Glossary

Agreement
An agreement (written or unwritten) by a person with another person or organisation, to carry out child-related work either for payment or on a voluntary basis.

Assessment Notice
This is the term used in the WWC legislation to refer to the notice given to a person when their WWC Check has been successful. It allows a person to carry out child-related work in Western Australia for three years across all categories of child-related work from date of issue, unless cancelled.   The Assessment Notice comes in the form of a WWC Card, which has a photograph, signature and WWC Card number.

Blanket Policy
In regards to the WWC Check a “blanket policy” is a policy organisations/employers make that require all their employees to apply for a WWC Check, regardless of whether a person undertakes child-related work or not. When deciding who in their organisation needs a WWC Check an employer must make this decision on a case by case basis. For example, you may employ a number of nurses and not all of them have contact with children, therefore not all of them would be in child-related work. This is important because people who are not in child-related work are by law unable to apply for a WWC Card.

Categories of child-related work
There are 19 categories of “child-related work” in the WWC legislation. A person is only in child related work if their usual duties involve or are likely involve contact with a child in connection with at least one of the categories. Click here to view the full list of categories.

Child
A child is a person under the age of 18 years

Child-related business
“Child-related business” is defined in the WWC legislation as child-related work carried out by an individual for gain or reward otherwise than in the course of child-related employment.   This would include a self employed person, a company director, partner in a business or a Managerial Officer in child- related work.

Child-related employment
Child-related employment includes:

a. Child-related work carried out by an individual under a contract of employment or apprenticeship (whether written or unwritten),
b. Child-related work carried out on a voluntary basis by an individual  under an agreement (whether written or unwritten) with another person, or
c. Child-related work carried out by an individual as a minister of religion or in any other capacity for the purposes of a religious organisation.

Child-related work
Child related work has a specific definition in the WWC legislation. “Work” is child-related if the usual duties of the work involve, or are likely to involve contact with a child in connection with at least one of the 19 categories of child-related work. For the purposes of the WWC legislation volunteers under 18 years of age are exempt from the legislation and not in child-related work.

Contact
“contact” includes:

• Any form of physical contact
• Any form of oral communication, whether face to face, by telephone or otherwise, and
• Any form of electronic communication

But does not include contact in the normal course of duties between an employer and an employee or between employees of the same employer.

5 day threshold
People who undertake child-related work on no more than 5 days in a calendar year may choose not to apply for a WWC Check *.  This is often called the “5 day threshold”.  It is a “defence” under the WWC legislation to a possible charge of not having a WWC Check when in child-related work for no more than 5 days in a calendar year.  

The “5 day threshold” can be used by people doing child-related work in any category except work in connection with a licensed child care service.

It is important to know that even if you choose not to apply for a WWC Check you are still obliged to comply with all the other obligations of employers/employees/volunteers/self-employed persons under the WWC legislation.
* Unless the person has been convicted of a Class 1 offence committed as an adult.

Interim Negative Notice
An Interim Negative Notice prohibits a person from undertaking child-related work in Western Australia before a final decision is made by the Screening Unit.

Negative Notice
A Negative Notice prohibits a person from undertaking child-related work in Western Australia.

Non-conviction charge
A non-conviction charge is “ a charge of an offence that has been disposed of by court otherwise than by way of a conviction”.   Examples of a non-conviction charge include:

- where a person is found not-guilty of a charge for an offence;
- where a charge against a person is withdrawn and does not proceed through court; and
- where a conviction is overturned on appeal.

Parent
A “parent” is a person who:

• Is the mother, father, stepfather, stepmother of the child;
• at law has responsibility for –
  • the long term care, welfare and development of the child; or
  • the day-to-day care, welfare and development of the child; or
• is in a de facto relationship with a person referred to above.

Pending Charge
A “pending charge” is charge for an offence that has not yet been disposed of by a court.

Phasing in arrangements
“Phasing in arrangements” is the term used to describe the gradual introduction of the WWC Check across various categories of child-related work. There are hundreds of thousands of people in child-related work in Western Australia so different people are required to apply at different times, depending on what work they undertake and when they started. Employees, self employed people and volunteers have different “phasing-in arrangement” therefore they must find out when they need to apply by visiting the relevant sections of this website.

Relative
"relative" in relation in relation to a child, means
(a)    the child's -
        (i) parent, grandparent or other ancestor;
        (ii) sibling;
        (iii) uncle or aunt;
        (iv) cousin;
        (v)  spouse or de facto partner,
        whether the relationship is established by, or traced through, consanguinity, marriage, a de facto relationship, 
        a written law or a natural relationship;
(b)    in the case of a child who is a descendant of Aboriginal people of Australia - a person regarded under the customary law of tradition of the child's community as the equivalent of a person mentioned in paragraph (a); or
(c)     in the case of a child who is a descendant of the indigenous inhabitants of teh Torres Strait Islands - a person regarded under the customary law or tradition of the Torres Strait Islands as the equivalent of a person mentioned in paragraph (a).

Relevant change of criminal record
A relevant change in a person’s criminal record, whether or not that person has a previous criminal record, occurs when a person is charged with or convicted of a Class 1 offence or a Class 2 offence. Click for a list of Class 1 and Class 2 Offences.

Volunteer Work 
The Working with Children Screening Unit considers a volunteer to be a person who does child-related work for an employer or organisation for no financial reward.  Students on placement over the age of 18, in one of the categories of child-related work are considered to be volunteers. 

A person who receives payments that just cover the costs of carrying out their child-related work is considered to receive “no financial reward”.  These persons are considered to be  volunteers by the Working with Children Screening Unit.

Before signing the WWC Check Application form, employers (including volunteer organisations) need to carefully consider whether any amount they pay a person can reasonably be said to be:

• income, or
• payment which only covers costs. 

When making this decision employers may find it useful to consider the following questions:

• What are the costs to the person providing the work? Their costs may include: costs of caring for a child (eg. food & clothing), travel expenses, phone calls, uniforms, stationery, sports equipment and other items if they are necessary to carry out their child-related work.
• Over what period of time is this service provided and the payments made? Eg. If payment provided to the person is no more than can be reasonably expected to cover the person’s costs incurred over the year, the person may be considered a volunteer.
• Does the payment a person receives exceed the costs of the person carrying out the work? If so, they would be considered a paid employee. It is irrelevant whether the work occurs frequently or infrequently and whether there are small frequent payments or infrequent large payments.

An employer may decide that a person receiving a payment is a volunteer.  If so, employers must keep records to reasonably justify their decisions.

Working with Children Card
A Working with Children Card is the Card issued to a person when their Working with Children Check has been successful. It is also referred to an Assessment Notice (see definition of “Assessment Notice”). The WWC Card includes a photograph, signature, expiry date, WWC Card number and other personal details.

Working with Children Check
A compulsory national criminal record check for people who undertake child-related work in Western Australia.