working with children check
Can you get a working with children card if you have a 5 year old spent conviction for assault? There were no children involved and it is the only conviction recorded. The judge spent the conviction at the time as he did not want it to impact on the young persons career. Should an accompanying letter be sent with the application? Is there provision for appeal? It is needed for studying nursing.
Hi there. As you know, it is important to disclose all the
prior convictions and any other charges when applying for a Working With
Children Check (WWC). The WWC is carried out by the WWC Screening Unit.
The Screening Unit consider all information given to them by
you, and asses it based on criterion set out in the Working with Children
(Criminal Record Checking) Act 2004 (WA). In Western Australia, the Screening
Unit will consider many things when deciding whether to grant a WWC. This includes:
- the best interests of children, which is likely to be determined
based on when the offence was committed, the age of the applicant when the
offence was committed and the nature of the offence and any relevance it has to
child-related work.
- any information given by the applicant.
- anything else that the Screening Unit thinks is relevant to the decision, such as surrounding circumstances and the applicant’s current situation.
Suggested way forward
As you can see from the above considerations, the existence of your spent conviction in itself may not necessarily prevent you from receiving your WWC. The WWC Screening Unit will consider the nature of the charges or convictions and their relevance to working with children. This is because the overarching purpose of a WWC is to ensure that a person does not have convictions which would indicate they may harm a child. In addition to this, the decision of the Screening Unit are reviewable. This means if you receive a negative assessment you may appeal it to the WA Administrative Tribunal.
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