Child Safety
SAFE HOCKEY
Hockey Australia and all State and Territory Member Associations (including NSBHA) are commited to ensuring the safety and wellbeing of all children and young people who are involved in our sport.
Hockey Australia has developed SAFE HOCKEY which is a comprehensive resource hub designed to give all members of the hockey community the information they need tofulfill this obligation.
Click HOCKEY AUSTRALIA SAFE HOCKEY HUB for all policies and procedures.
Sports, Clubs & Coaches - The working with Children Check
What is a Working With Children Check?
The Working With Children Check provides a unique number (the WWC number) to a person who has been cleared to work with children. The WWCC application process involves a national police check and a review of findings of workplace misconduct.
The result is either a clearance to work with children for five years, or a bar against working with children. Barred applicants may not work or volunteer with children. If a person receives an interim bar, they must be immediately removed from their child-related position in the organisation. The WWCC clearance lasts for five years and is continuously monitored for any new relevant offences. Since June 2013 people seeking to work or volunteer with children under 18 years in NSW have been required to have a Working With Children Check (WWCC).
Employers, including sports clubs and associations, are also required to verify all WWCCs through the new online system. However there are a number of important exemptions from the WWCC requirement, including for volunteer parents or other close relatives of the child.
Click here for guide will help you and your club/association to:
» understand who needs to obtain a Working With Children Check
» prepare your processes for the sports sector phase-in period from the 1 April 2015
» manage your resources by requesting and verifying WWCC authority numbers only from those people required to have a WWCC.
Your club/association needs to Identify, Notify, Register and Verify!
Identify the roles in your organisation that need a WWCC.
To help you with this process a template that can be adapted to your Club’s needs is available at www.kidsguardian.nsw.gov.au/childsafesports
All new employees in the identified roles will need to obtain a WWCC before they start work.
Notify existing paid workers and volunteers (who are not exempt) they need to provide you with a WWC number or their application (APP) number from 1 April 2015.
Register your club online as an employer in childrelated work if it has participants younger than 18. To register go to www.kidsguardian.nsw.gov.au/check
Verify the status of each WWC or APP number, keeping a record of each verification result and ensuring all applications have been finalised by 31 March 2016. You will need these records if you are audited by the Office of the Children’s Guardian. Remember! As part of your regular HR activities, regularly check the status of those people in your club who are required to obtain a WWCC. The WWCC is valid for five years but a clearance to work or volunteer with children can be changed to a bar as a result of new records or notifications. Only by registering and verifying the person online can we inform you that a WWC clearance has changed to a bar.
Who needs a Working With Children Check?
All new applicants for paid child-related work (direct face-to-face contact with children), must provide a WWC application or clearance number to their employer. This number must be verified online by their employer (the club or board managing the club) before they can start work. Existing paid employees and volunteers (who are not exempt) are being phased-in to the new system. Clubs and other bodies providing services to children will need to comply with the WWCC by 31 March 2016.
Who does NOT need to get a Working With Children Check?
The legislation in NSW allows parents and other close relatives (such as a sibling, grandparent, step-parent, uncle), to volunteer in activities that involve their own children without needing a WWC number.
This includes volunteering with a team, program or other activity in which their child usually participates or is a team member. Therefore, a parent or close relative who coaches or manages a team that includes their child does not need a WWCC. Roles that do not have continuous and close contact with children generally do not require a WWCC. Parents who volunteer at the canteen or sausage sizzle, help with setting up fields or courses, participate in organising committees, or are spectators at games and events, do not need a WWCC.
More information Frequently asked questions, fact sheets and resources, and online tutorials about the WWCC and Child Safe Organisations are available at the Office of the Children’s Guardian at www.kidsguardian.nsw.gov.au Email: check@kidsguardian.nsw.gov.au Telephone: (02) 9286 7219