3/12/03
The State Government will spend $1.7million to police-screen all Government school staff and TAFEWA lecturers over the next two years under a project to improve the safety of public school students.
Education and Training Minister Alan Carpenter announced today that teachers, TAFEWA lecturers, school administration and support staff who had not already been cleared under existing requirements would undergo police screening.
"The Department of Education and Training has required police clearances as a condition of teachers' employment since 1997," Mr Carpenter said.
"However, this obviously has not been retrospective and we cannot afford to take any chances.
"Parents, caregivers and the department need to know we are doing all in our power to educate our students in a safe learning environment.
"Our schools should be safe from people with a history of sexual abuse, violence and other unacceptable forms of behaviour.
"To help achieve this, we will ensure that every single person working in a Government school and TAFEWA is police-screened."
Mr Carpenter said his decision had arisen out of the inquiry he ordered in July this year into the case of the sexual abuse of a young boy by a primary school teacher in Albany.
"The inquiry found that when the offender applied for a teaching position in 1991, he lied about his criminal record - which included a prior record for sexual offences against a child," the Minister said.
"This enabled him to obtain employment when he clearly should not have done.
"Consequently, a decade later, there is another child victim, shocking trauma for the families involved and the suicide of the perpetrator.
"These things should not have occurred and I am going to do all in my power to ensure they do not occur again."
Mr Carpenter said the department had, since March 1997, required all new employees applying for work in Western Australian Government schools to have an Australia-wide police clearance.
Last year the requirement was extended to teachers and school administrators accepting promotions and transfers. These staff paid for their own police checks, at a cost of $33.
Since July 2001, the department had screened all new teaching and non-teaching employees using the Federal Police's CrimTrac agency, the central Federal co-ordinating agency for the collation and distribution of Australian criminal history.
"These procedures are making some progress - so far 5,000 departmental staff have been screened," the Minister said.
"But there are still 45,000 staff in the Government school system who have not been screened.
"The progress is too slow."
Mr Carpenter said staff criminal history checks, which would begin with the screening of teachers in February next year, would be conducted through CrimTrac.
"Staff with no criminal history will have this noted on a screening database," he said.
"Staff identified as having a criminal history will have their positions reviewed on a case-by-case basis.
"Those with minor offences will be fast-tracked through a review process for approval to continue employment but those with serious offences will be referred to the department's Employee Screening Committee for determination.
"If the committee determines an employee has a conviction that precludes him/her from being employed in schools, the staff member will be contacted and informed of his/her rights under the appeals process."
Staff whose employment will be reviewed include those with convictions relating to violent behaviour, sexual offences and drug trafficking and dealing and those who have been imprisoned.
Mr Carpenter said the change in screening policy was being made ahead of Model Uniform Legislation being implemented by all States and Territories to remove the disparities in screening policies across the nation.
He said it was anticipated the first phase of the process, involving the screening of about 36,000 teachers, including principals and deputy principals, together with TAFEWA lecturers would conclude by the end of December, 2004.
The remainder of the workforce, the non-teaching staff, would be screened during 2005.
Mr Carpenter said information gathered under this program would be highly confidential and limited to a small group of people.
"Criminal histories that do not preclude a person's employment with the department will not affect their work status," he said.
Employees who had questions about the screening initiative could contact the Police Screening Information Line at the department on 9264 5677.
Minister's office: 9213 6800
