor to a reporting body ceases to exist and there is no successor to that body, the body or successor must ensure that the records are lodged with the Children’s Guardian before the body or successor ceases to exist.
(5) A reporting body may amend or withdraw a notification, in writing to the Children’s Guardian, if—
(a) the finding the subject of the notification is quashed, withdrawn or amended, or
(b) there is an error in the notification or a finding the subject of the notification, or
(c) the notification is otherwise wrongly made, or
(d) the person the subject of the notification dies.
(6) An amendment or withdrawal of a notification on the basis of an error must be accompanied by a statutory declaration by or on behalf of the reporting body specifying the error and any correction of that error.
(7) A reporting body must, as soon as practicable after making a notification or amending or withdrawing a notification, give written notice to the child-related worker who is the subject of the notification, amendment or withdrawal.
(8) A reporting body must not, without reasonable excuse, contravene this clause.
Maximum penalty—20 penalty units.
cll 24: Am 2013 (269), Sch 1 [2].
25
Additional reporting body
25 Additional reporting body
25 Additional reporting body
For the purposes of paragraph (e) of the definition of reporting body in section 35(4) of the Act, the Scout Association of Australia, New South Wales Branch is prescribed.
For the purposes of the Act, section 45(3), the following agencies are prescribed—
(a) the Department of Customer Service,
(b) the Ministry of Health,
(c) the Department of Education,
(d) the Department of Communities and Justice,
(e) the NSW Education Standards Authority,
(f) the TAFE Commission.
cl 27: Ins 2022 (121), Sch 1[7]. Am 2022 (725), Sch 1[4].
28
Application fees
28 Application fees
28 Application fees
For the Act, sections 29(1)(d) and 30C(1)(d), the prescribed fee for each of the following is double the amount of the application fee for a clearance under clause 17(1)(b)—
(a) an application for an internal review under the Act, Part 4, Division 2,
(b) an application for a disqualification reassessment under the Act, Part 4, Division 3.
cl 28: Ins 2025 (533), Sch 1[2].
29
Members of expert advisory panel may advise on applications for review
29 Members of expert advisory panel may advise on applications for review
29 Members of expert advisory panel may advise on applications for review
For the Act, sections 30(2)(b) and 30D(3)(b), a member of the expert advisory panel appointed under the Act, section 42A is prescribed.
cl 29: Ins 2025 (533), Sch 1[2].
30
Information relevant to disqualification reassessment
30 Information relevant to disqualification reassessment
30 Information relevant to disqualification reassessment
For the Act, section 30D(4)(c), in deciding an application for a disqualification reassessment, the Children’s Guardian must consider information about significant changes in any relevant circumstances from the time the disqualifying offence occurred.
School cleaners employed after commencement of Part 2 of the Act and before 31 March 2014
2A School cleaners employed after commencement of Part 2 of the Act and before 31 March 2014
2A School cleaners employed after commencement of Part 2 of the Act and before 31 March 2014
(1) On and from 31 March 2014, workers engaged as school cleaners by an employer after the commencement of Part 2 of the Act are required to comply with Division 2 of Part 2 of the Act.
(2) Until 31 March 2014, a worker referred to in subclause (1) is not required to obtain or have a clearance in respect of that work and section 9 of the Act does not apply in respect of an employer of any such person.
(3) This clause has effect despite any provision of Part 2 of Schedule 3 to the Act.
2B
Membership of governing body of certain agencies
2B Membership of governing body of certain agencies
2B Membership of governing body of certain agencies
(1) On and from 31 March 2015, a person who is a member of a governing body that is specified to be a child-related role by clause 16B of this Regulation is required to comply with Division 2 of Part 2 of the Act.
(2) Until 31 March 2015, a person referred to in subclause (1) is not required to obtain or have a clearance in respect of that role and section 9 of the Act does not apply in respect of an employer of any such person.
2C
Principal officer of registered agency
2C Principal officer of registered agency
2C Principal officer of registered agency
(1) On and from 31 March 2015, a person in the role of principal officer of a registered agency within the meaning of clause 16C of this Regulation is required to comply with Division 2 of Part 2 of the Act.
(2) Until 31 March 2015, a person referred to in subclause (1) is not required to obtain or have a clearance in respect of that role and section 9 of the Act does not apply in respect of an employer of any such person.
2D
Counselling, mentoring or distance education not involving direct contact
2D Counselling, mentoring or distance education not involving direct contact
2D Counselling, mentoring or distance education not involving direct contact
A person who is a worker providing ongoing counselling, mentoring or distance education for children that is specified to be a child-related role by clause 16D of this Regulation is required to comply with Division 2 of Part 2 of the Act.
5A
Early application of Act—certain self-employed persons
5A Early application of Act—certain self-employed persons
5A Early application of Act—certain self-employed persons
(1) The Children’s Guardian may, by notice in writing to a person to whom clause 4 of Schedule 3 to the Act applies, require the person to comply with Division 2 of Part 2 of the Act by a specified day.
(2) Clause 4 of Schedule 3 to the Act ceases to apply to the person on and from the specified day and the person must instead comply with Division 2 of Part 2 of the Act after the specified day.
7A
Self-employed persons
7A Self-employed persons
7A Self-employed persons
Clause 4 of Schedule 3 to the Act does not apply to a person who—
(a) has been subject to an interim bar, or
(b) has had an application for a working with children check clearance refused, or
(c) has had a working with children check clearance cancelled.
Note.
Clause 4 of Schedule 3 to the Act also does not apply to a disqualified person.
Schedule 1A
Fee indexation
Schedule 1A Fee indexation
Schedule 1A Fee indexation
clause 17(1)(b)
sch 1A: Ins 2024 (303), Sch 1[2].
Schedule 2
Penalty notice offences
Schedule 2 Penalty notice offences
Schedule 2 Penalty notice offences
For the purposes of section 50A of the Act—
(a) each offence specified in Column 1 of this Schedule is an offence for which a penalty notice may be issued, and
(b) the amount payable under any such penalty notice is the amount specified for the offence in Column 2 of this Schedule (in respect of a corporation) or in Column 3 of this Schedule (in respect of an individual).
sch 2: Am 2013 (269), Sch 1 [2]. Rep 2014 (681), Sch 1 [13]. Ins 2018 No 14, Sch 2.1 [3]. Am 2024 (486), Sch 2.
Source text: opening excerpt
Sourced from legislation.nsw.gov.au, CC BY 4.0.
Part 1 Preliminary
Part 1 Preliminary
Part 1 Preliminary
1 Name of Regulation
1 Name of Regulation
1 Name of Regulation
This Regulation is the Child Protection (Working with Children) Regulation 2013.
2 Commencement
2 Commencement
2 Commencement
This Regulation commences on 15 June 2013 and is required to be published on the NSW legislation website.
3 Definitions
3 Definitions
3 Definitions
(1) In this Regulation—
close relative of a person means—
(a) a spouse or de facto partner of the person, or
(b) a child, step-child, sibling, step-sibling, parent, step-parent, grandparent, step-grandparent, aunt, uncle, niece or nephew of the person,
and includes, in the case of an Aboriginal person or a Torres Strait Islander, persons who are part of the extended family or kin of the person according to the indigenous kinship system of the person’s culture.
entity has the same meaning as in the Children’s Guardian Act 2019.
home-stay means residence with another family for a period for the purposes of a cultural or educational program.
parent of a child means the person having, in relation to the child, all the duties, powers, responsibilities and authority which, by law, parents have in relation to their children.
school cleaner—see clause 16A.
Service NSW service centre includes a place designated by the Chief Executive Officer of Service NSW to—
(a) receive payment of the application fee for a clearance, or
(b) confirm proof of identity in relation to an application for a clearance.
specialised substitute residential care has the same meaning as in the Children’s Guardian Act 2019.
the Act means the Child Protection (Working with Children) Act 2012.
working with children register means the register established under section 25 of the Act.
Note.
The Act and the Interpretation Act 1987 contain definitions and other provisions that affect the interpretation and application of this Regulation.
Public Health (Tobacco) Act 2008
Part 3 governs the mechanics of clearance applications. Application fees are nil for volunteers and otherwise indexed under Schedule 1A (cl 17(1)). Identity must ordinarily be proved at a Service NSW service centre (cl 18(1)), although online verification is available on invitation (cl 18(2)) and alternative arrangements exist for authorised carers who cannot attend in person or who live interstate (cl 18(3)). The Children’s Guardian must issue an application number and, where granted, a clearance number (cl 19).
Part 4 is the exemption engine. Clause 20(1) lists 15 categories of worker (and their employers) who are exempt from the Act except for the offence-creating s 7. These range from purely administrative staff whose contact is not extended (cl 20(1)(a)), short-term workers (5 days per calendar year) with minimal contact (cl 20(1)(b)), informal domestic arrangements (cl 20(1)(c)), work involving only close relatives (cl 20(1)(d)), parent/close-relative volunteers (cl 20(1)(e)–(f)), persons under 18 (cl 20(1)(g)), police (cl 20(1)(h)), private health practitioners whose paediatric work is always supervised (cl 20(1)(i)), co-workers or supervisors of children outside certain justice or tobacco-inspector roles (cl 20(1)(j)), certain home-care workers (cl 20(1)(k)), and various interstate visitors holding equivalent clearances or attending one-off events (cl 20(1)(l)–(o)). Subclause (2) carves out personal-care, formal mentoring and overnight-camp volunteering from the parent-volunteer exemption. Clause 21 supplies a short-term emergency exemption where an employer judges that children’s safety would be compromised by waiting for a clearance. Clauses 22–22D provide targeted relief for household members of authorised carers in defined circumstances, including a 48-hour grace period after cancellation or refusal (cl 22C) and relief during suspension of a carer’s authorisation (cl 22D). Clause 22E (now spent) formerly exempted reporting bodies from notifying pre-3 July 1995 findings.
Part 5 deals with information flows. Clause 23 limits the clearance-status data the Children’s Guardian may release to employers. Clause 24 prescribes the form, online submission, record-retention (30 years) and amendment/withdrawal requirements for notifications by reporting bodies under Act s 35, with a 20-penalty-unit offence for breach. Clause 25 prescribes the Scout Association of Australia (NSW Branch) as an additional reporting body. Clause 27 authorises disclosure of information to six named government agencies. Clauses 28–30 (inserted 2025) set double-fee levels for internal reviews and disqualification reassessments, prescribe expert-advisory-panel members as advisers, and require the Children’s Guardian to consider significant changes in circumstances since a disqualifying offence occurred.
Schedule 1 contains detailed savings and transitional provisions that staged the introduction of the clearance requirement between 2013 and 2018 across different sectors (cl 2), with special rules for school cleaners (cl 2A), governing bodies (cl 2B), principal officers (cl 2C) and non-contact roles (cl 2D). Early-application powers are conferred on the Children’s Guardian (cl 5). Schedule 1A indexes the paid-application fee by CPI (All Groups, Sydney) with rounding and floor rules. Schedule 2 lists penalty-notice amounts for various offences under the Act.
Taken as a whole, the Regulation translates the Act’s broad protective purpose into a workable, sector-specific, exemption-heavy administrative scheme while preserving flexibility through emergency provisions and transitional staging.
Who it affects
The Regulation’s reach is deliberately wide. Primary obligors are any “worker” (defined by reference to the Act) engaged in any of the child-related roles or work described in Part 2. This includes employees, volunteers, self-employed contractors, students on placement (expressly excluded by cl 6(4)), au pairs providing child care (cl 9(3)), coaches and team managers (cl 7(2)), school cleaners (cl 16A), governing body members (cl 16B), principal officers (cl 16C), heads of child safe organisations (cl 16CA) and non-contact counsellors or mentors (cl 16D).
Employers (including government agencies, non-government organisations, clubs, schools, health services, religious bodies and commercial child-care providers) are equally affected because Act s 9 prohibits them from engaging a worker in child-related work unless the worker holds a clearance or is exempt. Designated agencies, approved providers of education and care services, and managers of those services are captured both as employers and through prescribed roles for their principal officers and governing bodies.
A distinct class comprises “adult persons who reside at the home of an authorised carer”. Clauses 22–22D and the transitional provisions in Schedule 1 (cll 1, 2, 7) impose or relieve clearance obligations on every adult household member of a foster or kinship carer, with nuanced rules depending on whether out-of-home care is provided at that address, whether the carer’s authorisation is suspended, and whether a clearance has been cancelled or refused (48-hour grace period under cl 22C).
Parents and close relatives (defined expansively in cl 3(1) to include extended Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander kin) are affected when they volunteer at schools or in activities in which their child participates (cl 20(1)(e)–(f)), but lose the exemption if they provide intimate personal care, formal mentoring or attend overnight camps (cl 20(2)).
Interstate visitors holding equivalent clearances are relieved for up to 30 days per calendar year (cl 20(1)(n)); shorter one-off event visitors are exempt without a check (cl 20(1)(m),(o)). Health practitioners visiting from outside NSW for no more than five days in three months are exempt (cl 20(1)(l)). Police officers acting in that capacity are wholly exempt (cl 20(1)(h)).
Reporting bodies (Act s 35(4) plus the Scout Association under cl 25) must notify the Children’s Guardian of relevant findings and retain records for 30 years (cl 24). The NSW Education Standards Authority is a notifiable person for accredited teachers (cl 3A).
Finally, the Children’s Guardian itself is both regulator and decision-maker; the Regulation prescribes the precise information it may release (cl 23), the forms it must use, and the matters it must consider on disqualification reassessment (cl 30).
In short, the Regulation affects every individual or organisation that operates in the child-related sectors it enumerates, every household linked to authorised out-of-home carers, every reporting body, and the regulator itself.
Key duties and rights
Duties fall heaviest on employers and workers in child-related roles. Under the Act (as particularised by this Regulation) an employer must not engage a worker unless the worker holds a clearance or is exempt (Act s 9; exemptions mapped in cl 20). Workers must obtain a clearance before commencing child-related work unless exempt. Both must comply with the identity-verification and fee requirements in cll 17–18A.
Reporting bodies owe a strict duty under cl 24 to notify findings in the approved online form, supply underlying records on request, retain them for 30 years (or transfer them to the Children’s Guardian on cessation of existence), and notify the affected worker of any notification, amendment or withdrawal. Amendments or withdrawals must be accompanied by a statutory declaration if based on error (cl 24(6)). Breach attracts 20 penalty units (cl 24(8)).
The Children’s Guardian must issue application and clearance numbers (cl 19), may release only the narrowly prescribed register information to employers (cl 23(1)), and must consider “significant changes in any relevant circumstances” since a disqualifying offence when conducting a disqualification reassessment (cl 30). It may direct that the spent cl 22E exemption not apply to a pre-1995 finding.
Rights are largely expressed as exemptions. Workers meeting any of the 15 limbs of cl 20(1) are exempt from the clearance requirement and their employers are exempt from Act s 9 (though not from the offence of allowing an uncleared person to engage in child-related work under Act s 7). Parents and close relatives enjoy a volunteer exemption that is wider than the general public’s but is lost in high-risk settings (cl 20(2)). Authorised carers and their household members benefit from targeted household exemptions (cll 22–22D) and from the staged transitional relief in Schedule 1.
Applicants have the right to alternative identity and payment pathways when standard Service NSW attendance is impossible (cl 18A) and to online identity verification on invitation (cl 18(2)). Volunteers enjoy a nil application fee (cl 17(1)(a)). Interstate visitors holding equivalent clearances gain a 30-day annual exemption (cl 20(1)(n)).
The regulation also creates procedural rights: reporting bodies may amend or withdraw notifications on defined grounds (cl 24(5)), and the affected worker must be given written notice of any such step (cl 24(7)).
Penalties and enforcement
The Regulation itself creates only one direct offence: contravention by a reporting body of any requirement in cl 24 carries a maximum of 20 penalty units (cl 24(8)). All other sanctions flow from the Act. Schedule 2 nevertheless prescribes penalty-notice amounts for a suite of Act offences: $2,750 for an individual breaching Act ss 8(1), 8(2), 9(1), 9B(2), 9B(4) or 40(2); $1,100 for a corporation under s 9(1), 9B(2) or 9B(4); lower amounts for administrative breaches such as ss 9A(6), 9AA(6) and 45A.
Enforcement is therefore a hybrid of penalty notices issued under the Act s 50A and prosecution for the underlying offences. The Children’s Guardian’s power to cancel a clearance or impose an interim bar (Act ss 23–24) remains the principal administrative enforcement tool, with the Regulation supplying the definitional triggers (e.g. engagement in a newly prescribed role under cll 16A–16CA) that can activate those powers.
The 48-hour grace period in cl 22C and the short-term emergency exemption in cl 21 operate as statutory defences to otherwise applicable offences under Act s 10. The spent cl 22E provided a time-limited exemption from historical reporting obligations.
How it interacts with other laws
The Regulation is expressly subordinate to the Child Protection (Working with Children) Act 2012, which it defines as “the Act” (cl 3(1)). It also cross-references the Children’s Guardian Act 2019 for the meanings of “entity”, “specialised substitute residential care” and “head of a child safe organisation” (cll 3(1), 16C(2), 16CA(2)). The Interpretation Act 1987 applies to undefined terms (cl 3(1) note).
Sector-specific statutes are incorporated by reference: the Teacher Accreditation Act 2004 for notifiable-person status (cl 3A), the Health Practitioner Regulation National Law (NSW) and various health Acts for the definition of health practitioner and hospital (cl 6(5)), the Children and Young Persons (Care and Protection) Act 1998 for authorised carers and out-of-home care (cll 17(3), 22, Schedule 1 cl 1), the Adoption Act 2000 for accredited adoption service providers (cl 16B(c)), the Children (Detention Centres) Act 1987 and Crimes (Administration of Sentences) Act 1999 for justice-centre terminology (cl 12(4)), the Private Health Facilities Act 2007, Mental Health Act 2007 and Health Services Act 1997 for hospital definitions (cl 6(5)), and the Public Health (Tobacco) Act 2008 for inspector roles (cl 16AA).
Commonwealth legislation appears in cl 20(1)(k) via the Aged Care Act 1997 (Cth) Accountability Principles. The Accountability Principles 1998 (Cth) police-check requirement is adopted as an alternative compliance pathway for certain home-care workers.
Transitional provisions in Schedule 1 interact with Schedule 3 to the Act, modifying or displacing its staged-application rules (cll 2(9), 2A(3), 7(1)). The 2025 amendments (cll 28–30) engage the internal-review and disqualification-reassessment provisions in Part 4 of the Act.
Information-sharing authorisations in cl 27 supplement the Act’s privacy provisions by permitting disclosure to six named departments and authorities. Clause 24’s record-retention and transfer rules interface with any applicable records legislation governing the reporting bodies.
Recent changes and why
The Regulation has been amended more than a dozen times since 2013, each change addressing practical gaps or policy shifts.
The Child Protection (Working with Children) Amendment (Miscellaneous) Regulation 2013 inserted cl 16A (school cleaners) and expanded the definition of close relative to include indigenous kinship systems. It also adjusted household-member exemptions (cll 22–22B) to reflect operational difficulties experienced by out-of-home care agencies.
In 2014 the Amendment Regulation 2014 added governing-body and principal-officer roles (cll 16B, 16C), introduced the 48-hour grace period (cl 22C) and suspension exemption (cl 22D), and created the now-spent historic-findings exemption (cl 22E). These changes responded to recommendations that oversight roles in agencies delivering residential care should be screened and that rigid household rules were causing unnecessary carer shortages.
The 2017 amendment inserted cl 16D to capture non-contact but ongoing counselling, mentoring and distance-education roles, recognising that grooming can occur remotely. Consequential changes were made to the transitional schedule.
2022 saw four sets of amendments. Clause 3A prescribed the NSW Education Standards Authority as a notifiable person for accredited or seeking-to-be-accredited teachers. Clause 16AA added tobacco inspectors. Clause 16CA introduced “head of a child safe organisation” following the Children’s Guardian Act 2019 reforms that embedded the Child Safe Standards. Amendments to cll 16B–16C updated terminology to “specialised substitute residential care” to align with the 2019 Act. Fee and identity provisions were relaxed to permit online processes (cll 17(2A), 18(2)).
The Child Protection (Working with Children) Amendment (Fees) Regulation 2024 inserted Schedule 1A, replacing a flat fee with annual CPI indexation (base $105 in 2024–25, $107 in 2025–26 per the editorial note). This ensures the cost-recovery component keeps pace with inflation while preserving the volunteer exemption.
Most recently, the 2025 amendments inserted cll 28–30. They double the application fee for internal reviews and disqualification reassessments, allow expert-advisory-panel members to advise on reviews, and mandate consideration of significant changes in circumstances since the disqualifying offence. These changes implement recommendations for a more nuanced, evidence-based reassessment process that recognises rehabilitation and changed contexts.
Each amendment reflects a recurring policy tension: broadening the net of screened roles to close perceived loopholes while attempting to minimise regulatory burden through targeted exemptions and procedural efficiencies.
Court challenges and controversies
The Regulation itself does not record specific court challenges; its text is administrative and procedural. However, several of its provisions have been shaped by operational controversies that surfaced in stakeholder feedback and parliamentary reviews.
The staged transitional timetable in Schedule 1 cl 2 was controversial because it created different compliance dates for different sectors, leading to confusion among multi-service organisations. The differential treatment of hospital versus community health services and the carve-out for visiting medical practitioners whose contracts were not due for renewal until 2017 generated complaints about inequity.
The addition of school cleaners via cl 16A in 2013 was contentious. Critics argued that cleaners’ contact with children is usually incidental and supervised; the Regulation countered this by prescribing the role outright under Act s 6(3) and removing the “more than incidental” filter.
The household-member exemptions in cll 22–22D have been the subject of repeated adjustment. The 48-hour grace period in cl 22C was inserted after agencies reported that an immediate criminal sanction upon cancellation or refusal was impractical where an adult resident’s status changed unexpectedly. The overseas-resident exemption (cl 22B) and its seven-consecutive-day Australian trigger reflect practical difficulties in obtaining clearances from abroad.
The former cl 22E exemption for pre-1995 findings attracted debate about whether historical, untested allegations should still influence modern clearance decisions. The clause’s sunset on 29 October 2016 and the Children’s Guardian’s power to disapply the exemption in individual cases represented a compromise between finality and child-protection imperatives.
Controversy also surrounds the breadth of the “close relative” definition in cl 3(1), which incorporates indigenous kinship systems. While culturally appropriate, it creates evidentiary challenges for agencies verifying relationships.
No judicial decisions are cited in the Regulation, but the structure of cl 24 (mandatory 30-year record retention, statutory-declaration requirement for error corrections, and personal notice to the worker) suggests legislative awareness of natural-justice and procedural-fairness concerns that had arisen under the predecessor Commission for Children and Young People Act 1998.
Gotchas
Most practitioners miss that cl 6(3A) deems any direct contact by health practitioners or support staff in paediatric settings to be “a usual part of and more than incidental to the work”. This eliminates the incidental-contact defence that remains available in other sectors under cl 20(1)(a).
The volunteer exemption for parents (cl 20(1)(e)–(f)) is narrower than many assume. It evaporates the moment the parent provides intimate personal care, formal mentoring or attends an overnight camp (cl 20(2)). A parent coaching their own child’s team may therefore require a clearance if the role involves extended unsupervised contact.
School cleaners are a prescribed child-related role under Act s 6(3) via cl 16A; they are not merely “workers” to whom the incidental-contact test applies. The transitional cl 2A made this clear from 31 March 2014 for post-commencement hires.
Clause 20(1)(n) allows interstate visitors with an equivalent clearance up to 30 days per calendar year, but the days need not be consecutive and the clock resets on 1 January. Crossing the 30-day threshold even by one day for one worker can expose the employer to strict liability under Act s 9.
The definition of “close relative” in cl 3(1)(b) includes aunts, uncles, nieces and nephews but also, for Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander persons, anyone within the extended family or kin according to indigenous kinship systems. Agencies unfamiliar with cultural protocols can inadvertently treat a kinship carer as a non-relative, triggering unnecessary clearance obligations or, conversely, granting an inappropriate exemption under cl 20(1)(d).
Clause 16D brings non-contact ongoing counselling or distance education within child-related roles. Many organisations still assume that “no direct contact” equals “no clearance needed”.
The CPI indexation in Schedule 1A contains a ratchet: if the calculated fee falls below the previous year’s fee, the previous year’s fee continues. This can produce unexpected stability or jumps when CPI is volatile.
Finally, cl 24(4) requires a defunct reporting body with no successor to lodge all historical records with the Children’s Guardian before it ceases to exist. Failure to do so leaves the body (or its directors) potentially exposed to ongoing record-keeping obligations that survive corporate dissolution.
How to comply
Compliance begins with a mapping exercise. An organisation must classify every role against Part 2 and cll 16A–16E. A written register should record, for each role, whether it is child-related, whether any exemption in cl 20 or cll 21–22D applies, and the precise basis for that conclusion. The register must be revisited whenever the Regulation is amended or a role’s duties change.
For roles that are child-related and not exempt, every worker (including volunteers, contractors and governing body members) must hold a current clearance before commencing. Employers must sight the clearance number and verify its status via the Children’s Guardian’s employer portal (cl 23). Volunteers are processed free of charge (cl 17(1)(a)); paid workers trigger the indexed fee in Schedule 1A.
Identity verification follows cl 18. Standard applicants attend a Service NSW centre; authorised carers unable to attend or residing interstate may use approved alternative methods (cl 18(3)). Where standard identification documents cannot be produced, cl 18A permits direct lodgement with the Office of the Children’s Guardian.
Organisations that engage interstate visitors must maintain a rolling calendar-year tally for each visitor under cl 20(1)(n) or (m). A single visit log shared across departments prevents inadvertent breach.
Reporting bodies must embed cl 24 procedures: notifications are submitted only via the Children’s Guardian’s online portal, underlying records are kept for 30 years (or transferred on cessation), and the subject worker is given contemporaneous written notice of any notification, amendment or withdrawal. A template statutory declaration should be kept on file for error corrections.
Households of authorised carers require separate compliance streams. Every adult resident’s clearance status must be verified before the carer’s authorisation is granted or renewed, subject to the exemptions in cll 22–22D and the 48-hour grace period. Agencies should maintain a household register that flags cancellation or refusal events and triggers the 48-hour notification clock.
Organisations should subscribe to Children’s Guardian circulars and review the legislation website quarterly; the amendment history shows changes occur regularly. Internal policies should nominate a “clearance coordinator” with authority to obtain early-application notices under cl 5 or cl 5A where business need justifies accelerating transitional dates.
Finally, record-keeping must satisfy both cl 24(3)–(4) for reporting bodies and any overlapping obligations under the State Records Act 1998 or funding agreements. A single, centralised clearance and notification register, audited annually, is the minimum standard that satisfies both the letter and the protective spirit of the scheme.
(2) In this Regulation, a service is provided on a commercial basis if the service is provided on a fee for service basis, whether or not the fee concerned is imposed or funding for the service is obtained by a grant or other means.
(3) Notes included in this Regulation do not form part of this Regulation.
For the Act, section 5(1), definition of notifiable person, paragraph (f), the NSW Education Standards Authority is prescribed as a notifiable person if the applicant or holder—
(a) is accredited within the meaning of the Teacher Accreditation Act 2004, or
(b) has applied for accreditation within the meaning of that Act.
cl 3A: Ins 2022 (725), Sch 1[1].
Part 2 Child-related work
Part 2 Child-related work
Part 2 Child-related work
4 Child development and family welfare services
4 Child development and family welfare services
4 Child development and family welfare services
(1) Work in mentoring and counselling services for children is child-related work, if the mentoring and counselling services are provided to children as part of a formal mentoring program provided by a government or non-government agency.
(2) Work in providing family welfare services is child-related work, if clients to whom the services are provided ordinarily include children.
5 Child protection
5 Child protection
5 Child protection
Work in child protection services provided by a government or non-government agency is child-related work.
6 Children’s health services
6 Children’s health services
6 Children’s health services
(1) Work as a health practitioner providing health services in wards of hospitals where children are treated is child-related work.
(2) Other work as a health practitioner providing child health services is child-related work.
(3) Work by persons (other than health practitioners) who provide health and care services in paediatric or adolescent health services is child-related work.
(3A) For the purposes of section 6(3A) of the Act, any direct contact that a worker has with a child or children when engaged in work referred to in subclause (1), (2) or (3) is taken to be a usual part of and more than incidental to the work.
Note.
A worker who is found to be engaged in child-related work may still be exempt from the requirement to obtain a working with children check clearance if the worker is exempted by a provision of Part 4 of this Regulation.
(4) Work as a student in the course of a student clinical placement in a hospital or other health service is not child-related work.
(5) In this clause—
health practitioner means—
(a) a registered health practitioner within the meaning of the Health Practitioner Regulation National Law (NSW), and
(b) any other individual who provides a health service.
health service includes the following—
(a) medical, hospital and nursing and midwifery services,
(b) dental services,
(c) mental health services,
(d) pharmaceutical services,
(e) ambulance services,
(f) community health services,
(g) health education services,
(h) welfare services necessary to implement any services referred to in paragraphs (a)–(g),
(i) services provided in connection with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health practices and medical radiation practices,
(j) Chinese medicine, chiropractic, occupational therapy, optometry, physiotherapy, podiatry and psychology services,
(l) services provided in other alternative health care fields.
hospital means—
(a) a private health facility licensed under the Private Health Facilities Act 2007, or
(b) a declared mental health facility or private mental health facility within the meaning of the Mental Health Act 2007, or
(c) a public hospital within the meaning of the Health Services Act 1997.
cl 6: Am 2013 (269), Sch 1 [1]; 2017 No 50, Sch 5.3; 2018 No 14, Sch 2.1 [1].
7 Clubs or other bodies providing services for children
7 Clubs or other bodies providing services for children
7 Clubs or other bodies providing services for children
(1) Work for a club, association, movement, society or other body of a cultural, recreational, sporting or community service nature that involves providing programs or services primarily for children is child-related work.
(2) Without limiting subclause (1), work as a coach or as a team manager, or an assistant coach or assistant team manager, for a sport or activity for children is child-related work.
(3) However, the work is not child-related work if the work is work as a referee, umpire, linesperson or otherwise as a sporting official or a groundsperson, and the work does not ordinarily involve contact with children for extended periods without other adults being present.
8 Disability services
8 Disability services
8 Disability services
(1) Work in providing respite care or other support services primarily for children with a disability is child-related work.
(2) However, the work is not child-related work if the work does not ordinarily involve contact with children for extended periods without other adults being present.
9 Early education and child care
9 Early education and child care
9 Early education and child care
(1) Work in education and care services, child care centres, nanny services and other child minding services provided on a commercial basis is child-related work.
(2) Work in providing baby sitting services is child-related work, unless the services are provided under a private arrangement (whether or not a fee is payable).
(3) Work as an au pair is child-related work, if the work involves the provision of child care.
10 Education
10 Education
10 Education
(1) Work in schools or other educational institutions (other than universities) is child-related work.
(2) Work providing private coaching or tuition to children is child-related work.
11 Entertainment for children
11 Entertainment for children
11 Entertainment for children
(1) Work at sporting, cultural or other entertainment venues where services, activities or entertainment is provided on a commercial basis primarily for children is child-related work.
(2) Work that involves providing entertainment services primarily for children on a commercial basis is child-related work.
(3) However, providing food or equipment at or for a sporting, cultural or other entertainment venue or providing a venue is not child-related work.
12 Justice centres
12 Justice centres
12 Justice centres
(1) Work at detention centres and juvenile correctional centres is child-related work.
(2) Work as a supervisor or case manager of children on community justice placements, for a government or non-government body, is child-related work.
(3) Work for a residential parent and child program provided by a government or non-government agency involving inmates or detainees, and their children, at a correctional centre, juvenile correctional centre or detention centre or other place is child-related work.
(4) Expressions used in this clause have the same meaning as they have in the Children (Detention Centres) Act 1987 and the Crimes (Administration of Sentences) Act 1999.
13 Religious services
13 Religious services
13 Religious services
Work for a religious organisation where children form part of the congregation or organisation is child-related work, if the work is carried out—
(a) as a minister, priest, rabbi, mufti or other like religious leader or spiritual officer of the organisation, or
(b) in any other role in the organisation involving activities primarily related to children, including youth groups, youth camps, teaching children and child care.
14 Residential services
14 Residential services
14 Residential services
(1) Work at the following services is child-related work—
(a) refuges used regularly by children,
(b) boarding houses or places providing other residential services for children,
(c) overnight camps for children.
(2) Work in providing home-stays of 3 weeks or more for children is child-related work.
15 Transport services for children
15 Transport services for children
15 Transport services for children
Work in providing transport services especially for children on a government funded or commercial basis, including school bus services and taxi services for children with a disability and supervision of school road crossings, is child-related work.
16 Youth workers
16 Youth workers
16 Youth workers
Work as a youth worker, for a government or non-government agency, is child-related work.
16AA Inspectors under Public Health (Tobacco) Act 2008
16AA Inspectors under Public Health (Tobacco) Act 2008
16AA Inspectors under Public Health (Tobacco) Act 2008
For the Act, section 6(2)(m), work as an inspector, within the meaning of the Public Health (Tobacco) Act 2008, carrying out functions under that Act is child-related work.
cl 16AA: Ins 2022 (725), Sch 1[2].
16A School cleaners
16A School cleaners
16A School cleaners
For the purposes of section 6(3) of the Act, the role of a cleaner providing cleaning services at a school (a school cleaner) is prescribed as a child-related role.
cl 16A: Ins 2013 (676), Sch 2 [2].
16B Membership of governing body of certain agencies
16B Membership of governing body of certain agencies
16B Membership of governing body of certain agencies
For the purposes of section 6(3) of the Act, the role of each member of the governing body of any of the following is prescribed as a child-related role—
(a) a designated agency,
(b) an entity providing specialised substitute residential care,
(c) an accredited adoption service provider (within the meaning of the Adoption Act 2000).
cl 16B: Ins 2014 (681), Sch 1 [2]. Am 2022 (377), Sch 1[2].
16C Principal officer of entity providing specialised substitute residential care
16C Principal officer of entity providing specialised substitute residential care
16C Principal officer of entity providing specialised substitute residential care
(1) For the purposes of section 6(3) of the Act, the role of the principal officer of an entity providing specialised substitute residential care is prescribed as a child-related role.
(2) In this clause—
principal officer of an entity providing specialised substitute residential care has the same meaning as in the Children’s Guardian Act 2019, section 8ZC.
cl 16C: Ins 2014 (681), Sch 1 [2]. Am 2022 (377), Sch 1[3]–[5].
16CA Head of child safe organisation
16CA Head of child safe organisation
16CA Head of child safe organisation
(1) For the Act, section 6(3)(g), the role of the head of a child safe organisation is prescribed.
(2) In this clause—
head of a child safe organisation has the same meaning as in the Children’s Guardian Act 2019.
cl 16CA: Ins 2022 (377), Sch 1[6].
16D Counselling, mentoring or distance education not involving direct contact
16D Counselling, mentoring or distance education not involving direct contact
16D Counselling, mentoring or distance education not involving direct contact
For the purposes of section 6(3) of the Act, the role of a worker providing ongoing counselling, mentoring or distance education for children using any form of communication that does not primarily involve direct contact is prescribed as a child-related role.
cl 16D: Ins 2017 (301), cl 3 (1).
16E Declaration of relevant licence
16E Declaration of relevant licence
16E Declaration of relevant licence
For the purposes of the definition of relevant licence in section 9AA(8) of the Act, an accreditation by the NSW Education Standards Authority is declared to be a relevant licence.
cl 16E: Ins 2019 (570), Sch 1[1].
Part 3 Clearances
Part 3 Clearances
Part 3 Clearances
17 Application fees
17 Application fees
17 Application fees
(1) The application fee for a clearance is as follows—
(a) for a volunteer clearance—nil,
(b) otherwise—the fee calculated in accordance with Schedule 1A.
(2) The application fee is to be paid at a Service NSW service centre.
(2A) Despite subclause (2), an applicant invited to provide pro
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