ACT will introduce smarter screening to improve child safety

ACT will campaign on introducing the Working with Children Card, a streamlined system for ensuring that any person who works with children has been properly vetted and is checked continuously for safety, says ACT’s Children spokesperson Karen Chhour.

“Parents should be able to leave their children with a teacher, coach, afterschool carer, or volunteer knowing the adults around them are safe to work with children. 

“The current system does not provide that reassurance. Safety checks are carried out by individual employers and generally only re-checked every three years. This provides only a snapshot of a person at one point in time, with no consistent system for identifying risks that emerge between checks.

“The Working with Children Card would give parents confidence that their children are in safe hands. It follows the worker, is continuously monitored, considers additional relevant information, and replaces duplicated screening by individual organisations. 

“Eligibility for the card will take into account relevant criminal convictions, disciplinary findings, and other records relating to children or child-related work. 

“People who work with children have to undergo the same checks every time they start or change jobs. ACT’s plan would cut out the duplication and bureaucracy. Once issued, the card could be used across eligible jobs, schools, clubs, businesses, and community organisations. Employers would simply verify that the person holds a valid card.

“Placing the ownership with the individual rather than the employer will free up police and Ministry of Justice resources, and make it easier for small organisations to meet their child-safety responsibilities.

“The system ensures that cardholders are safe the whole time they work with children, not just up until a check was last completed. 

“ACT will link the Working with Children Card to ongoing information from Police and relevant regulatory bodies, keeping it continuously up to date. If a cardholder is charged with a disqualifying offence, their card could be suspended or revoked and their employer notified. Employers would no longer have to wait for the next three-year check to discover that a worker’s circumstances have changed.

"It can take three years for a person's offending to be reported to their employer. In Queensland they update continuously with a similar system called the Blue Card. Last year they cancelled 2,438 people's Blue Cards due to up-to-the-minute information. In New Zealand those people would still be working with children.

“The Working with Children Card gives parents peace of mind about their child’s safety, and creates a smarter, less burdensome screening process for employers and workers.”

Note to editor: ACT's full policy, Keeping Children Safe, can be found here.