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Working with children checks —time to step back?
Author(s) -
Tilbury Clare
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
australian journal of social issues
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.417
H-Index - 30
eISSN - 1839-4655
pISSN - 0157-6321
DOI - 10.1002/j.1839-4655.2014.tb00301.x
Subject(s) - project commissioning , jurisdiction , equity (law) , work (physics) , balance (ability) , publishing , scheme (mathematics) , law , actuarial science , psychology , engineering , business , political science , mechanical engineering , neuroscience , mathematical analysis , mathematics
Screening the criminal history of people seeking to work or volunteer in child‐related organisations commenced in Australia in 2000, and since then ‘working with children check’ schemes have expanded, largely without question. Every jurisdiction now has a legislated or administrative scheme, routinely checking the criminal histories of thousands of people to determine if they pose a risk to children. But in any regulatory regime, questions of effectiveness and efficiency arise. The main features of working with children check schemes operating in Australia are examined in this paper. Problems related to effectiveness, equity, and costs are identified. A better balance is needed between routine criminal history checks and other mechanisms for identifying and monitoring the risks posed to children by people who work with them.