What do I need to know about the Working With Children Check as an adult (18+) volunteering in a Western Australian junior sports club? Who needs a check, the parent volunteer exemption, cost, how to apply and renew, and what happens while it is pending.
You need a WWC Check in Western Australia when all three of these apply:
The check is required under the Working with Children (Screening) Act 2004, run by the WWC Screening Unit in the Department of Communities. It is an offence to do child-related work without a current or pending WWC Card, or while a negative or interim negative notice applies.
Not everyone in a club needs one. A club asking people who are not in child-related work to apply would not be complying with the Act.
Roles in a club (category 12) that are considered child-related work, where the usual duties involve or are likely to involve contact with a child, include:
Does the club count? A club has a significant membership or involvement of children when it has a substantial number or percentage of children as members, children's involvement in its activities is significant, or its activities are aimed at attracting children. A senior club with one or two children playing is not covered. But anyone coaching even one child in a senior team of a club that is covered needs a check.
Informal arrangements for private or domestic purposes, such as a neighbour taking a few children from their street to the local oval, are not covered. Advertising coaching to children in general is a formal arrangement.
Probably not, as long as you are a parent volunteering at the club where your child is involved, or ordinarily involved. The Department of Communities' sport factsheet gives the example of a parent volunteer who coaches their child's sporting team.
Limits on the exemption:
Coaches of a senior team who coach even one child need a check, unless another exemption applies.
For a club or association (category 12), the Department of Communities lists these exemptions:
Nobody who holds a negative notice or an interim negative notice can use the parent volunteer, child volunteer or unpaid student exemptions. People with an adverse interstate WWC decision also cannot use the parent volunteer exemption.
If you are 18 or over and not a parent volunteer at your child's club, you need a check if your usual duties involve, or are likely to involve, contact with children.
Fees (excluding GST, per the Department of Communities).
| Applicant | Fee |
|---|---|
| Volunteers, unpaid people, students on unpaid placement, and replacement cards | $11.00 |
| Paid employees and self-employed people | $87.00 |
Someone who is both a volunteer and a paid employee must apply or renew as a paid employee.
Volunteer or paid? A volunteer does child-related work for no financial reward or wage. Payments that only cover the costs of doing the work (travel, phone calls, uniforms, stationery, equipment, accreditation) are treated as no financial reward. If payments exceed your costs, you are treated as paid, regardless of how often the work occurs.
The factsheet's example: an umpire who umpires one game a week for $20 could be receiving a payment that covers their expenses. If the same person umpires three games a day for $20 a game, that could exceed their expenses and count as pay. The organisation makes this call before it signs the application or renewal.
You can withdraw an application at any time before a final decision, except after an interim negative notice has been issued for that application, and application fees are not refunded if you withdraw.
The WWC Screening Unit's number is 1800 883 979 (Monday to Friday, 9.30am to 3.30pm), and its email is checkquery@communities.wa.gov.au.
While pending. Your application receipt is valid for as long as it takes for an outcome to be made, so you can do child-related work while it is pending. The exceptions are people who hold a negative notice or interim negative notice, or who have a pending charge or conviction for a Class 1 offence committed as an adult. They cannot do child-related work while an application is pending.
What is checked. The WWC Screening Unit confirms your identity and role, checks the National Reference System and requests a nationally coordinated criminal history check. It can consider criminal history (including spent convictions, juvenile convictions and pending charges), reportable conduct outcomes and information from other agencies. The best interests of children are the paramount consideration.
Outcomes.
Review. You have 28 days to make a submission on a proposed negative notice, and 28 days from receiving a negative notice to ask the State Administrative Tribunal to review it.
It is an offence to do child-related work without a current or pending WWC Card, or while a negative or interim negative notice applies.
Generally yes, unless an exemption applies to you. These are separate categories of child-related work in the Department of Communities' sport and recreation factsheet:
A card is valid across all categories of child-related work, so one card covers these roles.
Verifier. An organisation representative must complete the relevant part of your application to confirm you are, or will be, doing child-related work for the club. The Department of Communities' sport factsheet says this should be someone in a senior position, such as the president. That person also becomes responsible for removing you from child-related work if you receive an interim negative notice or a negative notice. A club can nominate someone else, such as the secretary, to verify applications and receive notices. For online renewals the nominated representative gets an email link to confirm.
No blanket requirement. A state or national sporting policy cannot require a check where the WWC legislation does not. The Act is state law, and asking everyone in a club to apply, including people who are not in child-related work, would be non-compliance with the Act.
Third parties. If your club engages another organisation to help run an event, that organisation is responsible for its own WWC compliance.