The adequacy of Working with Children checks in New South Wales is under question following an alleged string of indecent assaults by a school cleaner.
Last week, it was reported a contract cleaner had been charged with indecently assaulting three children at a primary school in Sydney's south.
The Department of Education, in response to the incident, said contractors in schools were required to have Working with Children checks that were renewed every five years.
While it is good the Department of Education enforce this policy, under the Child Protection (Working with Children) Regulations 2013 a cleaner may be technically exempt from being required to have a WWC check.
The regulations in NSW only requires workers who engage in child related work that involves direct contact (being physical or face to face contact) with a child (being a person under 18 years of age) to get a WWC check.
This obviously leads to some workers in schools not requiring WWC checks given they are technically not in "direct contact" with students. Individuals who are exempt from such checks in NSW include:
The question NSW schools should be asking is: "Do we follow the letter of the law or extend WWC checks to all workers, even those whose work does not ordinarily involve contact with children for extended periods?".