The Minns Labor Government has backed national plans to strengthen Working with Children Checks (WWCCs) and shut down loopholes which put children at risk.
At today's Standing Council of Attorneys-General (SCAG) meeting, Attorneys-General from across Australia agreed to urgently work towards implementing mutual recognition of negative WWCC notices by the end of 2025.
This will ensure anyone denied or stripped of a clearance in one state will be barred from working with children in other states.
The Minns Labor Government also agreed with other states and the Commonwealth to strengthen and improve consistency for a national approach to WWCCs and remove barriers for information sharing.
This will include a consistent risk-assessment framework and WWCC exclusion criteria for consideration at SCAG in late 2025.
Attorneys-General noted the Commonwealth's commitment to deliver a new National Continuous Checking Capability (NCCC) - a secure system continuously monitoring WWCC holders against fresh criminal history information from national, state and territory datasets.
These national reforms follow major child safety legislation introduced in the NSW Parliament last week, including:
- Removing external appeal rights for denied WWCCs
- Removing external appeal rights for denied NDIS Worker Checks
- Transferring all appeals to the Office of the Children's Guardian - the agency best placed to assess risk to children
Attorney General Michael Daley said:
"NSW has already acted to close loopholes in our WWCC system. Today's agreement ensures denied Working with Children Checks will be recognised nationally, so offenders cannot move between states to gain access to children."
Minister for Families and Communities Kate Washington said:
"The NSW Government is determined to see the strengthening of the WWCC system across Australia. Because we want parents to know that people who prey on children can't slip across state borders unseen."
