Clergy will be beating a path to their local Roads and Maritime Services (formerly the Roads and Traffic Authority) office over the next six months as part of new State Government requirements for those who work closely with children.

From June 15, the Commission for Children and Young People began to phase in the Working With Children Check (WWCC). Parish ministers and lay ministry workers on the parish staff team involved in child-related work are required to apply for the WWCC online and then go to an RMS office with proof of their identity by December 31.

The identification is needed for a national police check – and a review of any misconduct findings – so workers can obtain a “clearance” to continue working with children. Records of the Australian Federal Police and NSW Police will be regularly cross-checked from then on, and adverse findings will result in the worker’s clearance being revoked.

The WWCC costs $80, and lasts for five years. Any new employees in child-related work need to get the clearance immediately, and parishes will also be required to register online for the WWCC as soon as possible.

Volunteers in parishes who work with kids don’t need to get the clearance this year but will have until the end of 2014. Their check is free.  

The director of the Diocese’s Professional Standards Unit, Lachlan Bryant, acknowledges that meeting the new Government requirements may involve a lot of effort from parishes and those who work with children, but adds that “the new check is one of a range of measures that will help to make our churches safer places. We must do all that we can to ensure the safety of the children who are in our care”.

Parishes have already been sent information on how to comply with the new WWCC. The senior minister at Panania, David Milne, said he “was encouraged that our Diocese is making sure we are doing all we can to serve our children and those who are vulnerable. I found it easy to explain to my staff so they knew what to do. They’re filling out their forms this week and taking the information to the RMS so it can be done as soon as possible.”

For more information about the WWCC see [url=http://www.kids.nsw.gov.au]http://www.kids.nsw.gov.au[/url] and click on “Working with Children”.

Image: Wikimedia Commons