Can parents or the club look someone up on the registers?

Neither register is public. A club can apply for a certificate about a specific person it is taking on (see the questions on applying), but nobody can browse or search the registers.

National Register for Sex Offenders (NRSO)

• The register is confidential. An application about another person is only granted if the Registrar is satisfied it is not frivolous or vexatious, the applicant has an interest in the information, and disclosure is in the interest of an identifiable vulnerable person.
• Wilfully disclosing or publishing information obtained from the register (other than for the purposes of the Act) is an offence: a fine or up to three years' imprisonment, or both.
• Parents can ask whether staff and coaches hold NRSO clearance certificates, but cannot search the register themselves.

National Child Protection Register, Part B (Children's Act, ss 125-127)

• Only the Director-General of Social Development, designated officials and certain designated organisations have access.
• Nobody may disclose that a person's name is in Part B, except within their legal duties, to an employer or organisation that made a written inquiry, to the person themselves, or on a court order.