Authorised carers and their adult household members need to hold a NSW Working with Children Check clearance regardless of where they live, if the placement of a child is subject to a NSW Children’s Court order.
Unable to get to a Service NSW centre
If the out-of-home care placement of a child is subject to a NSW Children’s Court order, authorised carers and their adult household members must have a NSW Working with Children Check regardless of where they are located.
The Office of the Children’s Guardian has developed a WWCC identity verification process to help the following applicants:
- NSW authorised carer applicants who live interstate and adult members of their household
- NSW authorised carer applicants and their adult household members who are not physically capable of attending a Service NSW Centre
- people who reside at a home where a home-based education and care service or family daycare service is provided who are not physically capable of attending a Service NSW centre.
Note: Authorised carer applicants and their adult household members who prefer to follow the usual process of attending a Service NSW Centre to provide proof of their identity are still able to do so.
Authorised carer applicants and their adult household members who are renewing their WWCC may be eligible to renew using digital proof if identity which means that they do not need to attend a Service NSW Centre. More information about renewing your WWCC using digital proof of identity is on the Service NSW website.
Information about the usual WWCC application process.
Applicants who choose the special application process to prove their identity may experience processing delays as these applications need additional manual processing.
Special application process
Open allOnly authorised carers, their household members and people residing in family day care or home-based education or care service, who meet the criteria above, can apply for a Working with Children Check through the following process.
- 1 Apply for a Working with Children Check
An application number (APP number) will then be sent to you by email. (To avoid any delays, please ensure you include your email address in your application so we can provide you with your APP number.)
Authorised carer applicants and adult household members are not required to pay for a Working with Children Check.
- 2 Submit proof of identity
Check the proof of identity requirements and fill in the Proof of identity form (PDF)
- 3 Get certified copies of documents
Make copies of your identification documents and arrange for the copies to be certified.
Note: A certified copy means a true copy (a clear photocopy or printed photograph) of your original identity document, certified (signed and dated) by an eligible person, such as a Justice of the Peace, a police officer, a permanent employee of the NSW government (such as a DCJ caseworker) with 5 or more years of continuous service, a permanent teacher, an enrolled legal practitioner, an Australia Post agent, or a licenced or registered dentist, doctor, nurse, midwife, pharmacist or veterinary surgeon. A full list of persons eligible to certify proof of identity documents for the purpose of the WWCC can be found on the Australian Government Attorney-General’s Department website.
You do not need to be physically present at the time your documents are being certified, but the certifier must sight the original identity documents. Further information about the requirements for certifying copies of documents can be found on page 55 of the NSW Justice of the Peace Handbook.
- 4 Send your application
Authorised carer applicants and their adult household members
If you are an authorised carer applicant or are an adult household member of an authorised carer, you must provide to your designated agency (foster care agency) your:
- APP number
- Certified copies of your identification documents and
- Completed Proof of Identity Form
For authorised carer applicants applying to the Department of Communities and Justice (DCJ) for authorisation, your DCJ caseworker will send your documents to the DCJ Carers Register team. The DCJ Carers Register will then will forward them on to the Office of the Children’s Guardian at check@ocg.nsw.gov.au.
For authorised carer applicants applying to a non-government designated agency for authorisation, the Principal Officer of the designated agency will forward your application to the Office of the Children’s Guardian at check@ocg.nsw.gov.au.
Adult household members of family day carers or a home-based education and care service not physically capable of attending a Service NSW centre
If you are a person residing at a home where a home-based education and care service or a family daycare service is provided, and you are not physically capable of attending a Service NSW centre, please email directly to check@ocg.nsw.gov.au your:
- APP number
- Electronic copies (scanned or clearly photographed) of the certified copies of your identification documents and
- Completed Proof of Identity Form
Continuing residence approval
Anyone aged 18 and over who lives or stays regularly at the household of an authorised carer is classified as an adult household member, including young people who continue living in their foster care placement.
The Children’s Guardian can give permission for a child turning 18 to continue living in their existing foster care placement without a Working with Check Clearance. If someone who was in out-of-home care before turning 18 years old is refused a WWCC clearance, they can apply to the Children’s Guardian for continuing residence approval so they can continue to live in their home.
A continuing residence approval can only be given if the Children’s Guardian is satisfied that an appropriate risk mitigation strategy is in place to maintain the young person in the current care placement. A continuing residence approval will not allow the young person to engage in child-related work. It is only for the purpose of continuing to reside in a foster care placement.
