Reportable conduct schemes by state: what providers must know

Reportable conduct schemes are one of the less understood parts of child safety regulation in Australia. They sit alongside Working With Children Checks and the child safe standards, but they do something different: they require organisations to notify an independent oversight body when an allegation is made against a worker or volunteer, and then investigate it. For childcare providers, and for any care organisation that works with children, knowing whether a scheme applies to you is part of running a compliant workforce.

This guide explains what a reportable conduct scheme is, where the schemes currently apply across Australia, and how they interact with worker screening and banning. Coverage varies between states and territories and is still changing, so treat the jurisdiction-specific detail here as a starting point and confirm the current rules with the relevant oversight body.

What a reportable conduct scheme actually is

A reportable conduct scheme is an oversight framework. When the head of a covered organisation becomes aware of an allegation of reportable conduct (or a relevant conviction) against an employee, contractor or volunteer, they must notify a designated oversight body within a set timeframe and conduct an investigation into the allegation.

In New South Wales, the original and most established scheme, "reportable conduct" includes a sexual offence, sexual misconduct, ill treatment of a child, an assault against a child, neglect of a child, and behaviour that causes significant emotional or psychological harm to a child. The head of a covered organisation must notify the Office of the Children's Guardian and investigate. See the NSW Office of the Children's Guardian reportable conduct scheme and the Children's Guardian Act 2019 (NSW) for the precise definitions and timeframes.

The schemes generally cover organisations that exercise care, supervision or authority over children. That typically captures schools, childcare and early childhood services, out-of-home care providers, and certain health and disability services. The exact list of covered organisations differs by jurisdiction, so check your scheme's coverage rather than assuming.

Where reportable conduct schemes apply

Coverage is uneven across Australia and is shifting as jurisdictions respond to the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse. The position below reflects what we could confirm at the time of writing. Because these arrangements change, verify the current status with the named oversight body before relying on it.

• New South Wales runs the longest-standing scheme, often treated as the national model. It operates under the Children's Guardian Act 2019 and is administered by the Office of the Children's Guardian.
• Victoria has a reportable conduct scheme that, following recent reforms, moved under the Social Services Regulator. The Commission for Children and Young People had previously administered it. Confirm the current notification process on the Victorian Government site, as the regulator and webform have changed.
• Australian Capital Territory operates a scheme administered by the ACT Ombudsman.
• Tasmania introduced a scheme as part of its Child and Youth Safe Organisations Framework, overseen by the Independent Regulator, following the state's Commission of Inquiry into child sexual abuse.
• Western Australia operates a scheme that commenced on 1 January 2023, overseen by the Ombudsman Western Australia.
• Queensland has legislated a scheme that commences on 1 July 2026 for all in-scope organisations, under the Child Safe Organisations Act 2024 (Qld) and overseen by the Queensland Family and Child Commission.

For South Australia and the Northern Territory, a standalone reportable conduct scheme is not in place. Those jurisdictions have adopted the National Principles for Child Safe Organisations and operate child safe standards or compliance arrangements without a standalone reportable conduct scheme. If you operate across borders, you may be inside a scheme in one state and outside it in another, while still being bound by child safe standards and mandatory reporting everywhere.

What it means for childcare and care providers

If a scheme applies to your organisation, the practical obligations usually look like this:

• Notify the oversight body within the prescribed timeframe once the head of the organisation becomes aware of a reportable allegation. In NSW this is a set number of business days; timeframes differ between schemes.
• Investigate the allegation and reach a finding, keeping the oversight body informed and providing your investigation outcome.
• Manage the worker appropriately during the investigation, balancing procedural fairness with child safety.
• Keep records of the allegation, the notification, the investigation and the outcome.

These duties sit on top of, not instead of, your other legal obligations. If conduct may amount to a criminal offence, you still report to police. Mandatory reporting of child abuse and neglect under child protection law continues to apply. Your child safe standards obligations continue. The reportable conduct scheme adds an oversight layer; it does not replace the others.

For childcare specifically, reportable conduct sits within a busy compliance picture that also includes Working With Children Checks, the national early childhood worker register, educator qualifications and the National Quality Framework. Treating these as one connected workforce-compliance picture, rather than separate boxes, is what keeps a service audit ready.

How it interacts with screening and banning

Reportable conduct, worker screening and banning are designed to feed each other. A finding under a reportable conduct scheme is not just an internal HR outcome: it can flow through to screening and registration decisions.

• Working With Children Check. A substantiated reportable conduct finding can become relevant information in a Working With Children Check assessment. Depending on the jurisdiction, that can support a decision to refuse, cancel or bar a person from holding a check. The check screens the worker; the scheme governs how an allegation is handled. See our Working With Children Check by state guide for how checks differ across jurisdictions, and working with children check in the glossary.
• Banning and conduct registers. Care sectors run their own conduct and banning mechanisms. In Aged Care and disability, for example, codes of conduct and banning orders can exclude individuals from working in the sector. See Aged Care code of conduct and banning orders for how those work, and banning order for the term itself.
• Information sharing. A driver of recent reforms has been closing information-sharing gaps so that what one body knows about a worker can inform another body's decisions. That is why several jurisdictions are consolidating Working With Children Checks, child safe standards and reportable conduct under a single regulator.

The key point for providers: an allegation handled properly through a reportable conduct scheme is part of the same safeguarding system as the checks you run at onboarding and the ongoing monitoring you do afterwards. They are not parallel worlds.

Where Koora fits

Koora is a Career Passport platform for the care sector. The Career Passport collects a worker's screening evidence (such as their Working With Children Check and police history) and qualifications in one place, with checks reviewed and screening checks verified at source where verification is available, plus ongoing monitoring of expiry and status.

Reportable conduct notifications and investigations are duties that stay with the provider and the relevant oversight body: Koora does not make findings or notify regulators on your behalf. What Koora does is keep the surrounding workforce record current, so that when an allegation arises you have a clear, up to date picture of the worker's screening and credentials at the time the report runs. That is the current-state record you need when a check is reassessed or a screening decision changes.

If you manage childcare or cross-sector workforces, pairing your reportable conduct processes with a maintained compliance record reduces the scramble when something goes wrong. See worker compliance tracking for providers for how the ongoing monitoring side works, and what is a Career Passport for the worker-side view. Always confirm your reportable conduct obligations directly with the oversight body in each jurisdiction where you operate.