Kooyoora Ltd consults with institutions on effective systems for the screening and clearance of key personnel, both to promote a culture of child safety and meet your legal obligations.
It can help you meet the child safe standards for screening prescribed by your State or Territory Government and the standards recommended by the Royal Commission into institutional responses to child sexual abuse.
State Government legislation already regulates institutions whose people are engaged in child related work. See the Royal Commission report on Working with Children Checks.
An institution that engages people in child related work needs to have effective screening systems in place to discharge the onus placed on them to prove they took reasonable precautions to prevent abuse. Otherwise they risk exposure to liability under the general law and under State or Territory laws such as the Wrongs Act 1958 (Vic), s91.
The Victorian Working with Children legislation makes it a criminal offence punishable by two years’ imprisonment and a fine of $38,000 for a person to engage in child related work without a Working with Children Card. Some statutory exemptions apply, eg police and teachers.
The institution also commits a criminal offence if it knowingly engages or continues to engage a person in child-related work who does not hold a valid Working with Children Card when they know the person does not have that Card or are reckless as to whether or not they have one: s35.
Each officer of the institution is to be taken to have contravened the law if they knew of, or knowingly authorised or permitted, the contravention.