Working with Children Check - Glossary

An agreement to work can be a written or unwritten agreement between a person and another person or an organisation, to carry out child-related work on a paid, unpaid or volunteer basis.

It can refer to both child-related employment and a child-related business as defined in the Working with Children (Screening) Act 2004.

An assessment notice is the term given to a WWC Card in the Working with Children (Screening) Act 2004.

An Authorised Officer is an officer from the WWC Screening Unit who has been appointed to the role by the Chief Executive Officer of the Department of Communities. An Authorised Officer can authorise other people to assist them in carrying out their powers, for example a locksmith to open a locked cabinet or door. 

Categories of child-related work refers to the 20 prescribed categories listed in section 6 of the Working with Children (Screening) Act 2004. 

Only 18 categories are available for public use. The two additional categories relate specifically to staff of the WWC Screening Unit or other work as prescribed in the Working with Children (Screening) Regulations 2005. 

Refer to Infographic CRW01: Categories of child-related work for the list of categories.

A child refers to a person under 18 years of age.

Child-related business is defined in the Working with Children (Screening) Act 2004 as child-related work carried out by an individual for gain or reward otherwise than in the course of child-related employment.

This can include self-employed people, company directors or partners in a business or a managerial officer of a child care service.

Child-related employment is defined in the Working with Children (Screening) Act 2004 as child-related work carried out:

• by an individual under a contract of employment or training contract (written or unwritten)
• on a voluntary basis by an individual under an agreement with another person
• by an individual as a minister of religion or in any other capacity for the purposes of a religious organisation
• by a student with another person that may or must be undertaken as part of the student's course of study.
   

Child-related work is defined in section 6 of the Working with Children (Screening) Act 2004 as being work in which the usual duties involve or are likely to involve contact with a child in connection with at least one of the categories of child-related work, unless an exemption applies.

A Class 1 offence is an offence as prescribed under section 7(1) and listed in Schedule 1 of the Working with Children (Screening) Act 2004 . This can include offences under the law of another jurisdiction, such as another state or territory, or offences under the Commonwealth Criminal Code as prescribed in Schedule 2 of the Working with Children (Screening) Regulations 2005.

A Class 2 offence is an offence as prescribed under section 7(2) and listed in Schedule 2 of the Working with Children (Screening) Act 2004. This can include offences under the law of another jurisdiction, such as another state or territory, or offences under the Commonwealth Criminal Code as prescribed in Schedule 3 of the Working with Children (Screening) Regulations 2005.

A Class 3 offence is an offence that is not considered a Class 1 or Class 2 offence under the Working with Children (Screening) Act 2004. This can include offences under the law of another jurisdiction, such as another state or territory.

A designated conduct review authority is a person or body who is prescribed in the Working with Children (Screening) Regulations 2005 to share conduct review findings or outcomes with the WWC Screening Unit.

The Ombudsman WA and the Teacher Registration Board of WA are designated conduct review authorities.

Contact is defined in the Working with Children (Screening) Act 2004 as any form of physical contact, oral communication (face to face, telephone or otherwise) and electronic communication.

It does not include contact in the normal course of duties between an employer and an employee, or between employees of the same employer working alongside each other, or incidental contact with children.

Deemed withdrawn refers to the cancellation of an application for a WWC Check by the WWC Screening Unit after:

• attempts to confirm an individual’s identity or child-related work with the individual or their nominated organisation have been unsuccessful
• the nominated organisation representative fails to verify that an individual is in, or proposes to be engaged in, child-related work.

An education provider is defined in the Working with Children (Screening) Act 2004 as:

• a university established or continued under an Act of this state, the Commonwealth, or another state or territory
• the university company as defined in the Bond University Act 1987 (Queensland) section 2
• a college or other vocational and training institution as defined in the Vocational Education and Training Act 1996 section 5(1)
• a school specified under the Vocational Education and Training Act 1996 section 6(1)
• an authorised non-university institution
• a recognised Australian university
• a recognised overseas university as defined in the Higher Education Act 2004 section 3
• any other provider of an educational or vocational course prescribed by the Working with Children (Screening) Regulations 2005.

• An exemption refers to the prescribed circumstances in the Working with Children (Screening) Act 2004 where certain individuals who engage in child-related work do not require, and are therefore ineligible to apply for, a WWC Check.

A formal arrangement might include an individual advertising their services, running a business that provides the relevant service; or promoting their services to children in general rather than just responding to children within their own social network.

Incidental contact refers to contact with children that may occur in the course of an individual’s work duties, but this contact is not required for the individual to complete their work duties.

The term individual can refer to a paid employee, a student, a volunteer, or a self-employed person.

The WWC Screening Unit considers an informal or private arrangement to be one that is made available only to a limited number of people associated with a private friendship or family group and organised on a casual basis.

It is important to note that some arrangements may start as informal but then become formal, which may then require a WWC Check.

An interim negative notice refers to a notice issued under the Working with Children (Screening) Act 2004 by the WWC Screening Unit when they receive information relevant to the immediate safety of children.

It immediately prohibits an individual from engaging in child-related work until a final assessment is made on whether the individual poses an unacceptable risk of harm to children.

A negative notice refers to a notice issued under the Working with Children (Screening) Act 2004 by the WWC Screening Unit when an individual is assessed to pose an unacceptable risk of harm to children.

It prohibits an individual from engaging in any child-related work and remains current until cancelled.

The person nominated by the organisation to receive notices, if different to the organisation representative.

The term organisation can refer to an employer, a volunteer organisation or an education provider.

An organisation representative refers to the individual authorised by an organisation to verify that the individual applying for a WWC Check is engaging in child-related work at the organisation. The organisation representative may be contacted by the WWC Screening Unit with queries regarding WWC Check applications they have verified.

This does not apply to individuals who are self-employed.

Over-capturing refers to an organisation’s policy which requires all individuals to hold a valid WWC Check, regardless of whether they engage in child-related work or not.

Paid employee refers to an individual receiving a regular salary or wage under a contract of employment.

A parent is defined in the Working with Children (Screening) Act 2004 as a person who:

• is the mother, father, stepfather, stepmother of the child
• at law has responsibility for the long-term or day to day care, welfare and development of the child
• is in a de facto relationship with a person referred to in either of the above
• is specified as the child's prospective adoptive parent under the Adoption Act 1994. 

A relevant change in an individual’s criminal record occurs if an individual is charged with or convicted of a Class 1 offence or a Class 2 offence.

Relevant information is a broad definition to capture an extensive range of information that is essential to an assessment or re-assessment of an individual’s suitability to hold a WWC Card.

A renewal refers to a WWC Check application lodged by an individual continuing in child-related work, within three months of their current WWC Card’s expiry date.

Reportable conduct refers to conduct review outcomes or findings from the Teacher Registration Board of WA or those reported to the Ombudsman WA under the reportable conduct scheme and provided to the WWC Screening Unit.

Conduct review findings or outcomes will include relevant disciplinary and/or misconduct matters that relate to criminal offending, or other behaviour of concern, against children. 

Student is defined in the Working with Children (Screening) Act 2004 and refers to an individual who is undertaking an educational or vocational course of study with an education provider and who may or must undertake child-related work as part of that course.

An unpaid person is an individual who engages in child-related work for no financial reward or wage. This can include a volunteer, a student on placement and other situations where work is performed for no payment, such as a work for the dole scheme.

Usual duties refer to the common, normal, everyday or ordinary duties of a role.

A volunteer is an individual who engages in child-related work for no financial reward or wage.

An individual who receives payments that just cover the costs of carrying out their child-related work is considered to receive ‘no financial reward’ and is considered a volunteer by the WWC Screening Unit.

Organisations should carefully consider whether any amount paid to an individual can reasonably be considered either income or a payment to cover costs. This should be done prior to determining any applicable exemptions or verifying a WWC Check application or renewal.

When making this decision organisations may find it useful to consider the following questions:

• What are the costs to the individual providing the work?
  • Their costs may include travel expenses, phone calls, uniforms, stationery, sports equipment, and other items that are necessary to engage in their child-related work.
• Over what period is this service provided and the payments made?
  • For example, if payment provided to the individual is no more that can be reasonably expected to cover the individual’s costs incurred over the year, the individual may be considered a volunteer.
• Does the payment the individual receives exceed the costs of the individual carrying out the work?
  • If so, they would be considered a paid employee. It is irrelevant whether the work occurs frequently or infrequently and whether there are small frequent payments or large infrequent payments.