Working with Children Checks (WWCC) vs suitability to work with children

Over the past few weeks there has been significant discussion about the effectiveness of the various Working With Children Check (WWCC) schemes across Australia. Whilst many agree that reform is required, the commentary around the current system has highlighted significant misunderstandings of the role played by the checks. An over reliance on the checks misses a key point, the WWCC only identifies those who have been caught.

The WWCC is not a predictive tool and it does not assess suitability to work with children.

For example:

Jase is a volunteer coach at a local football club. The club require a valid WWCC, which he has provided. Parents quickly start to complain that Jase is aggressive in his coaching and has been heard swearing and yelling at the children.

In this example Jase is permitted to work with children as he has a WWCC but is he suitable for this role?

Understanding the WWCC

What does a WWCC do?

The WWCC is a screening tool that continuously monitors things such as:

• A person's criminal record

• Professional conduct in certain professions (eg teaching/health etc)

• Reportable Conduct Scheme findings

It is important to note that across Australia, different jurisdictions look at slightly different things.

What doesn't it do?

The WWCC does not:

• Identify people who have never been caught before*

• Assess whether a person is suitable to work with children

• Predict future behaviour

The WWCC only captures people who have been caught.

*This is a really important point. Child sexual abuse often goes unreported and when it is reported it can be many, many years later. (The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse found that on average it took 23.9 years for survivors to tell someone)

Further to that, research from the Crime Statistics Agency in Victoria from 2021 found that only 1 in 7 sexual offence incidents reported to police reached the point of been proven in court, with many cases not reaching court. Therefore there are likely to be many perpetrators out there who have not been caught and therefore remain eligible for a WWCC.

How can organisations assess suitability to work with children?

The point of this blog is not to suggest we stop using the WWCC. It is an important tool, but it should be part of the toolbox, not the only tool we use. The National Principles for Child Safe Organisations and various local Child Safe Standards refer to suitability to work with children.

Organisations need to assess suitability to work with children.

Understanding what makes someone suitable to work with children involves organisations considering things like:

• The nature of the services they provide to children

• The children's ages and diverse needs

• The organisations values

• Behavioural expectations

• The specific tasks the person will be engaged in

Position descriptions should be clear about these expectations and staff involved in recruitment need to have a good understanding of what they are looking for, particularly at interview.

Consider the following two examples:

	Example 1	Example 2
Question	"We are a child safe organisation, can you tell us what that means to you?"	"We are a child safe organisation and it is important for us to ensure the people we recruit share our commitment to keeping children safe. A scenario that can happen in the role that you have applied for is a child approaching you and giving you a hug. How would you respond to the child?"
Reflection	Answers to this question are unlikely to tell you much about a person's suitability to interact with children. Most people will expect a question along these lines and will give a general answer, possibly referencing following policies and keeping children safe.	This question should elicit a more detailed response detailing how they would act in this scenario. It is looking at a likely scenario that someone working in that role might have to deal with. The applicants response should give an indication into whether they have considered the potential challenges in the specific role they have applied for and have an understanding of acceptable behaviours towards children. It also opens up the discussion for further exploration.

As we can see, assessing a person's suitability to work with children goes much further than a valid WWCC.