News
Public comment invited: Working with Children Check requirements
Published Mon 26 Aug 2024
Australian Sailing seeks your feedback on a proposal to remove the requirement for accredited Instructors and Coaches to hold a Working with Children Check or equivalent (WWCC) to get or stay accredited.
As the organisation employing staff or engaging a volunteer, your Discover Sailing Centre is best placed to conduct the thorough recruitment and screening process which is vital to safeguarding children and young people in sailing.
WWCCs are an important part of this process, and they need to be frequently re-checked to ensure they’re valid. This is a legal requirement in each state and territory, and it must be done by the organisation engaging a volunteer—Australian Sailing cannot do this on a behalf of clubs.
The benefits to this proposed change are:
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The most appropriate organisation is making the checks: The care and attention your Discover Sailing Centre applies to this is the front line of child safeguarding in sailing because who you choose to employ or engage will be responsible for the care of children and young people participating in the programs delivered.
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Lowering the barriers to accreditation: Instructors and Coaches who do not work with children would not need to obtain a WWCC to be accredited by Australian Sailing.
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Reducing double handling of data: Instructors and Coaches working with children currently need to provide their WWCC to Australian Sailing and to each Centre at which they work, creating extra administrative work for them. This double handling would be reduced by this change.
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Protecting personal information: Under the proposed change, Australian Sailing's database would store less personal information.
Australian Sailing is absolutely committed to safeguarding children and young people, and has plenty of resources to help.
To find out more about your state or territory’s legal requirements for working with children, click here.
To learn more about child safe recruitment, read our Recruitment, Screening and Training Recommendations and complete the Safeguarding Recruitment & Screening eLearning course from Sport Integrity Australia.
For more information on safeguarding and integrity generally, visit our Integrity Hub.
To complete the survey, click here.
