Volunteering with children

A volunteer Working with Children Check can only be used for volunteering.

If you are working with children as part of your paid employment, you must pay a fee for a Working with Children Check. People working with children or as part of their paid employment have always been required to pay a fee for a check.

Not working with children

If you have a volunteer check and then move into paid employment that does not involve working with children, you do not need a new Working with Children Check.

Example: A person who volunteers as coach for the local under-13 soccer team must have a volunteer Working with Children Check. If this person also has paid employment in real estate, they do not need another Working with Children Check.

Working with children

If you have a volunteer check and then move into paid employment where you do work with children, you will need to get a new Working with Children Check and pay a fee.

Example: A person who volunteers with the local under-8 netball team and starts working as a youth counsellor will require a new Working with Children Check.

You only need a new check if the paid work with children is for more than seven days a year.

You must apply for a new Working with Children Check online within 28 days of starting paid employment.

The Screening Unit will do a completely new risk assessment and a new outcome will be issued. The check will be valid for 5 years.

Your current volunteer Working with Children Check will remain valid while your new check is being processed.

You will need to provide proof to your paid employer that you have applied for a new Working with Children Check. You should also give them your unique identifier number so they can check.

How to count seven days of paid work

A day of work is any shift, no matter how long, that starts on a calendar day. For example, a shift from 3.00 pm to 6.00 pm is one day of work.

If a single shift crosses midnight, it will be treated as only one day. For example, a shift from 6.00 pm to 6.00 am the following morning is one day of work.

If you work with children as part of your paid employment, you must have a Working with Children Check.

If you also want to volunteer with children, you can do this without getting a new check.

Example: A paid childcare worker, who already has a Working with Children Check, does not need to get another check to volunteer to listen to children reading at the local school.

You can submit your own application for a check, or an organisation can apply for a check on your behalf.

The check is valid for 5 years and is continuously monitored.

If you do not get a Working with Children Check that is suitable for your volunteer or paid employment, this is an offence. You can be fined up to $5,000.