Glossary - NSW Commission for Children and Young People

Approved Screening Agency: An employer or employer-related body approved by the Minister to carry out all or any of the relevant Working With Children background checking procedures.

Child: A person who is under 18 years of age.

Child-related employment: Child-related employment is employment:

that primarily involves contact with children; and
that involves direct contact with children; and
where that contact is not directly supervised by a person having the capacity to direct the employee in the course of the employment; and
in the specific work settings listed at 1.2.1.

All four criteria must be satisfied for the position to be child-related employment. See Do you provide child-related employment?

Child-related personal violence offence: An offence committed by an adult involving intentionally wounding or causing grievous bodily harm to a child or an offence of attempting, or of conspiracy or incitement, to commit such an offence.

In NSW, a child-related personal violence offence is specifically the offence of:

maliciously wounding or inflicting grievous bodily harm to a child; or
maliciously shooting at, or discharging any kind of loaded arms at a child;

with the intent to do grievous bodily harm to a child, or resist, or prevent arrest.

It does not include an offence committed by an adult who is less than three years older than the child concerned.

Conviction: A charge proven in court and recorded as such, including a finding that the charge for an offence is proven, or that a person is guilty of an offence, even though the court does not proceed to a conviction.

Employee: Any person who is engaged in employment.

Employer: A person who:

in the course of business, arranges for the placement of a person in employment with others; or
engages a person under a contract to perform work.

Employer-related body: Any body which supervises, represents or has other functions with respect to an employer for the purposes of Working With Children background checks.

Employment:

performance of work under a contract of employment; or
performance of work as a self-employed person; or
performance of work as a subcontractor; or
performance of work as a volunteer for an organisation; or
undertaking practical training as part of an educational or vocational course; or
performance of work as a minister, priest, rabbi, mufti or other like religious leader or spiritual officer of a religion or other member of a religious organisation; or
performance of the duties of an authorised carer within the meaning of the Children and Young Persons (Care and Protection) Act 1998.

Employment screening: Screening a preferred applicant as part of employment. This may involve interviews, reference checks, the Working With Children background check and other criminal records checks where available.

Enforcement notice: A notice issued by the Commission for Children and Young People to an employer for failure to comply with requirements to undertake the Working With Children background check, notify the Commission of rejected applicants or notify the Commission of relevant employment proceedings.

The notice contains:

the reasons why you’ve received it;
what you must do; and
the period of time you have to demonstrate that you’ve met your obligations. By law, this period cannot be less than 28 days.

Estimate of risk: The process of analysing information gathered through Working With Children background checking to estimate the level of risk a person in child-related employment may pose to children in the workplace. Employers are provided with the outcome of an estimate of risk in the Advice to employers - results of background check letter.

Neglect:Neglect occurs when a child is harmed by the failure to provide basic physical and emotional necessities of life. For example, failure to provide or arrange for adequate and proper food, supervision, nursing, clothing, medical attention or lodging for a child. Generally neglect offences are linked to a person with care responsibilities for a child, such as a foster carer.

Neglect can be ongoing or a single significant incident. However, neglect typically develops as a pattern of behaviour that results in harm to a child over a period of time. For example, accidentally leaving a child locked in a room alone for a short period, and after all standard workplace procedures have been followed, is not considered to be neglect, though it may be inappropriate professional conduct.

When considering whether a child is being, or has been, neglected, it may be useful to focus on the effect on the child. Incidents that do not suggest any impact on the long-term physical, emotional or intellectual well-being of the child are unlikely to constitute neglect.

Paid: A reference to paid includes any person who receives a salary or remuneration such as cash or fee for the performance of work, but does not include reimbursement of ‘out-of-pocket’ expenses, receipt of ‘in kind’ or similar benefits.

Physical assault: Physical assault must include all three of the following elements:

It is an act committed on or towards a child; and
It involves either the application of force to a child or an act that causes a child to think that immediate force will be used on them; and
It is either hostile or reckless (a reckless act is one where the person would reasonably foresee the likelihood of inflicting injury or fear and ignores the risk).

Actual physical harm does not have to occur in order for an assault to have taken place, i.e. the child does not have to be injured.

Physical contact which is an inevitable part of everyday life does not amount to an assault.

Prohibited person: A person convicted of a serious sex offence, the murder of a child, a child-related personal violence offence, or a Registrable Person, other than where there is an order in force declaring that Division 2, Part 7 of the Commission for Children and Young People Act 1998 does not apply to the person in respect of the offence.

(Behaviour that causes) psychological harm: Inappropriate behaviour that results in significant emotional harm or trauma to a child. There needs to be a causal link between the inappropriate behaviour and the harm.

Registrable offence: Any of the following offences against a child:

murder;
sexual offences;
indecency offences punishable by imprisonment of 12 months or more;
kidnapping (unless the offender is or has been the child’s parent or carer);
offences connected with child prostitution; or
possession or publication of child pornography.

Registrable person: A person who has been found guilty of a registrable offence against children under the Child Protection (Offenders Registration) Act 2000.

Relevant record: Relevant records include Relevant criminal records, Relevant Apprehended Violence Orders and Relevant employment proceedings.

Serious sex offence:

an offence, involving sexual activity or acts of indecency, committed in New South Wales and that was punishable by penal servitude or imprisonment for 12 months or more; or
an offence, involving sexual activity or acts of indecency, committed elsewhere and that would have been an offence punishable by penal servitude or imprisonment for 12 months or more, if it had been committed in New South Wales; or
an offence under section 80D or 80E (sexual servitude) of the Crimes Act 1900, committed against a child; or
an offence under Sections 91D-91G (child prostitution, other than if committed by a child prostitute) of the Crimes Act 1900 or a similar offence under a law other than a law of New South Wales; or
an offence under Section 91H, 578B or 578C (2A) (child pornography) of the Crimes Act 1900 or a similar offence under a law other than a law of New South Wales; or
an offence of attempting, or of conspiracy or incitement, to commit an offence referred to in the preceding paragraphs; or
any other offence, whether under the law of New South Wales or elsewhere, prescribed by the regulations.

Offences that are no longer offences in New South Wales are not included.

Offences involving sexual activity or an act of indecency are excluded if the conduct constituting the offence occurred in a public place and would not have constituted an offence in New South Wales if the place were not a public place.

Sexual offences: Sexual offences include sexual assault, the involvement of children in sexual acts or acts of indecency and any sexual threat imposed on a child. Sexual assault refers to sexual intercourse by a person with a child.

Short-term employee: A person employed for a period of less than six months.

Spent conviction: Those offences included on a person’s criminal record which, because of the passage of time and legislative preconditions having been met, are no longer to be considered in any administrative decision making.

Sexual offences and child-related personal violence offences can never be “spent” for the purposes of the Working With Children Check.

Unpaid: Work for which payment, including fee or similar remuneration, is not made, for example a volunteer.

Working With Children background check: The process of gathering and assessing relevant information about a preferred applicant for child-related employment to assist employers make an informed decision on whether or not to employ an applicant for a position. For further information go to How to obtain a Working With Children background check.

Working With Children Check: The Working With Children Check consists of two parts, the Working With Children background check and exclusion of prohibited persons.

Working With Children Program: The Working With Children Program consists of three key strategies:

exclusion of prohibited persons;
Working With Children background check; and
Developing child-safe and child-friendly organisations.

For further information go to New South Wales Working With Children program.