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Working with Children Checks and other Suitability Checks for School Volunteers and Visitors

Policy last updated

13 October 2026

Scope

  • Schools
  • School councils

On this page

Date:
17 Jan 2020

Policy

This policy has been updated to reflect new requirements for organisations to use the Working with Children Connect (WCC) Portal(opens in a new window) to connect their workers and volunteers to a central register administered by the Social Services Regulator. These changes come into effect on Monday 19 October and links to the new WWC Connect portal will be added on that date.

Policy

The purpose of this policy is to ensure schools comply with:

  • requirements to undertake suitability checks for adults who undertake child-related work
  • requirements to notify the Social Services Regulator (SSR) about:
    • workers engaged by the school in child-related work – for example, contractors and other workers
    • volunteers engaged by the school in child-related work
    • school council members
  • local school processes to collect and record information about visitors to government schools.

Note:

Summary

  • A Working with Children Clearance is required by law for people who do child-related work, whether they are paid or volunteering. This requirement is set out in the Worker Screening Act 2020 (Vic).
  • Schools must establish and implement school-level policies and procedures to:
    • understand how contractors, volunteers or other workers are engaged to undertake child-related work
    • assess and verify that contractors, volunteers or other workers are suitable to work with or around children. This applies to people doing child-related work and child-connected work (read definitions below)
    • notify the SSR through Working with Children (WWC) Connect(opens in a new window) about:
      • contractors, volunteers or other workers engaged by the school in child-related work
      • school council members
    • collect and record information about:
      • contractors, volunteers or other workers undertaking child-related work
      • anyone undertaking child-connected work
      • visitors to the school.
  • WWC Connect is an online service that supports organisations to meet legal requirements. Schools must use WWC Connect to notify the SSR about Working with Children Check Clearances for contractors, volunteers or other workers engaged by the school in child-related work and school council members. WWC Connect helps the SSR to keep accurate records about where people with a Working with Children Clearance are working and be able to contact a school quickly if a person’s Working with Children Clearance status changes.
  • To determine if contractors, volunteers or other workers need a Working with Children Clearance use the Working with Children Clearance Flowchart (PDF)(opens in a new window).
  • In assessing what other suitability checks are to be undertaken, schools must consider:
    • the child safety risks relevant to the contractor or volunteer role
    • if a person is engaged to do child-related work through an organisation, or as a contractor.
  • Schools must comply with the volunteer child safety screening requirements. These are outlined in Ministerial Order 1359 – Implementing the Child Safe Standards – managing the risk of child abuse in schools and school boarding premises (PDF). For guidance about child-related or child-connected work, refer to the Guidance tab.
  • Consent is not required to notify the SSR about anyone engaged in child-related work as it is a legal requirement under the Worker Screening Act to notify.
  • Schools may require a person who is exempt from holding a Working with Children Clearance to hold a Working with Children Clearance through their visitors or volunteers policy. The school can notify the SSR about the exempt person doing child-related work through WWC Connect, with their consent.
  • For information relating to suitability checks for school employees, refer to:

Details

Introduction

School leaders and school councils have a vital role in establishing a child safe culture. Schools must implement and review child safe policies and practices to minimise child safety risks.

Victorian legislation requires schools, and other organisations working with children, to:

  • take specific steps to minimise the risk of child abuse
  • notify the SSR using WWC Connect(opens in a new window) about the engagement of:
    • workers engaged by the school to undertake child-related work. For example, contractors or other workers.
    • volunteers doing child-related work
  • maintain accurate records about contractors, volunteers or other workers undertaking child-related work.

School-level policy

Schools must establish and implement school-level policies and procedures to:

  • understand how contractors, volunteers or other workers are engaged to undertake child-related work
  • assess and verify that contractors, volunteers or other workers are suitable to work with or around children. This applies to people doing child-related work and child-connected work (see definitions below).
  • notify the SSR through WWC Connect(opens in a new window) about:
    • contractors, volunteers or other workers engaged by the school in child-related work
    • school council members
  • collect and locally record information about:
    • contractors, volunteers or other workers undertaking child-related work
    • anyone undertaking child-connected work
    • visitors to the school.

The school’s local visitors and volunteers policies must be available on the school website so they are accessible to the school community.

To support schools, templates are available on the School Policy Templates Portal:

Schools can modify the templates to suit their local circumstances.

Schools must understand how contractors, volunteers and other workers are engaged to do child-related work. This helps the school decide if they need to use WWC Connect to notify the SSR about those people.

School engages a contractor, volunteer or worker

Schools can engage contractors, volunteers or other workers to do child-related work. When these people are not engaged by another organisation, the school is responsible for:

  • ensuring they have a Working with Children Clearance
  • checking that the Working with Children Clearance is current
  • connecting them to the school via WWC Connect.

Contractors, volunteers or other workers who are not engaged by another organisation could include:

  • any volunteer who supports a school activity. For example:
    • school council members
    • canteen and uniform shop assistants
    • parent volunteers supporting classroom activities, school camps, excursions, school performances
  • any individual who is engaged by the school to provide services to students and is paid by the school for that child-related work. For example:
    • music teacher
    • dance instructor
    • director of a school production
    • sports coach
  • workers engaged by the school but paid by parents/carers to do child-related work. For example, providing an extracurricular music program.

Another organisation provides the contractor, volunteer or worker

Schools also engage people who work for organisations to do child-related work. For example, a school may:

  • engage casual relief teachers through a labour hire company
  • partner with a community organisation to provide mentoring support to students
  • engage a sports academy that provides a coach for a football team
  • partner with a community organisation to provide mental health services or chaplaincy services
  • work with an agency that provides volunteers to deliver Special Religious Instruction.

In these cases, the school engages the organisation, who provides a worker or volunteer to undertake child-related work. The organisation may be paid for that service by the school.

Where an organisation has employees or volunteers, that organisation, not the school, is responsible for:

  • ensuring its employees or volunteers have a Working with Children Clearance
  • connecting its employees or volunteers via WWC Connect.

Schools must always check Working with Children Clearance details of anyone from another organisation who attends the school to do child-related work.

Assessing suitability

To check if a Working with Children Clearance is required and separately, whether the school has an obligation to connect that person through WWC Connect, schools can use the Working with Children Clearance Flowchart (PDF)(opens in a new window).

For more information about Working with Children Clearances, refer to the Guidance tab.

Child-related work

Schools must ensure that all adults doing child-related work have a current Working with Children Clearance, unless an exemption applies. The child-related work can be paid or unpaid.

Consent is not required to notify the SSR about anyone engaged in child-related work as it is a legal requirement under the Worker Screening Act to notify.

For:

  • a definition of child-related work, go to the definitions below
  • a list of exemptions, go to the Guidance tab.

Child-connected work

School principals must decide if a person needs a Working with Children Clearance based on the child safety risks of their role.

Schools can do extra screening to ensure a person is suitable to work with children.

To decide if additional screening is needed schools must consider:

  • the child safety risks relevant to the person’s role
  • the school’s visitors and volunteers’ policies.

Read 'Other screening' below and further information in the Guidance tab.

Other screening

Schools can choose to establish local policies that exceed the requirements of the Worker Screening Act 2020 (Vic). For example, schools may:

  • require people who do not need a Working with Children Clearance to hold one
  • undertake additional screening to ensure a person is suitable to work with children
  • require a person who is exempt from holding a Working with Children Clearance to hold a Working with Children Clearance through their visitors or volunteers policy. The school can notify the SSR about the exempt person doing child-related-work through WWC Connect, with their consent
  • notify the SSR through WWC Connect about anyone doing child-connected work, with their consent.

Schools should consider the child safety risks relevant to the role. If it is reasonable and appropriate, schools can collect and record:

  • proof of personal identity
  • information about any essential or relevant professional or other qualifications
  • the person's history of work involving children
  • references that address the person's suitability for the job and for working with children.

Induction

Once initial suitability checks have been successfully undertaken, schools must ensure that:

Notifying the Social Services Regulator

Schools:

  • are required to notify the Social Services Regulator (SSR) through WWC Connect(opens in a new window) about:
    • contractors and volunteers engaged by the school in child-related work
    • workers engaged by the school but paid by parents/carers to do child-related work (for example, extracurricular music program)
    • school council members
  • are not required to notify the SSR through WWC Connect about:
    • employees of contracted service providers who undertake child-related work. This must be undertaken by their employer. For example, a labour hire company
    • volunteers who undertake child-connected work (for example, parent volunteer at a working bee)
    • visitors who undertake child-connected work (for example, tradespeople).

Schools can notify the SSR through WWC Connect about:

  • a person who is exempt from a Working with Children Clearance doing child-related work, with their consent
  • anyone doing child-connected work, with their consent.

If schools do notify the SSR, the school must notify the regulator when the person starts and finishes the work. Schools can seek consent using the Consent form – Connecting your Working with Children Clearance to our school (DOCX)(opens in a new window).

Use the following steps to:

  • check Working with Children Clearance status
  • notify the SSR.

Check

Use the online WWC status checker(opens in a new window) to check the Working with Children Clearance status of:

  • a contractor or volunteer engaged by the school for child-related work. This must be done before they start the child-related work
  • workers engaged by the school but paid by parents/carers to do child-related work (for example, an extracurricular music program). This must be done before they start the child-related work
  • school council members. This must be done before they start their role.

More information on record keeping requirements is detailed below.

Connect

Use WWC Connect(opens in a new window) to notify the SSR when a person starts child-related work.

Schools will be notified via WWC Connect if a contractor or volunteer WWC status changes.

Record

Schools must notify the SSR via WWC Connect when a person starts and stops child-related work.

This must be done within 7 days for contractors and other workers and 21 days for volunteers.

Maintain

Keep WWC Connect records up to date.

Notify WWC Connect if contact details of contractors, volunteers or other workers changes.

Maintain contractor, volunteer or other worker records in line with local school procedures. The School Policy templates portal includes a Working with Children Clearance Register template (staff login required)(opens in a new window).

Changes to Working with Children Clearance Status

Schools will be notified via WWC Connect if the WWC status of a contractor, volunteer or other worker changes.

Notifications will be sent to the email address recorded in WWC Connect. Schools will not be advised of the reason for the status change.

If a contractor, volunteer or other worker is no longer permitted to undertake child-related work, they must stop that work immediately.

Schools must update WWC Connect(opens in a new window) to record that the contractor or volunteer is no longer engaged in child-related work.

Schools do not need to complete annual verification checks of the Working with children checks of contractors, volunteers or other workers in this register, because they will now be automatically notified if the WWC status of any person connected to their school changes.

Notification requirements for School Council members

From the 2026 school year, school council members, except VIT registered teachers and students, are required to hold a WWC Clearance (either a volunteer Working with Children Clearance, or employee Working with Children Clearance if they already have this), when nominating for a role on school council.

Schools must use the steps above to notify the SSR about Working with Children Clearances for school council members, when they are elected or re-elected.

Record keeping

Schools must collect and record information about:

  • contractors, volunteers or other workers undertaking child-related work
  • anyone undertaking child-connected work
  • visitors to the school.

Schools must:

  • maintain a school record of contractors, volunteers or other workers who are engaged by the school to do child-related work. This register is separate to records on WWC Connect. Schools can use the Working with Children Clearance Register template(opens in a new window) to keep these records. The register must collect and record:
    • name and contact details of the contractor or volunteer, including address, email address and phone number
    • Working with Children clearance type (for example, Working with Children Clearance or VIT registration), Working with Children Check number and date that the school verified the Working with Children Check
    • date when the person started and stopped doing child-related work
    • date when the person was onboarded and offboarded from WWC Connect
    • dates when any person that the school chooses to connect beyond the SSR requirements starts and stops doing child-connected work. The school will need the consent of that person to enter their details into WWC Connect
    • any other evidence of a person’s suitability to work with children (read other screening, above). This could be kept as a note in the register or stored elsewhere
  • keep evidence that the contractor, volunteer or other worker either:
    • holds a current Working with Children Clearance
    • are shown on WWC Connect as allowed to do child-related work while an application or renewal is processed
    • are exempt from a Working with Children Clearance
  • keep evidence that the school:
  • keep contractor, volunteer or visitor records in line with local school procedures. A Visitors policy template (staff login required)(opens in a new window) is available on the School Policy Template Portal. Schools can modify the template to suit their local circumstances
  • hold records of contractors, volunteers or other workers for 7 years after they stop doing child-related work.

Definitions

Definitions related to the Child Safe Standards and Ministerial Order 1359 can be found at: Child Safety: Definitions(opens in a new window).

Child-related work
Child-related work:

  • involves an adult working with children under 18 years old (both paid and unpaid work)
  • usually involves direct contact with a child or children (physical, face-to-face, written, oral or electronic contact) and
  • the contact with the child or children is a usual part of the person’s duties (and is not occasional direct contact which is incidental to their work).

Child-connected work
Child-connected work means:

  • work authorised by the school governing authority and performed by an adult in a school environment while children are present or reasonably expected to be present, or
  • for the purposes of a school boarding premises, work authorised by the provider of school boarding services in a school boarding premises environment while children are present or reasonably expected to be present.

Relevant legislation

Guidance

Guidance

Introduction

This guidance helps schools determine if contractors, volunteers or other workers need:

  • a Working with Children Clearance
  • other suitability checks.

For school employees, refer to:

All references to ‘schools’ in this guidance includes school boarding premises.

To check if a Working with Children Clearance is required schools can use the Working with Children Clearance Flowchart (PDF)(opens in a new window).

Further information about the difference between child-related and child-connected work is provided below.

A Working with Children Clearance is required for child-related work

Anyone doing child-related work must have a valid Working with Children Clearance, unless an exemption applies. The work may be paid or unpaid.

Child-related work is defined in the Worker Screening Act 2020 as work that:

  • involves an adult working with children under 18 years old (both paid and unpaid work)
  • usually involves direct contact with a child or children, including physical, face-to-face, written, oral or electronic contact
  • the contact with the child or children is a usual part of the person’s duties and is not occasional direct contact which is incidental to their work.

An activity may be ‘child-related work’ regardless of whether another person supervises the contact with a child. For example, even if a visitor or volunteer is supervised, they must:

  • have a current Working with Children Clearance if they are performing child-related work
  • provide evidence of that Working with Children Clearance to the school.
Examples of child-related work

Examples of child-related work can include:

  • working with students in a classroom. For example, library assistant, tutor, instructor, coach, mentor or in any other capacity including any extracurricular activities organised by the school
  • parents volunteering in the classroom in any capacity
  • supervising students (for example, camps, sports, excursions, concerts, swimming)
  • providing school incursions
  • school photographers
  • school bus drivers
  • providing attendant care, allied health or NDIS support
  • supporting homework, breakfast, or lunch clubs
  • providing leadership or cultural workshops or other student support activities
  • providing distance education
  • school fetes or fundraising roles that work directly with children (for example, facepainting)
  • canteen and uniform shop assistants
  • Special Religious Instruction instructors
  • chaplains, mentors and guides from partner organisations
  • an Early Childhood Education and Care service on school grounds (for example, a kinder or playgroup).

For more information about the occupations that fall within the legal definition of child-related work, refer to Working with Children Check Victoria(opens in a new window).

When a Working with Children Clearance is not legally required – exemptions

A person is exempt from needing a Working with Children Clearance if they are any one of the following:

  • a registered teacher in Victoria
  • a parent volunteering in an activity with their child
  • under the age of 18
  • a student who is 18 or 19 years old volunteering or on placement, organised by an educational institution
  • closely related to all the children they are undertaking the activity with
  • a Victoria or Australian Federal Police officer.

Even if a person is legally exempt, they may still be required to get a Working with Children Clearance if the school requires it in their visitors policy or volunteers policy. This ensures that everyone is adequately screened, considering the child safety risks relevant to their role.

The department strongly recommends that schools require anyone who volunteers regularly or assists with excursions, camps or similar events obtain a Working with Children Clearance given the nature of the contact volunteers may have with students in these situations.

If a school requires an exempt person to hold a Working with Children Clearance through their visitors or volunteers policy, they can connect them to the school, via Working with Children (WWC) Connect(opens in a new window), with their consent.

When a registered teacher or police officer invokes an exemption, they need to provide evidence. For example, a teacher needs to show their VIT registration, and a police officer needs to show their warrant card. The school must keep a record of this evidence.

Schools may establish local policies to increase requirements for child-connected and child-related work

The Worker Screening Act 2020 (Vic) sets out the minimum requirements in relation to Working with Children Clearance including record keeping and notification requirements.

Schools may require visitors or anyone undertaking child-connected work to hold a Working with Children Clearance or complete another screening check. This may be based on the nature of the role or identified safety risks.

Schools are not required to inform the Social Services Regulator (SSR) about anyone undertaking child-connected work via WWC Connect.

However, schools can notify the SSR through WWC Connect(opens in a new window) about anyone doing child-connected work, with their consent. If they do, the school must notify the regulator when the person starts and finishes the work. Schools can seek consent using the Consent form – Connecting your Working with Children Clearance to our school (DOCX)(opens in a new window).

For example, the school may wish to use WWC Connect to connect a gardener who is doing child-connected work to the school. This ensures that the school will be notified if the status of the gardener’s Working with Children Clearance changes. Go to Examples of managing Working with Children Clearance scenarios for contractors, volunteers, other workers and visitors.

For more guidance on circumstances when a Working with Children Clearance is required under the Worker Screening Act 2020, visit Working with Children Victoria(opens in a new window).

For information on suitability checks for employees, go to: Suitability for Employment Checks and Recruitment in Schools.

For information on record keeping requirements go to: Working with Children Clearance procedure and register (staff login required)(opens in a new window).

Considerations relevant to additional suitability checks for child-related work

In assessing what additional suitability checks are undertaken, schools must consider the child safety risks relevant to the contractor or volunteer’s role. Factors to consider may include:

  • the type of work being undertaken
  • the location where the work will be performed
  • the time of day when the work will be performed
  • how much time the person spends on school premises to perform their work while children are present
  • how the person will be supervised
  • whether the individual will be able to move freely around the school without staff members accompanying them or near staff members
  • reasonable expectations of the school community in screening requirements for this type of contractor or volunteer
  • reasonable precautions to supervise visitors and volunteers, including their contact with children, where this is considered necessary.

Child-connected work

Consider what suitability checks the school will require for child-connected work

Under the Child Safe Standards, for child-connected work, schools must make decisions on what suitability checks they will require, considering the child safety risks relevant to the person’s role.

Templates for school-level visitors and volunteer policies are available on the School Policy Templates Portal (staff login required)(opens in a new window). Schools can modify the templates to suit their local circumstances.

Child-connected work means:

  • work authorised by the school governing authority and performed by an adult in a school environment while children are present or reasonably expected to be present
  • for the purposes of a school boarding premises, work authorised by the provider of school boarding services in a school boarding premises environment while children are present or reasonably expected to be present.

Examples of child-connected work can include:

  • school council members (must have WWCC and be connected via WWC Connect(opens in a new window))
  • guest speakers at assemblies or in class
  • working on school buildings, grounds maintenance, assets, building work, cleaning
  • working bees
  • Members of Parliament, candidates or delegations visiting schools
  • school fete, fundraising stalls or food stalls where children may be customers (for example sausage sizzles, cake stalls)
  • visiting tradespeople or professionals not working with students (for example, auditors)
  • anyone else working on school sites but not directly with children.

Working with Children Clearances for contractors, volunteers, other workers and other visitors engaged in child-connected work

Schools may require some or all visitors and volunteers engaged in child-connected work to have a Working with Children Clearance before commencing work.

It is the responsibility of the principal to determine if a Working with Children Clearance is required, considering the child safety risks relevant to the person’s role. If the contact with a child or children is occasional direct contact which is incidental to the work being performed, then a Working with Children Clearance may be deemed unnecessary.

Even if a person is exempt, they may still be required to get a Working with Children Clearance if the school requires it as part of their visitors policy or volunteers policy.

This ensures that everyone is adequately screened, considering the child safety risks relevant to the role.

The department strongly recommends that schools require anyone who volunteers regularly or who assists with excursions, camps or similar events obtain a Working with Children Clearance given the contact volunteers may have with other students in these situations.

If a school requires an exempt person to hold a Working with Children Clearance through their visitors or volunteers policy, they can connect them to the school, via WWC Connect(opens in a new window), with their consent.

Refer to the Working with Children Clearance Flowchart (PDF)(opens in a new window) for more guidance.

Additional suitability checks for contracted service providers

Separately to Working with Children Clearance, which is covered above, for visitors who are contracted service providers or employees or intermediaries of contracted service providers (third parties) who are engaged in child-related work, schools may collect and record:

  • information about any essential or relevant professional or other qualifications
  • the person’s history of work involving children
  • references that address the person’s suitability for the job and for working with children.

Note that this requirement only applies to contractors who are considered ‘school staff’ as defined in Ministerial Order 1039 and engaged to perform child-related work. For example, a Chaplain employed by a contracted service provider engaged by the school who is working directly with children to provide welfare support.

Volunteer recruitment

Schools are required to:

If a school requires an exempt person to hold a Working with Children Clearance through their visitors or volunteers policy, they can connect them to the school, via WWC Connect, with their consent.

Refer to the Policy tab for more information.

When recruiting volunteers who will undertake child-connected work, schools are encouraged to consider the child safety risks relevant to the volunteer role and screen volunteers for their suitability during recruitment.

Where reasonable and appropriate, schools can develop questions to include in volunteer selection processes relevant to the role.

For roles that are assessed as having greater child safety risks, schools may need to:

  • seek personal or professional references for volunteers as appropriate
  • ask referees about the person’s character and experience in working with children and young people
  • ask whether the referee has any concerns about the volunteer working with children and young people.

Examples of managing Working with Children Clearance scenarios for contractors, volunteers, other workers and visitors

Below are examples of how a school can use this policy and guidance to work with the Social Services Regulator (SSR).

Individual contractors or other workers doing child-related work

Example: A visiting music teacher engaged as a contractor, and not employed through an organisation, visits the school weekly to provide piano lessons to students.

This is child-related work. Go to Working with Children Clearance flowchart (PDF)(opens in a new window) for more guidance.

Check

The school checks the piano teacher’s Working with Children Clearance on the WWC status checker. This happens before they start providing lessons.

Connect

When the teacher starts, the school connects their Working with Children Clearance to the school on WWC Connect(opens in a new window).

Record

The school records on WWC Connect:

  • the first date the teacher does child-related work within 7 days of that date
  • the last date the teacher does child-related work within 7 days of that date.
Maintain

The school records the details of the piano teacher on the school’s Working with Children Clearance Register template (staff login required)(opens in a new window).

Agency employees doing child-related work

Example: the school engages an agency to run a science incursion session for students. Two employees of the agency attend the school to run the session.

The 2 employees are undertaking child-related work. It is the responsibility of the agency to:

The school assesses the child safety risks linked to the employees visiting the school. The school decides to ensure that both agency employees have a Working with Children Clearance.

Check

The school checks the Working with Children Clearances on the WWC status checker(opens in a new window). This happens before the incursion begins, either ahead of time or processed upon their arrival to the school.

Connect

There are no actions on WWC Connect for the school to take.

Record

There are no actions on WWC Connect for the school to take.

Maintain

The school records the attendance of the agency employees in their visitors register in line with their visitors policy.

Volunteer doing child-related work

Example: a parent volunteers in the school canteen throughout the year.

The parent is doing child-related work.

Check

The school checks the volunteer’s Working with Children Clearance on the WWC status checker. This happens before they start child-related work.

Connect

When the volunteer starts, the school connects the volunteer’s Working with Children Clearance to the school on WWC Connect. This is most likely to be processed upon their first arrival to the school, but can happen before.

Record

The school records on WWC Connect(opens in a new window):

  • the first date the volunteer does child-related work within 21 days of that date
  • the last date the volunteer does child-related work within 21 days of that date.
Maintain

The school records the details of the volunteer on the school’s Working with Children Clearance Register template (staff login required)(opens in a new window).

Volunteers doing child-related and child-connected work

Example: the school engages many volunteers to help run the school fete.

  • Everyone volunteering for the school fete is a volunteer at the school.
  • Depending on their role, volunteers at the fete may be undertaking child-related or child-connected work. For example:
    • child-related work: a parent who volunteers as a face painter
    • child-connected work: a parent who operates the cake stall.
  • To check if a Working with Children Clearance is required schools can use the Working with Children Clearance flowchart (PDF)(opens in a new window).
Check
  • For volunteers doing child-related work:
  • For volunteers doing child-connected work:
    • the school assesses the child safety related risks linked to the volunteer’s role to decide if a Working with Children Clearance is required. The school checks their Working with Children Clearance on the WWC status checker(opens in a new window) before they volunteer for the fete.
Connect
Record
  • For volunteers doing child-related work:
    • the school records on WWC Connect when each volunteer starts and stops doing child-related work within 21 days.
  • For volunteers doing child-connected work:
  • Because all the volunteers only support the school on the date of the fete, the start day and finish day would be the same date.
Maintain

The school records the details of the volunteers, including any screening information on the school’s register. They use the register template from the School Policy Templates Portal: Working with Children Clearance procedure and register (staff login required)(opens in a new window).

Visitor doing child-connected work

Example: a tradesperson visits the school to fix a photocopier.

  • The tradesperson is a visitor. They are doing child-connected work. Any interaction with students would be incidental to their role repairing the photocopier.
  • Working with Children Clearances are only required for child-related work.
  • The principal determines that a Working with Children Clearance is not required because the tradesperson:
    • will not visit the school regularly
    • will only be on site for a short period of time
    • will not interact with students.
  • The details of the tradesperson must be recorded on the school’s local visitors register. This may include Working with Children Clearance details if they are presented or requested.
  • Schools are required to maintain a record of the tradesperson visit for 7 years on their local visitor register.

Example: the school engages a gardener to maintain the school grounds.

  • The gardener is a visitor to the school.
  • The gardener is undertaking child-connected work, not child-related work.
  • The school determines that the work is child-connected work because:
    • the work is authorised by the school governing authority
    • the work is being done by an adult in a school setting
    • children are present or reasonably expected to be present
    • the gardener is not having direct contact with children as part of their usual duties.
  • The school can choose either in their school policy or on a case-by-case basis to request evidence of a Working with Children Clearance for the gardener.
  • The principal determines that a Working with Children Clearance is required because the gardener:
    • visits the school regularly while students are present
    • may have incidental contact with students.
  • The gardener provides their Working with Children Clearance.
  • The school undertakes a Working with Children Clearance check via the WWC status checker(opens in a new window). If the gardener gives their consent, the school can then connect the gardener to the school using WWC Connect(opens in a new window). Schools can seek consent using the Consent form – Connecting your Working with Children Clearance to our school (DOCX)(opens in a new window).
  • Schools may choose to record in WWC Connect when the gardener starts and stops the child-connected work within 21 days.
  • The details of the gardener must be recorded on the school’s local visitors register. They use the register template from the School Policy Templates Portal: Working with Children Clearance procedure and register (staff login required)(opens in a new window). This may include Working with Children Clearance details if they are presented or requested.
  • Schools are required to maintain a record of the gardeners visit for 7 years on the school’s local visitor register.

Resources

Resources

Templates and flowcharts

Useful websites

Training

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