NSW to ban people from appealing if working with children check is denied

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a day ago

New South Wales will move to ban people from appealing the denial of a working with children check, after media reports highlighting cases where sex offenders and other criminals had been granted the checks on appeal.
The cases included instances where the NSW Civil and Administrative Appeals Tribunal (NCAT) had upheld appeals for a man who had been convicted of a sex act involving a woman on a train 47 years earlier and a teacher who was charged but never convicted of sexually abusing a foster child.
Premier Chris Minns said he was "very distressed" at the reports.
"I think it makes a mockery of the working with children check and is a loophole that cannot exist," he said.
A working with children check is compulsory for anyone who undertakes any paid or unpaid work involving children in NSW.
People must apply through Service NSW for the check, which involves a national police check of their criminal record and a review of reportable workplace misconduct.
They are then either cleared to work with children or not, depending on the result.
But many of those who are rejected are eligible to appeal through the NCAT.
In some cases applicants had been initially knocked back for a working with children check on the basis of unproven allegations, but in others the NCAT weighed issues including the passage of time since an offence and psychological evaluations showing the applicant was a low risk to children.
Mr Minns said he would bring legislation to end the appeals process.
"When it comes to the safety of children, it's a one-strike policy; we can't have any ambiguity here," he said.
"My understanding is we will have to introduce a bill to change the law to stop this appeal mechanism from taking place, but that's exactly what we are going to do."
The Office of the Children's Guardian is currently carrying out a review of the laws around working with children.