Federal Education Minister Jason Clare says Working with Children Check reforms 'can't happen soon enough'

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14 hours ago

Reforms that would standardise Working with Children Checks across the country "can't happen soon enough", the federal education minister says, in the wake of allegations of child sexual abuse at a Victorian childcare centre.
A decade after a Royal Commission recommended the checks should be streamlined, Jason Clare acknowledged change has been too slow.
"It's taken too long to do the work necessary to make sure that our Working with Children Check (WWCC) system is up to scratch," he said on Wednesday.
The issue will be on the agenda at a meeting of attorneys-general next month, which will also consider implementation of real-time updates to WWCCs based on changes to criminal records.
It comes after police charged Joshua Dale Brown with more than 70 offences relating to allegations involving eight alleged victims at a centre in Melbourne's south-west.
Mr Brown, 26, was not known to police and had a valid WWCC, which has since been cancelled.
On Wednesday, detectives investigating him charged a second man, Michael Simon Wilson, in relation to child abuse material and sex offences.
The Royal Commission into Institutionalised Responses to Child Sexual Abuse recommended in 2015 that WWCCs across the country be both standardised and nationalised.
Industry groups and advocacy bodies have voiced their support for the proposal, but it is yet to be implemented.
Former Royal Commissioner Robert Fitzgerald told the ABC it was "shameful" the work has not been done.
"The evidence was overwhelming 10 years ago and it's even more-so today."
He called for collaboration between federal, state and territory governments — and the urgent establishment of a national system, along with a real-time police database.
While the purpose of WWCCs is consistent across Australia, there are variations between states and territories on who requires the check, the vetting process and follow-up monitoring.
Even its name varies depending on where you live.
In Queensland it's known as a "blue card", while in the ACT it falls under a broader Working With Vulnerable People scheme.
Mr Fitzgerald said developing a national approach has been difficult because states have different approaches to the screening process.
"Some states, for examples, only look at criminal convictions, some states look at allegations in relation to professional misconduct," he told ABC NewsRadio.
He said, in effect, the variation meant a person who has been knocked back in one state may be approved in another — presenting a dangerous loophole.
Mr Fitzgerald added that the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission, a Commonwealth agency, coordinates a criminal check scheme.
"At the time that we made these recommendations, that scheme could have been replicated in relation to the Working With Children's regimes," he said.
"Why wasn't it? The Commonwealth really didn't want to get involved in the coordination of a scheme and the eight governments were too protective of the differences that exist in their scheme."
An ABC investigation found earlier this year that Victorian authorities were most limited of any state or territory in the information that can be considered during assessment.
Following a state government review, screening regulations will be changed in August so that authorities can consider Education Department bans when determining or revoking a WWCC.
But the reforms will not allow the Victorian system to consider information that forms part of the screening process in other states, such as child protection reports or police intelligence.
Other information that is considered in some jurisdictions includes spent convictions, pending charges, past exclusions from child-related work, domestic violence allegations and findings made in other jurisdictions.
Some states, such as Western Australia, can also consider reports from professionals such as doctors and psychologists.
Despite calls from some parts of the community, there is no jurisdiction that screens an applicant's social media profiles or history as part of the check.
States and territories also have different requirements on when a WWCC is required.
Childcare workers everywhere are required to have a valid WWCC — even, in some jurisdictions, managers who do not have direct contact with children.
Other areas are not as clear-cut — and exemptions are available in some circumstances.
In the Northern Territory, for example, a clearance is not needed if a volunteer is visiting and working with children for less than 30 days of the year.
South Australia and Tasmania have the same exemption but only up to seven days, while in New South Wales the exemption applies for up to five days under certain conditions.
Checks are valid for five years in South Australia, Tasmania, Victoria, New South Wales and the ACT but for only three years in Queensland and Western Australia.
The NT requires the most frequent renewal, with a two-year expiry date.