Working With Children Check

Education students will require a Working With Children Check before going on their first placement.

What is it? Why do we need it?

The Working With Children (WWC) Check helps protect children from physical and sexual harm. It does this by screening people's criminal records and professional conduct and preventing those who pose an unjustifiable risk to children from working with or caring for them.

• The Victorian Government requires all adults who work or volunteer with children under the age of eighteen to undergo a WWC Check.
• Before you will be allowed to enter any school as part of your professional experience requirements you must undergo a Working With Children (WWC) Check.

As a provider of Initial Teacher Education (ITE) programs we, La Trobe University, must ensure all of our pre-service teachers have a valid WWC Check, prior to commencing professional experience.

Once enrolled, apply as soon as possible - applications can take up to 8 weeks to process - sometimes longer.

IMPORTANT:  Students without a valid WWC Check card will not be able to undertake a placement.

To apply for a Working With Children Check, you need to:

• Visit the Working With Children website [external link]
• Fill in the online application form.  Use codes 44 & 46 for government and non-government schools;
• La Trobe University must be listed in the student's application as one of the employers:
  
  La Trobe University
  Placement Operations (Education)
  Office of the Provost 
  1 Kingsbury Drive
  Victoria 3086. Telephone: 03 9479 5904
• Apply within Victoria: you have the option to finalise your application online or at a participating Victorian Australia Post outlet, using the barcode and instructions that will be emailed to you.
• You will be required to submit one document from each of these two lists:    
  - photo ID: your Australian passport, driver's licence or learner's permit or an ImmiCard issued by the Australian Government
  - other government issued ID such as a Medicare card, Australian citizenship certificate and numerous others.
• Volunteer checks are free.
• If applying at Australia Post they will take your photo at no charge.
• Once you receive your card in the mail you now only need to enter your Victorian WWCC card reference number to InPlace. For all non-Victorian WWCCs, we still require you to upload a copy of your WWCC card (front only) to InPlace. A La Trobe login is required. The details of your WWCC card must be on InPlace before we can confirm your placement.
• Apply from interstate for a placement in a Victorian school: apply via Service Victoria which allows you to validate your identity documents online. If you have difficulties with this service, contact Working With Children Check directly and they will support you in making a manual application. See also the WWCC link to applying from interstate.

Existing Working With Children Cardholders

If you already have a WWCC card, you will still need to go to the Working with Children's Check website to add:  La Trobe University, Placement Operations (Education) as one of your employers under “volunteer” organisation.

Visit the WWCC update your details page.

Checks in other Australian States and Territories

Each Australian State and Territory requires people doing child-related work to obtain a Check specific to their state or territory. It is the pre-service teacher’s responsibility to make sure they have the appropriate card before undertaking a placement. You can undertake your placement in all other states using a Victorian Government WWCC if your placement is for 30 days or fewer, except for the ACT and NSW. See the requirements for the ACT and NSW below. Similarly if you normally live outside Victoria and hold an equivalent WWCC from your home state/territory, you can undertake your placement in Victoria without the need to apply for a Victorian WWCC.

If your placement is for more than 30 days you will need to apply for a WWCC that corresponds with the state in which you are undertaking your placement.

We must have a copy of your WWCC card on InPlace before we can confirm your placement.  See the guidelines on loading the card above.

Placements in an ACT school

From 1 January 2020, you will be required to register with the ACT Teacher Quality Institute before undertaking a professional experience placement in an ACT school.  This applies to all pre-service teachers, including those undertaking their pre-service teacher education outside the ACT. Where applicable, they must update the register before taking additional professional experience placements in the ACT.

Placements in a NSW school

To undertake your professional experience placement in any NSW public school, you are required to complete and sign a ‘Declaration for Child-Related Work – Tertiary Practicum Students’ and have your WWCC clearance verified for Working With Children Check compliance by the NSW Department of Education.

This Declaration is available online, but you need to download, complete, sign and return the document to the NSW Department of Education’s Probity Unit prior to commencing your placement. This needs to be done as soon as possible to ensure that the NSW Department approves the form prior to placement. You do not need to send a copy of the Declaration to Placement Operations (Education).

Once you have received your NSW WWCC clearance, send the reference number, e.g. WWC1924030E, to education.placements@latrobe.edu.au.

Details of the application process: Factsheet for the NSW Dept of Education Declaration for Child-Related Work

Application form: NSW Dept of Education WWCC Declaration for Child-Related Work - Tertiary  Practicum Students

Queries

Direct any queries regarding the WWC to the Placements Operations (Education) Team via the Work Based Learning (WBL) Placements Enquiry Form.
T:  + 61 3 9479 5904