What is it? 

The Working with Children Check is a screening process for assessing or re-assessing people who work with or care for children in Victoria. For more information, head to their website - Working with Children Check Victoria 

Who is required to get a WWCC? 

All adults who work with children in paid or volunteer capacity.  

Note: If you are getting paid for child-related work (excluding reimbursment of out-of-pocket expenses), you’ll need to apply as an employee.  

Why are you required to get one and link it to your organisation? 

The Working with Children Check (WWCC) assists in protecting children and young people from sexual and physical harm by ensuring that people who work with them are subject to a screening process. 

This is why it is imperative to link your WWCC with LSV and your club details. This enables the Department of Justice to contact your club in the event of any breaches of the Child Safety Act.  

To ensure you're correctly linking your WWCC to your organisations, please refer to the guidelines below.  

Note: It is not sufficient for a Working with Children Check (WWCC) card or number alone be provided to enter into Surfguard as this does not enable the Department of Justice the ability to contact your club. 

Guidelines for lodging a WWCC application  

Members can apply for a WWCC on the Services Victoria website here: 

Working with Children Check (service.vic.gov.au).   

WWCC Application Process  

LSV appreciates that each club is unique and the implementation of the LSV Working With Children Check Policy will reflect the individual requirements of each club. In summary, however: 

• All relevant members within the definition in the above policy must hold a current WWCC 

• LSV and the member’s lifesaving club must be listed as organisations *NB: now including LSV and club email
  addresses* 

Lifesaving clubs must have received a valid assessment notice from Working with Children Check Victoria prior to commencement of child related activities.  

• Once a club receives the valid assessment notice, the club is responsible for: 

• Entering the following details against the member's membership record in Surfguard: The Working with Children Check Verification Date, Working with Children Check Expiry Date, and Working with Children Check Registration Number. 

• Assessments once viewed can be securely destroyed, or if clubs retain a copy of the assessment notice, they must file it securely. 

• It is recommended that clubs request to sight each member’s WWCC card once received, as per the legislation. The electronic assessment notice will streamline the process and significantly speed up a member's ability to participate in club activities. 

Linking existing WWCC to include your club and Life Saving Victoria  

To add organisations to an existing WWCC the member should log into or create their MyCheck account on the Working With Children websiteand edit their card details to include your club and Life Saving Victoria. The Department of Justice will then send notification by mail of their WWCC including their WWCC number and expiry date to your club. You can now enter these details into Surfguard and process the pending membership. 

Many clubs require all members aged 18 and over to hold a WWCC whether they are directly involved with children or not due to the nature of their clubhouse, ie. access to change rooms/toilets not being restricted and other communal areas where children may be. The decision rests with each individual club. 

If a member already holds a WWCC with another organisation, they are required to add your club and Life Saving Victoria to their list of organisations on their card. This enables the Department of Justice to contact your club in the event of any breaches of the Child Safety Act. 

Exemptions  

Teachers and Police Officers are not exempt from WWCC.

Teachers and early childhood teachers registered with the Victoria Institute of Teaching (VIT) MUST notify Working With Children Check Victoria (WWCCV) of any child-related work they do outside of their teaching in a school or early childhood service, regardless of whether it is paid or voluntary work. If a teacher's VIT registration is suspended or chancelled, WWCCV will notify the relevant organisations that the teacher exemption no longer applies.

A registered teacher who does child-related work (other than teaching in a school or early childhood service) must notify WWCCV of this work by completing the Teacher Notification Form  

The Working With Children Act 2005 provides for exemptions to Police Officers, however Life Saving Victoria requires these members to have a WWCC - despite their exemption under the Act. 

Why?

Without undertaking a WWCC referenced to Life Saving Victoria and your club, there is no link between your profession as a Department of Justice employee and any volunteer organisation in which you participate. If any member in their substantive capacity of a teacher or Police Officer was to be charged with breach of any laws relevant to this check (e.g. sexual misconduct), Life Saving Victoria and your club would not otherwise be informed of such charges. This therefore ensures that Life Saving Victoria will provide a higher level of risk minimisation for our junior members.