Working with Children Check in Victoria: Who Needs One, Fees, Exclusions and Penalties

By James Stevens, Director and Solicitor, Go To Court Lawyers. Last reviewed 10 April 2026.

In Victoria, an adult doing paid or volunteer child-related work in a field listed in the Worker Screening Act 2020, with direct contact with children as part of their duties, must apply for a Working with Children Check before starting unless exempt; the check is free for volunteers and $139.20 for employees in 2026-27, a clearance lasts 5 years, and doing child-related work without a required check can bring up to 2 years' imprisonment or a fine of $50,184.

Checked on 23 October 2026 against the Worker Screening Act 2020 (Vic) and Working with Children Check Victoria.

Who needs a Working with Children Check

Under the Worker Screening Act 2020, you need a check if all five of these are true:

• you are an adult volunteer, paid or self-employed worker caring for children under 18;
• the work is in one of the fields listed in the Act, such as child care and kindergartens, schools, coaching and tuition, clubs and associations for children, religious organisations, camps, counselling, foster and kinship care, out-of-home care, paediatric wards, transport for children, homestays, youth justice, commercial child minding, party, photography, gym or talent services for children, and supervising a child in employment under the Child Employment Act 2003;
• the work usually involves direct contact with children: face-to-face, physical, written, oral or electronic;
• the contact is part of your duties, not incidental to them (a plumber working at a junior sports club does not need one); and
• you are not exempt.

An organisation can still require a check even if the law does not.

Who is exempt

• Under 18: people under 18 are exempt.
• Students: students aged 18 or 19 volunteering in work organised by, or held at, their educational institution.
• Parents: volunteering in the same activity their child takes part in, or normally takes part in.
• Close relatives: if you are closely related to each child you work with (such as a parent, step-parent, grandparent, aunt or uncle, or sibling). This does not cover kinship carers, who need a check.
• Teachers registered with the Victorian Institute of Teaching, unless the registration is suspended or cancelled. A teacher doing other child-related work must notify the check team within 21 days.
• Victoria Police and AFP officers, unless suspended or dismissed (then they must tell their organisations within 7 days and apply).
• Interstate visitors: with an equivalent check from their home state, up to 30 days of child-related work in Victoria in a calendar year; without one, only one occasion or event a year, of up to 30 days.
• The exemptions do not apply if you have been given a Working with Children exclusion.

Volunteer or employee, and the fees

If you are paid for child-related work (beyond reimbursed out-of-pocket expenses), you need an employee clearance, which covers volunteer work too. Using a volunteer clearance for paid work is an offence. A clearance is valid for 5 years unless it is suspended, cancelled or surrendered.

Applying, and working while you wait

• Apply online through Service Victoria, verifying your identity with one document from each group: (A) an Australian driver licence, learner permit or Medicare card; and (B) an Australian passport (not expired more than 3 years), a non-handwritten Australian birth certificate, a foreign passport linked to a valid visa, an ImmiCard or a citizenship certificate. Without these, you can verify your identity at Australia Post.
• Apply before you start. Starting child-related work without having applied is an offence, for you and for the organisation.
• Working while you wait: most people may start once they have applied, by showing the organisation their application receipt. You must not start until you hold a clearance if, for example, you will work in a child care, kindergarten or other education and care service, supervise a child in employment, have been charged with or found guilty of certain sexual, violent or drug offences listed in the Act, have been excluded under another state's law, or are subject to sex offender reporting obligations or a supervision or detention order. Many organisations also wait for the clearance.
• How long it takes: a few days if there is nothing to assess. With criminal history or other relevant information, an assessment generally takes 3 to 12 weeks, but the check team says current demand means some take longer than six months.
• Requests for information: answer within 28 days (or the longer time given), or the application is withdrawn or revoked.

If you have a criminal record, and exclusions

• A record does not automatically mean refusal. The outcome depends on the offence, the facts and circumstances, and any disciplinary or regulatory findings. The check looks beyond convictions: it can consider charges, findings of guilt with or without conviction, professional disciplinary findings and, since reforms in July 2026, other child safety risk information.
• You cannot apply if you are a registrable offender under the Sex Offenders Registration Act 2004, or subject to a supervision, detention or emergency detention order under the Serious Offenders Act 2018.
• If the check team proposes to exclude you, it first gives you an interim exclusion, which stops you working with children, and a chance to explain why you should get a clearance.
• A Working with Children exclusion stops you doing child-related work. Your listed organisations are told (without the reasons), and you must tell every organisation you work for in writing within 7 days. You generally cannot apply again for 5 years unless your circumstances change.
• Internal review: for many decisions you can apply to the regulator for an internal review within 28 days (the regulator can extend that time). The exclusion stays in place while the review is decided. People charged with or found guilty of the most serious "category A" offences, such as murder, rape and sexual offences against a child, have very limited review rights.

Keeping your clearance

• Ongoing monitoring: the check team is notified of new charges and other relevant information for as long as you hold a clearance, and can suspend or revoke it.
• Within 7 days, tell the check team and your organisations in writing if you are charged with, convicted or found guilty of a relevant offence, or the charge is finally dealt with, or a relevant disciplinary finding or order is made against you.
• Within 21 days, update changes to your name, date of birth, address, email or phone numbers.
• Renew online from 6 months before expiry up to 3 months after. You must not do child-related work after it expires unless you have lodged the renewal.
• Changing organisations does not need a new clearance: add the new organisation online.
• Suspension: a clearance is suspended if you are charged with certain offences or become subject to sex offender reporting or serious offender orders; you cannot work while it is suspended. It may be reinstated if the charge is withdrawn or dismissed, or you are acquitted.

Offences and penalties

A police check is different. It reports releasable criminal history at one point in time and cannot be passed or failed. A Working with Children Check is a risk assessment with ongoing monitoring, and you need it even if you already have a police check. See what a police check costs.

Free help

Other states have their own schemes. See our page on the NSW Working with Children Check.

How Go To Court Lawyers can help

Our free line, 1800 577 015, answers at any hour. Jen, our AI legal information assistant, gives general legal information and takes your details; Jen is not a lawyer and does not give advice about your case. A 60-minute consultation with a lawyer who practises in Victoria is a fixed $295, by phone, video or in person where the lawyer offers it. The lawyer can advise before you apply if you have a criminal record or pending charge, help you respond to an interim exclusion, and advise on an internal review or a charge under the Act. Requests are taken at any hour; how soon a lawyer can see you depends on who is available. Request a $295 consultation.

General information only, not legal advice. Updated 23 October 2026. Checked against the Worker Screening Act 2020 (Vic), Authorised Version No. 018 (amendments as at 19 October 2026), and Working with Children Check Victoria's pages on who needs a check (updated 7 September 2026), exemptions (13 February 2026), the application process (5 October 2026), current clearance holders (16 October 2026), the check explained and its fees (24 July 2026), offences and penalties (24 July 2026), legislation (23 July 2026) and contact details, on 23 October 2026. The Worker Screening Act 2020 replaced the Working with Children Act 2005 on 1 February 2021.