Thursday, May 21, 2009

Working with children check.

There is something being phased in..not out.. by the Justice Dept called the "Working with children check". As a Registered Nurse I would have thought I may be exempt from this check..and yet when I read the List of Occupational Fields and Exemptions I cannot see that I am exempt.
I volunteer to read with Mia's class at school. Reading some of the matter on the site available to me it appears I may not need to have this. I also volunteer to go with the class/es and assist with excursions too. Mia has an excursion coming up soon. We will be going to the Melbourne Zoo!
The web site states that a person is exempt if they are a "parent volunteers whose child ordinarily participates in that activity. This exemption only applies to volunteer parents who participate in their children’s activities.
For example: Brett is a volunteer coach for a school football team on which his son Joshua ordinarily plays. Brett does not have to apply for and pass the WWC Check to do this even if Joshua does not attend some of the practice sessions or games."
I will discuss it with the school today and also with the Department of Justice if need be. I believe it is important to have this if it is necessary to do so. Keeping kids safe is a priority after all!

Meanwhile, please check in and give a whole load of love to my friend at Phishez Rules who has had a very emotional time...she has some wonderful news :)

10 comments:

Unknown said...

that is a very interesting activity. How do you have time to do all those Cazzie?

karisma said...

I think the checks are a bit blaze actually. I was checked out years ago and looked into it too. All they do is check if you have a police record. I obviously did not so was passed. I wonder how many people out there though, do not have a police record but may be imbalanced somehow or are just weirdo's! Realistically it should be a bit more thorough, otherwise its just a waste of time.

Unknown said...

i'm pretty sure i said something else last night but i think it chopped the first part, now it's not there and i forgot what i've written :(

the point was, it's interesting some of these habit forming regulations/structures are enforced by the gov't. You don't find much of them here.

Mal Kiely [Lancelots Pram] said...

having an old police record from a zillion years ago, everytime I filled-out of of these fucking forms it would keep 're-flagging' that on the 'system, and has continued to cause me no end of grief work-wise as a result. it's beuracracy gone nazi, believe me. i'm 100% all for keeping our children safe, don;t get me wrong... but I'm one of those unfortunate fuckers who the system just keeps dumping shit on, because of the way it's set-up. It's no fun constantly getting a 'red-flag' coming-up for something that happened 24 years ago, believe me. because every time one of these checks is done, it kinda 're-sets' the charge from all those years ago on my record. it's nuts. i've wasted thousands of $$$ trying to get it corrected, but basically no-one gives a fuck and the system reuses to admit it's wrong.

sorry bout that... my rant complete.

Stace said...

My father in law had to get one of those checks - he's a photographer, and does a lot of work with ballet schools and other things involving kids. It's not a bad idea, I guess... but if, as Karisma says, all they do is check for a criminal record, it seems like the system could do with an overhaul...

Mom said...

I had to have a check of my police record to teach Sunday school in a church I had a attended for 40 years. It was a new rule.
The world is a scary place now and it is the right thing to do.

Cazzie!!! said...

Heya Ace, hope you're doin' ok mate! It is always a pain when your comments get eaten by blogger, lol.

Karisma, in that case I am not too sure it is a good thing... thinkin' of "weirdos" etc etc. Maybe publishing it all in the media will scare the baddies away. :(

Mal, you are completely understoof there! What a nightmare matey.

Stace, overhaul sounds like a good idea for sure. I was listening to the radio today and someone called through to say they were an intelligent person yet had trouble filling out the lengthy form..as I havenot sighted the document yet I cannot coner or deny that it is a pain staking process as yet..stay tuned!

Mom, the World sure is a nutty place when you have had to get that check after 40 years of wonderful faith!

jillie said...

I stopped by your friend ;o)

I don't know how I would manage my life with much more going on than there already is...lol

Ginnie said...

That sounds kindof scarey to me.
Times sure have changed.

M said...

Whether they are a volunteer or not we make them all sign up. Our specs were that you do not have to PAY if you are a volunteer, however if you need to get the check for a job that you are earning money for then you have to pay for the WWCC.

It's a good idea but it's also a hassle. I've taken a lot of crap for it - like as if I'm personally imposing all these anti-parental rules or something. pfft, as if!

Times certainly have changed.