Swimming NSW New Working With Children Check

Transcription

1 Swimming NSW New Working With Children Check Mark Heathcote CEO SNSW Technical Officials Forum 26 July 2015 July 2015

2 BACKGROUND This Presentation is designed to help Technical Officials understand their obligations under the Child Protection (Working with Children) Act The safety, welfare and wellbeing of children are a priority concern for Swimming NSW. The new Working with Children Check is an online process that is more comprehensive and provides better protection for children.

3 VOLUNTEERS The Working with Children Check will apply to Volunteers who volunteer within a sporting context from the 1 st of April Under the legislation, there are exemptions for some categories of volunteers under the Child Protection (Working with Children) Regulation 2013.

4 EXEMPTIONS Children (under the age of 18) Volunteering by a parent or close relative with a team, program or other activity in which the child usually participates or is a team member; except where the work is part of a formal mentoring program or involves personal care of children with a disability. Clubs or other bodies providing services for children if the work is work as a referee, umpire, linesperson or otherwise as a sporting official or a grounds person, and the work does not ordinarily involve contact with children for extended periods without other adults being present.

5 SWIMMING NSW - VOLUNTEERS As part of our ongoing commitment to the safety, welfare and wellbeing of children, Swimming NSW strongly recommends ALL volunteers undertake the new Working with Children process prior to 1 April What does this mean? If you wish to volunteer to assist at Swimming NSW events and activities you must have a valid WWC number. This will form part of the Technical Official nomination process. Clubs & Areas can determine how they wish to treat the volunteers at their own Club and Area meets and activities, but Swimming NSW strongly urges all Clubs and Areas to adopt the same position as Swimming NSW.

6 INDIVIDUALS IN PAID EMPLOYMENT If you commence paid employment in child related work you must get a WWC before you can commence work. This applies right now. What is Child related work? Child-related work is defined as work in a specific, childrelated role or face-to-face contact with children in a childrelated sector. If you are currently employed in child related work within a sport related field you must have the check prior to the 1 st of April 2015.

7 Questions so far

8 THE CHECK - INDIVIDUALS Ok so you need a Working with Children Check, what do you do? STEP 1: Fill in an online application form Go to and go to Working with Children Check fill in the online application form. If you do not have access to the internet, please call (02) for assistance. Ensure you select the correct category: paid or volunteer worker. The $80 fee for paid workers is not refundable if you are a volunteer and you choose paid worker by mistake. A Check for paid workers will cover both paid and volunteer work in NSW for five years. VOLUNTEERS DO NOT PAY ANY FEE FOR THE CHECK.

9 THE CHECK PLEASE NOTE! Before you go to a NSW Motor Registry or Council Agency: You cannot submit proof of identity on behalf of someone else. You must appear in person with your own documentation. Proof of identity cannot be performed outside of NSW. It must be completed at a NSW motor registry or NSW Council Agency that offers RMS services.

10 THE CHECK STEP 2: Present proof of your identity Go to any NSW motor registry or NSW Council Agency that offers RMS services. You will need your application number and proof of your identity (same as for a NSW driver s licence). You must have both of these items for your application to proceed.

11 THE CHECK Receiving your results You will receive your outcome and Working with Children Check number by (or post if you do not have an address). If you are in paid work, you will also be required to pay an $80 fee for a five year clearance. This number should then be provided to your relevant club, region or Swimming NSW office. This number stays with the individual - only one check is required per person regardless of different organisations that they work or volunteer for.

12 Questions so far

13 WHAT DO CLUBS & AREAS NEED TO DO? Paid Employees - Mandatory Before you hire a new, paid child-related worker, you must verify the status of their Working with Children Check online to ensure they have a clearance to work with children, or have completed an application for a Check. Volunteers Your Area or Club needs to make a decision about how it wishes to treat Volunteers.

14 WHAT DO CLUBS & AREAS NEED TO DO? If your Club/Area decides that Volunteers must complete the Check, the first step is to let your members know this. As volunteers (new and existing) and current paid workers are phased in, you will need to verify their Working With Children Checks online. Volunteers who have completed their Working with Children check should provide the WWC Number to the relevant club official for online verification.

15 WHAT DO CLUBS & AREAS NEED TO DO? It is recommended that Clubs appoint a designated person responsible for the obligations under the Child Protection (Working with Children) Act This could be as part of a current role or a new role depending on the Club. Member Protection Information Officers

16 WHAT DO CLUBS & AREAS NEED TO DO? PLEASE NOTE! Verification MUST be done online. If you are an employer and/or club that employs individuals in any capacity you must check that your employees are cleared to work by completing the following steps;

17 WHAT DO CLUBS & AREAS NEED TO DO? Go to and go to Working with Children Check, click the Start here button on the right hand side. A new page will appear. Choose Log in from the For employers section. If you have not already registered as an employer, please choose Register) then enter your login details. Select the verify Working With Children status tab. Enter the worker or volunteer s surname, date of birth, Working with Children check number or application number. Click Verify

18 WHAT DO CLUBS & AREAS NEED TO DO? Once a Volunteer has been cleared to work, it advisable to send them an to verify that they have been cleared. You should keep a record of the individuals at your Club or Area who have been cleared to work and also when their Clearance will expire.

19 DIFFERENT SCENARIOS What if there is no time to complete a Check? From time to time, you have someone that wants to volunteer on the day and there isn t time to compete the Check, so what can you do? If you are paying the individual you must wait until they have completed the Check.

20 DIFFERENT SCENARIOS MEMBER DECLARATION FORM TEMPLATES To assist Clubs and Areas Swimming NSW has provided Member Protection Declaration Form templates which you can ask volunteers at your Club to complete prior to being involved in Club activities. These should be used if someone wants to volunteer and has not yet had a chance to complete the Working with Children Check or if your Club has decided not to ask its volunteers to complete the Working with Children Check.

21 THE ACT As different legislation applies in the ACT, Swimming NSW will recognise volunteers who complete the Check in the ACT and wish to work in NSW at Swimming NSW events and activities.

22 A FINAL NOTE ON THE CHECK Please remember that the Working with Children Check is only one tool that can be used to protect Children and Young people in our sport.

23 OTHER RESOURCES Member & Child Welfare Policies Swimming Australia Behavioural Guidelines

24 Questions

25 The Swimming NSW New Working With Children Check presentation was developed by the NSW Technical Swimming Committee on behalf of Swimming NSW Ltd and remains the property of Swimming NSW Ltd. All rights reserved, copying or public display of this presentation without the express written permission of the intellectual copyright holder, Swimming NSW Ltd, is strictly prohibited.