From 19 October 2026, Victorian organisations engaging people in child-related work will face new Working with Children Check requirements, while applicants and renewing clearance holders must complete mandatory child safety training. Victorian employers should review their processes to build in the time needed for this. 

There are new reforms to the Working with Children (WWC) Check scheme. The reforms are intended to strengthen safeguarding by requiring organisations to build WWC verification, connection and record maintenance into their workforce processes, as well as reinforcing the wider screening framework by improving information sharing and enabling earlier regulatory intervention where child safety concerns arise. The changes are relevant to Victorian employers, volunteer bodies, sole traders and other organisations that engage workers or volunteers in child-related work. The immediate priority is readiness for the new online service; WWC Connect, from 19 October 2026, alongside mandatory child safety training for new applicants, people renewing their clearance and volunteers moving to an employee clearance.

The reforms create an active, ongoing compliance task. Organisations should be ready to verify, connect, record and maintain their child-related workforce information from 19 October 2026, and should integrate those steps with broader child-safety governance and escalation processes.
 

What changes on 19 October 2026?

WWC Connect will become the new online service through which organisations connect people they engage in child-related work to their organisation. It is intended to provide the Social Services Regulator with more accurate information about the child-related workforce and allow organisations to receive notifications if a worker or volunteer’s WWC Clearance status changes. Your organisation needs to: 

Check - Verify a person’s clearance using the WWC status checker before engaging them in child-related work.

Connect - Connect them to the organisation through WWC Connect when you are ready to engage them.

Record - Keep appropriate records showing required verification and connection.

Maintain - Keep WWC Connect records current when people start or stop child-related work, or when relevant details change.

The Victorian Government also strongly encourages organisations to connect existing workers and volunteers. Doing so should give organisations a more complete view of their child-related workforce and help ensure they receive status-change notifications.

Mandatory child safety training

From 19 October 2026, mandatory online child safety training will apply to new WWC Check applicants, people renewing their WWC Clearance and people changing from a volunteer to an employee clearance. The training must be completed before the application can be finalised. This is a self-paced course of approximately 45 minutes, with a paper-based option also available.

The training covers child safety responsibilities, respectful and appropriate behaviour, recognising concerning behaviour and grooming risk factors, and responding where there are concerns about a child’s safety.

The broader 2026 reforms

These October changes follow reforms that commenced on 28 July 2026. Those earlier changes expanded the child safety risk information that may be considered in assessing eligibility, strengthened information sharing between the WWC Check scheme and other regulators, and introduced powers to issue an Interim Bar or suspend a clearance while risk is assessed. An internal review process also replaced VCAT merits review for refusals and revocations.

For organisations covered by the Reportable Conduct Scheme, information about allegations, findings, reports and evidence may now be shared with the WWC Check scheme. Regulatory action concerning a clearance does not displace an organisation head’s responsibility to investigate reportable conduct allegations and make findings.

What should organisations do now?

• Review all roles, engagement types and locations involving child-related work, including employees, volunteers, contractors, subcontractors and labour-hire arrangements.
   
• Confirm that current WWC Clearance details are accurate using the existing status checker and gather the information needed for WWC Connect.
   
• Update recruitment, onboarding and engagement workflows so verification occurs before engagement and connection occurs when the engagement is formalised.
   
• Nominate responsibility for WWC Connect access, updates, notifications and follow-up actions, with appropriate business continuity arrangements.
   
• Review privacy notices, record-keeping practices and HR or volunteer-management systems for the collection and maintenance of WWC information.
   
• Plan for status-change notifications, including escalation and immediate removal from child-related work where a person is no longer permitted to perform it.
   
• Brief applicants and renewing clearance holders about the mandatory training requirement and potential impact on commencement or renewal timing.
   
• Ensure WWC compliance remains part of a broader child-safe recruitment, supervision, conduct and complaints framework, rather than being treated as a stand-alone clearance exercise.