Bridging the Gap: Strengthening Child Safety While We Wait for a National WWCC

Ten years after the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse called for a national Working With Children Check, Australia is still operating with eight separate systems. For early childhood education and care (ECEC) services, this means managing different rules, processes and portals, even as educators move across state borders.

A single national scheme would fix many of these problems, but it will take time. So, what can we do now to make the current system safer and simpler?

Focus on Linking, Not Just Checking

One-off status checks are common – a card number is entered, the result is valid, and the process ends there. But this is a snapshot in time. Unless a service is formally linked to an educator through an official portal, there is no way to know if that status changes tomorrow. Linking is the key to ongoing protection.

Where portals exist – in Queensland, South Australia, New South Wales and Western Australia – employers who link their staff receive automatic alerts if a clearance changes. These systems work well and should be seen as the benchmark.

Make Employer Registration Standard Practice

In states without strong portals – Victoria, ACT, Tasmania and NT – the system still relies on educators nominating their employer during an application. If they don’t, there is no automatic update. Until national reform happens, requiring every ECEC service to register as an employer and link their staff wherever possible would close a major gap.

A related gap exists in Victoria for teachers and early childhood teachers who hold current registration with the Victorian Institute of Teaching (VIT). These educators are exempt from holding a WWCC because the VIT registration process includes similar checks. However, if a teacher’s VIT registration is suspended or cancelled, there is no automatic notification to ECEC services, and there is no mechanism for services to link themselves to that registration. Unless the teacher takes the extra step of notifying WWCC Victoria through a separate process, an employer may remain unaware that their registration has lapsed.

Understand the Strengths and Limits of Continuous Monitoring

Every state includes a national criminal history check as part of the WWCC process. Most systems also use continuous monitoring: if a person with a clearance is charged with a new offence, that information is shared with the issuing authority, even if the charge occurs in a different state. If the clearance status changes, linked employers are notified.

What continuous monitoring doesn’t cover is just as important: child protection investigations and workplace misconduct findings are not consistently shared between states. These remain significant blind spots when a worker moves.

Practical Steps Services Can Take Right Now

While we wait for a single, unified system, there are simple, practical steps that make a real difference today:

• If you haven’t already, set up an organisation account and formally link every educator rather than relying on one-off checks – see our practical guide for links where employer portals are available.
• Make use of the bulk verification features available on many state platforms to conduct faster, more comprehensive checks. In states without a proper employer portal, aim to run these bulk checks on a monthly basis.
• Schedule regular internal audits of WWCC status, including expiry dates.
• Actively advocate for proper employer portals in states that don’t have them. A central, secure portal with alerts is one of the simplest, most effective safeguards.

Closing the Gap

A national WWCC scheme remains the end goal. But until that arrives, stronger linking, consistent employer registration and a clear understanding of what continuous monitoring does (and doesn’t) cover can help ECEC services reduce risk and protect the children in their care.

Click here for our guide to help you navigate the differences across States and Territories.