Worker Screening Act 2020

Despite section 77, a person may apply to the Regulator for a WWC clearance if the person has been given a WWC exclusion—

on a WWC category A application on the ground that the person is a person referred to in section 60(1)(d); or

under section 91(1) after the revocation of a WWC clearance following a WWC category A re-assessment on the ground that the circumstances that required the re-assessment are those referred to in section 82(1)(d).

A person may not apply to the Regulator under subsection (1) if—

the person has at any time been charged with or convicted or found guilty of a WWC category A offence; and

the person was an adult at the time of the commission or alleged commission of the offence.

For the purposes of subsection (2), if an offence occurred or is alleged to have occurred between 2 dates, one on which the person was a child and one on which the person was an adult, the offence is taken to have occurred when the person was an adult.

An application under subsection (1)—

must be made within 28 days after the day on which the decision to give the WWC exclusion is made; and

must be in writing and in a form approved by the Regulator; and

must be accompanied by any prescribed fee; and

may include any information that the applicant considers relevant.

The Regulator must not give a WWC clearance on an application under subsection (1) unless the Regulator is satisfied that giving the clearance would not pose an unjustifiable risk to the safety of children, having regard to—

the nature and gravity of the offence and its relevance to child-related work; and

the period of time since the applicant committed the offence; and

whether a finding of guilt or a conviction was recorded for the offence or a charge for the offence is still pending; and

the sentence imposed for the offence; and

the ages of the applicant and of any victim at the time the applicant committed the offence; and

whether or not the conduct that constituted the offence has been decriminalised since the applicant engaged in it; and

the applicant's behaviour since the applicant committed the offence; and

the likelihood of future threat to a child caused by the applicant; and

any information given by the applicant in, or in relation to, the application; and

any other matter that the Regulator considers relevant to the application.

For the purposes of subsection (7), to be satisfied that giving a WWC clearance would not pose an unjustifiable risk to the safety of children, the Regulator must be satisfied that—

a reasonable person would allow their child to have direct unsupervised contact with the applicant while the applicant was engaged in any type of child-related work; and

the applicant's engagement in any type of child-related work would not pose an unjustifiable risk to the safety of children.

If the Regulator is satisfied that giving a WWC clearance would not pose an unjustifiable risk to the safety of children, the Regulator may give the WWC clearance to the applicant if the Regulator is satisfied that, in all the circumstances, it is in the public interest to do so.