Working With Children Check by state: requirements and renewals (2026)
Every Australian state and territory runs its own Working With Children Check, with different names and validity periods. Here is the full breakdown.
Unlike most credentials, the Working With Children Check is not one national scheme. Every state and territory runs its own, with a different name, issuing body and validity period. This guide lays them all out and explains the national Working With Children Check reform that is bringing them closer together.
One requirement, eight schemes
If you work or volunteer in child-related roles, including early childhood education and care, you need the Working With Children Check for the jurisdiction you work in. There is currently no single national check, so a worker operating across borders has historically needed a clearance in each jurisdiction.
The police check is built in
A national police history check is part of the Working With Children Check assessment in every jurisdiction. For child-related work you do not need a separate police check on top, the Working With Children Check covers it.
The check in each state and territory
| State or territory | Check name | Issuing body | Validity |
|---|---|---|---|
| NSW | Working With Children Check | Office of the Children's Guardian (via Service NSW) | 5 years |
| VIC | Working with Children Check | Working with Children Check Unit (via Service Victoria) | 5 years |
| QLD | Blue Card | Blue Card Services, Department of Justice | 3 years |
| SA | Working with Children Check | Department of Human Services Screening Unit | 5 years |
| WA | Working with Children Card | Department of Communities Screening Unit | 3 years |
| TAS | Registration to Work with Vulnerable People (working with children) | Consumer, Building and Occupational Services | 5 years |
| ACT | Working with Vulnerable People registration | Access Canberra | 5 years |
| NT | Working with Children Clearance (Ochre Card) | SAFE NT (NT Police) | 2 years |
A few points that catch people out:
- Tasmania and the ACT use a broader vulnerable-people registration that covers both children and vulnerable adults.
- The Northern Territory Ochre Card has the shortest validity in the country at two years.
- Most schemes are continuously monitored, meaning a clearance can be cancelled if relevant criminal history arises before its expiry date, not only at renewal.
- Renewal windows differ: many let you renew up to three months before expiry, while the NT will not accept applications more than two months ahead.
- Volunteer checks are free in NSW, Victoria, Queensland, South Australia and the ACT, while WA, Tasmania and the Northern Territory charge a reduced volunteer fee. A paid child-related role needs a paid check, so confirm the current fee with the issuing body.
National reform is underway
The fragmented system is changing. At the Standing Council of Attorneys-General meeting on 14 November 2025, all jurisdictions endorsed an Agreement to Deliver National Working With Children Check Reform, backed by $37 million. Two changes matter most:
- Mutual recognition of negative notices, often summarised as "banned in one, banned in all": a person refused a check in one jurisdiction will be refused in the others.
- A National Continuous Checking Capability, delivered by the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission, providing ongoing monitoring of criminal-history changes for check holders, with rollout beginning from late 2025.
These reforms improve consistency, but for now the eight separate schemes remain, and a worker still applies in their own jurisdiction.
The childcare worker register
In early childhood education and care, the Working With Children Check now also feeds the National Early Childhood Worker Register, where an approved provider or nominated supervisor must sight and record check validity. The worker register guide explains how that works and where the sighting obligation sits.
Keeping checks current
Because validity periods differ and several schemes monitor continuously, tracking expiry across a team is genuinely hard to do by hand. Koora verifies Working With Children Checks against the relevant state register where that is available, and tracks expiry dates so a lapsing card is flagged before it becomes a compliance gap. The legal responsibility to confirm a worker's check, including the sighting duty under the worker register, stays with the provider.
This is general information, not compliance advice. Always confirm requirements with the relevant regulator, and remember that providers keep the legal responsibility to sight credentials and decide who can work.
We work hard to keep it accurate, but the rules change and we will not always get every detail right. If you think something here needs updating, email us at resources@koora.care. We would genuinely rather know, because we all do better when we help each other get it right.
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