Working with Children & NDIS Worker Checks

Working with Children Check & NDIS Worker Clearance Lawyers in South Australia

In South Australia, the Department of Human Services Screening Unit administers both the Working with Children Check under the Child Safety (Prohibited Persons) Act 2016 (SA) and the NDIS Worker Check under the Disability Inclusion Act 2018 (SA) and the Commonwealth NDIS worker screening framework.

A decision to refuse, suspend, revoke, or issue a prohibition or exclusion notice can be reviewed by the South Australian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (SACAT), but in most cases the application must be filed within 14 days of receiving a notice.

If you have received a notice, you do not have weeks to think about it.

Stanley & Co Lawyers acts for workers across South Australia in Screening Unit reviews, prohibition and exclusion challenges, and the work consequences that follow.

Who we act for

Educators, support workers, sports coaches, religious workers and volunteers facing refusal, revocation or prohibition under a Working with Children Check
Disability support workers, allied health professionals, NDIS provider staff and key personnel facing exclusion, suspension or cancellation of an NDIS Worker Check clearance
Sole traders and self-employed providers
Workers who hold both a Working with Children Check and an NDIS Worker Check and are facing concurrent or sequential decisions
Workers who have been told a referral has been made to the Screening Unit, and who need advice before any further information is provided

Received a prohibition or exclusion notice? You may have only 14 days to act. Call Stanley & Co Lawyers on 08 7001 6135 to speak to a lawyer today.

Helpful Questions & Answers

Question

Answer

What we do

Working with Children Check matters under the Child Safety (Prohibited Persons) Act 2016 (SA):

Advising before submissions are made to the Screening Unit during the assessment process
Drafting submissions in response to a proposed adverse decision
SACAT applications for review of a prohibition notice (14-day time limit)
Applications for revocation of a prohibition notice on the basis of fresh and compelling assessable information
Advising on assessable information that has been notified to the Screening Unit by an employer, court or other agency
Advising on the maximum $50,000 penalty for failing to notify the Screening Unit of relevant changes, such as criminal charges (in particular child sex offences), name changes, intervention orders, child protection matters and disciplinary findings

NDIS Worker Check matters:

Submissions in response to a proposed exclusion notice before it is finalised
SACAT review of exclusion notices, suspensions and cancellations under the Disability Inclusion Act 2018 (SA) (14-day time limit)
Advice on the national NDIS Worker Screening Database, including the consequences of a South Australian decision for work in other states and territories
Liaison with employers, registered providers and the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission where required
Advice on when a suspension can be reviewed

Cross-regulator and concurrent matters:

Where the same conduct is being assessed by AHPRA, the Teachers Registration Board, the Department for Education, the police or an employer, managing the interaction between processes so that material disclosed in one does not prejudice you in another
Where a criminal charge or finding is the trigger for the screening decision, running your criminal defence and the screening response together

Our approach

Screening Unit decisions are not bound by the rules of evidence, and the Unit may inform itself as it thinks fit. That cuts both ways.

The applicant's response needs to do real work. It must squarely address the assessable information, put it in context with evidence the Unit can actually rely on, and engage with the prescribed risk assessment criteria the Unit is required to apply.

In SACAT, the Tribunal stands in the shoes of the original decision-maker and reviews the matter on its merits. That is a meaningful right, but it requires rigorous preparation, including fresh material, properly tendered evidence, lay and expert witnesses where appropriate, and persuasive advocacy.

Why Stanley & Co

These matters are technical, time-sensitive and career-defining.

Workers often discover the decision through their employer, who has an immediate obligation to remove them from child-related or risk-assessed work.

We move quickly:

urgent advice within 24 hours of engagement
application drafting started straight away, and
clear advice on what work you can and cannot do during the review.

Stanley & Co is a South Australian law firm with nearly 150 years of combined practising experience, much of it in criminal and regulatory matters. Many screening decisions turn on a criminal charge or finding, and we deal with both sides of that together.

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