The Victorian Government is working to strengthen the protection children receive through Working with Children Checks (WWCCs).
The Victorian Government has recently enacted reforms limiting the right of appeal to the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal for people whose WWCC application is rejected on the basis that they, as an adult, have been charged with, convicted or found guilty of a Category A offence. Category A offences are the most serious offences for the purposes of the WWCC and include murder, rape and sexual offences committed by an adult against a child.
The majority of the recommendations in the Royal Commission’s WWCCs Report related to the implementation of National Standards for WWCCs. National Standards were endorsed by jurisdictions in November 2018. Victoria was unable to endorse these standards at that time due to caretaker conventions in the lead up to the state election. Victoria’s Working with Children Act 2005 already aligns with, or exceeds, most of the standards.
On 1 September 2019, legislative amendments took effect to more closely align the registration scheme for teachers and early childhood teachers with the Working with Children Act 2005 to ensure that serious offences and disciplinary findings are dealt with in a similar way under both schemes.
The Victorian Government will continue to work with the Australian Government and other states and territories regarding the implementation of the National Standards.
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