Working with Vulnerable People - Information for Volunteers and Visitors in Schools The purpose of this guide This guide provides information to people who provide or wish to volunteer services to schools, or who visit schools to provide educational, commercial or other services. The rules for volunteers and visitors have been changed by the introduction in the ACT of the Working with Vulnerable People (Background Checking) Act 2011. This requires people to undergo a background (criminal history) check and become registered with the Office of Regulatory Services (ORS) before they are allowed to work with children unless they are able to claim an exemption from this requirement. Compliance is required by 7 November 2013. The guide sets out a range of scenarios where volunteers and visitors are clearly required to be registered; others where their work either does not fall under the Act or the particular circumstances of their work are covered by an exemption in the Act; and there are other scenarios again where the need for registration is less clear, and the volunteer or visitor may be able to reverse this need by varying the location of their work or perhaps by scheduling their time differently, thus bringing themselves under one of the exemption provisions. These scenarios are outlined below. What it means for school volunteers and visitors (including parents) There will be no change for parents collecting or delivering children, or attending school events such as sports days, assemblies or concerts. The Education and Training Directorate already has in place policies and procedures to protect children and young people. These include the need for volunteers and visitors in certain circumstances to undertake criminal history checks. The Working with Vulnerable People Act replaces current checks where contact with children is sufficiently frequent to require registration. This increases the level of protection as the Act’s criminal history checks are more comprehensive than current checks. The Directorate’s policies will continue to apply until 7 November 2013 after which they will be aligned with the Act. Volunteers and visitors can continue to support schools in a number of ways without the need to be registered under the Act. The benefits of volunteers and visitors ACT public schools provide a framework for students to learn in a safe and positive educational environment. The ACT Education and Training Directorate recognises the valuable contribution made by parents and members of the community, on a voluntary basis, and in a diversity of roles, in supporting students and schools. Benefits include increased understanding and communication between the school and parents and the community, and providing schools with a broader resource base from which to draw.
Working with Vulnerable People - Information for Volunteers and Visitors in Schools The purpose of this guide This guide provides information to people who provide or wish to volunteer services to schools, or who visit schools to provide educational, commercial or other services. The rules for volunteers and visitors have been changed by the introduction in the ACT of the Working with Vulnerable People (Background Checking) Act 2011. This requires people to undergo a background (criminal history) check and become registered with the Office of Regulatory Services (ORS) before they are allowed to work with children unless they are able to claim an exemption from this requirement. Compliance is required by 7 November 2013. The guide sets out a range of scenarios where volunteers and visitors are clearly required to be registered; others where their work either does not fall under the Act or the particular circumstances of their work are covered by an exemption in the Act; and there are other scenarios again where the need for registration is less clear, and the volunteer or visitor may be able to reverse this need by varying the location of their work or perhaps by scheduling their time differently, thus bringing themselves under one of the exemption provisions. These scenarios are outlined below. What it means for school volunteers and visitors (including parents) There will be no change for parents collecting or delivering children, or attending school events such as sports days, assemblies or concerts. The Education and Training Directorate already has in place policies and procedures to protect children and young people. These include the need for volunteers and visitors in certain circumstances to undertake criminal history checks. The Working with Vulnerable People Act replaces current checks where contact with children is sufficiently frequent to require registration. This increases the level of protection as the Act’s criminal history checks are more comprehensive than current checks. The Directorate’s policies will continue to apply until 7 November 2013 after which they will be aligned with the Act. Volunteers and visitors can continue to support schools in a number of ways without the need to be registered under the Act. The benefits of volunteers and visitors ACT public schools provide a framework for students to learn in a safe and positive educational environment. The ACT Education and Training Directorate recognises the valuable contribution made by parents and members of the community, on a voluntary basis, and in a diversity of roles, in supporting students and schools. Benefits include increased understanding and communication between the school and parents and the community, and providing schools with a broader resource base from which to draw.
Working-with-Vulnerable-People-Information-for-volunteers.docx