National Working with Children Check reforms gain momentum with NSW support

The Minns Labor Government has endorsed a suite of national reforms to strengthen Working with Children Checks (WWCCs), aiming to prevent individuals deemed a risk from gaining access to children in any Australian jurisdiction.

At the recent Standing Council of Attorneys-General (SCAG) meeting, Attorneys-General from across the country agreed to implement mutual recognition of negative WWCC notices by the end of 2025. The move will ensure that individuals denied or stripped of a WWCC in one state or territory will be unable to work with children anywhere else in Australia.

The New South Wales Government has backed the plan and also committed to further reforms to enhance consistency and transparency across the WWCC system.

Key elements of the national agreement include:

• Mutual recognition of negative WWCC decisions to close jurisdictional loopholes
• A consistent risk-assessment framework and exclusion criteria for national adoption, to be finalised at SCAG in late 2025
• Removal of barriers to information sharing across states and territories
• Implementation of a National Continuous Checking Capability (NCCC) a secure system that monitors WWCC holders against ongoing updates to criminal history information across jurisdictions

These commitments follow legislative changes introduced in the New South Wales Parliament, which include:

• Removal of external appeal rights for denied WWCC and NDIS Worker Checks
• Transfer of all appeals to the Office of the Children’s Guardian, strengthening independent oversight and child safety

New South Wales Attorney General Michael Daley welcomed the national cooperation:

“NSW has already acted to close loopholes in our WWCC system. Today’s agreement ensures denied Working with Children Checks will be recognised nationally, so offenders cannot move between states to gain access to children.”

Minister for Families and Communities Kate Washington added:

“The NSW Government is determined to see the strengthening of the WWCC system across Australia. Because we want parents to know that people who prey on children can’t slip across state borders unseen.”

The reforms represent a coordinated national approach to enhancing Working with Children Checks, with a focus on improved screening, consistent information sharing and strengthened oversight across jurisdictions. These changes aim to support a more unified framework for child safety across Australia’s care and education systems.