Royal Commission to Hold Roundtable on Working with Children Checks

Royal Commission into Institutional Responses
June 6, 2014

http://www.childabuseroyalcommission.gov.au/media-release/919/royal-commission-to-hold-roundtable-on-working-with-children-checks

The Royal Commission will hold a roundtable in Canberra to discuss Working with Children Checks.

The roundtable discussion, the second by the Royal Commission, will be convened by the Chair of the Royal Commission Justice Peter McClellan AM and Commissioner Robert Fitzgerald AM and will be held at University House, Australian National University on Monday 16 June 2014.

Participants will include state and territory government representatives, Children’s Commissioners, advocates for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and non-government organisations.

The roundtable discussion will help the Royal Commission to better understand Working with Children Checks and their implementation across jurisdictions.

Currently, each state and territory has its own procedures and requirements for Working With Children Checks.

The roundtable discussion will identify the important elements from each scheme and will address key issues including information sharing across jurisdictions.

The roundtable discussion follows the release of an issues paper on Working with Children Checks which generated 80 submissions from the community.

Submissions were received from state and territory governments, Children’s Commissioners, community services, advocacy groups, peak bodies and individuals.

A public viewing gallery will be open to members of the public and the media.

Note: The summary report and podcasts from the first roundtable on preventing sexual abuse of children in out-of-home care are now available on the roundtables page.