Working with Children Check (WWCC) Requirements in the Uniting Church
All individuals in positions of responsibility within the Uniting Church must hold a valid Working with Children Check (WWCC), regardless of whether they have direct contact with children.
A WWCC remains valid for five years and can be used across different roles and organisations within South Australia. If you have a WWCC from another organisation, you must still register it with the UCA SA Synod if you hold a position of responsibility within the Uniting Church. This can be done via the Step 1 form.
Depending on your specific role, additional screening checks beyond the WWCC may be required. Please refer to the Duty of Care Policy and related information sheets for further details.
Legal Framework
The Child Safe (Prohibited Persons) Act 2016 of South Australia (Part 3: 6(b)) defines “child-related work” as including services or activities provided by a religious organisation. South Australian Regulations 7:(7)(2) further specify that this includes situations where a person is expected to have or could have contact with a child. “Contact” is defined as having close physical proximity or communication with a child (including oral, written, electronic, etc.) under Regulations 7:(7)(6).
While the primary focus of the WWCC is to screen for risks related to contact with children, the Uniting Church’s nature also involves interactions with the elderly and other vulnerable groups. Therefore, certain roles within Church Council and the broader church community may require additional checks. For more details, please refer to the Duty of Care Policy and associated information sheets.
N.B. Minimum age for a screening to be conducted is 14 plus years
If your Working With Children Check was not completed through the Uniting Church, we need the following information please so it can be added to our register.
On the email from DHS there will be a number that follows the letters Unique ID :SRN ####-####. Please provide the details in the Step 1 form.
If you are unable to locate your original email from DHS, please go to this website and under “Get your Working with Children Check Registration Number” please complete the steps and they will send you the information. Department for Human Service – Screening Unit – Get My Registration Number (dcsiscreening.sa.gov.au)
{ https://www.dcsiscreening.sa.gov.au/SCGetMyRegistrationNumber }