If you work (paid or unpaid) in face-to-face contact with children in NSW you are required to hold a Working with Children Clearance issued by the NSW Commission for Children and Young People. Different rules apply depending on your role. 

Ordained ministers, religious leaders and spiritual officers (excluding youth workers) must undergo a Working with Children Check regardless of whether there is face-to-face contact with children. The rules state you must have undergone the checking process; hold a Working with Children Check Clearance; and your clearance verified online by every organisation you are engaged with before 31 Dec 2013.

Paid and unpaid workers engaged in face-to-face contact with children, (including youth workers and SRE Teachers) must undergo the checking process; hold a Working with Children Clearance and have it verified online by every organisation you provide a service to between 1 Jan and 31 Dec 2014.
Without verification online, you cannot work with children in NSW. A separate set of criteria apply in the ACT.

The Synod has formulated a Background Check Policy and guidelines to assist Uniting Church organisations meet their obligations and this will be distributed to Uniting Church organisations shortly.

For more details on the information supplied here contact:

Vicki Roper: Employment & Industrial Relations Manager – Risk and Compliance – Uniting Resources [P] 02 8267 4365 [E] vickir@nsw.uca.org.au

Emma Parr: Coordinator – Safe Church Training & Special Religious Education – Uniting Mission & Education. [P] 02 8838 8977 [E] emmap@nsw.uca.org.au

Download the following forms:

Annexure A Guide To Obtaining a Working with Children Clearance NSW

Annexure B Guide To Obtaining a Working with Children Clearance ACT

Background Check Policy