Terms used

Current

(1)

In this Act —

Aboriginal child means a child who is a descendant of the Aboriginal people of Australia;

adult means a person who has reached 18 years of age;

another jurisdiction means a jurisdiction other than this State (including jurisdictions outside Australia);

approved means approved by the CEO;

authorised officer means an officer designated under section 53 for the purposes of this Act or for the purposes of the provision in which the term is used;

authorised person means —

(a)

a person or body exercising functions in the operation or administration of a relevant law; or

(b)

the NDIS Commission; or

(c)

a law enforcement agency of this State or another jurisdiction; or

(d)

a person or body prescribed by the regulations for the purposes of this definition;

CEO means the chief executive officer of the Department;

CEO (Justice) means the chief executive officer of the department of the Public Service principally assisting in the administration of the Sentence Administration Act 2003 Part 8;

charge means a non‑conviction charge or a pending charge;

child means a person who is under 18 years of age;

Class 1 offence — see section 6(1);

Class 2 offence — see section 6(2);

Class 3 offence means an offence (including an offence under a law of another jurisdiction) that is not a Class 1 offence or a Class 2 offence;

Commissioner of Police means the person holding or acting in the office of Commissioner of Police under the Police Act 1892;

contact includes any form of face‑to‑face or physical contact, and communication, whether oral, written or electronic;

conviction — see section 7;

corresponding law means a law of another State or a Territory that —

(a)

contains provisions that substantially correspond with the provisions of this Act; and

(b)

is prescribed by the regulations as a corresponding law for the purposes of this Act;

court means a court constituted in this State or another jurisdiction;

criminal record, in relation to a person, means —

(a)

every conviction of the person for an offence in this State or another jurisdiction; and

(b)

every charge made against the person for an offence in this State or another jurisdiction;

criminal record check means the procedures set out in section 33 to enable the CEO to determine whether a person has a criminal record and, if so, to obtain related information about the person;

criminal records agency means —

(a)

the Commissioner of Police; or

(b)

the Commissioner of the Australian Federal Police; or

(c)

the Commissioner (however designated) of the police force of another jurisdiction; or

(d)

a person or body that is —

(i)

established or constituted under the law of another jurisdiction; and

(ii)

prescribed by the regulations for the purposes of this definition;

Department means the department of the Public Service principally assisting the Minister in the administration of this Act;

designated person means a person who has —

(a)

applied for a clearance under this Act or a corresponding law; or

(b)

a clearance under this Act or a corresponding law; or

(c)

applied to cancel an NDIS worker check exclusion certificate under this Act or a corresponding law; or

(d)

applied for an internal review or external review under this Act or a corresponding law;

disqualified person — see section 8(1);

DPP means the Director of Public Prosecutions appointed under the Director of Public Prosecutions Act 1991 section 5 or a person or body exercising functions that substantially correspond to the functions of the Director of Public Prosecutions under the law of another jurisdiction;

engage includes to engage or act in any of the following capacities —

(a)

as a paid or unpaid employee;

(b)

as a self‑employed person or as a contractor or subcontractor;

(c)

as a volunteer;

exclusion means a decision on which an NDIS worker check exclusion certificate is issued;

family member, in relation to a child, means —

(a)

a parent, grandparent, brother, sister, uncle, aunt or cousin of the child, whether the relationship is established by, or traced through, consanguinity, marriage, a de facto relationship, a written law or a natural relationship; or

(b)

for an Aboriginal child — a person regarded under the customary law or tradition of the child’s community as the equivalent of a person mentioned in paragraph (a); or

(c)

for a Torres Strait Islander child — a person regarded under the customary law or tradition of the Torres Strait Islands as the equivalent of a person mentioned in paragraph (a); or

(d)

a person determined by the CEO to be in a relationship with the child that is similar to a relationship mentioned in paragraph (a);

government agency means —

(a)

a department of the Public Service; or

(b)

a government department established or constituted under a law of another jurisdiction; or

(c)

a body, whether incorporated or not, that is established, constituted or continued for a public purpose under a written law of this State or another jurisdiction and that, under the authority of a written law of this State or another jurisdiction, performs a statutory function on behalf of this State or a government of another jurisdiction;

harm includes but is not limited to any detrimental effect on a person’s physical, sexual, psychological, emotional or financial wellbeing;

health professional means a person who is —

(a)

a health practitioner registered under the Health Practitioner Regulation National Law (Western Australia); or

(b)

in a class of persons prescribed for the purposes of this definition;

interstate screening agency means a person or body exercising functions in the operation or administration of a corresponding law that substantially correspond to the functions of the CEO under this Act;

key personnel has the meaning given in the NDIS Act section 11A;

National Disability Insurance Scheme has the meaning given in the NDIS Act section 9;

NDIS Act means the National Disability Insurance Scheme Act 2013 (Commonwealth) and includes any regulations or rules under that Act;

NDIS Commission means the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission established under the NDIS Act section 181A;

NDIS employer means a person who engages a person to do NDIS work;

NDIS purpose —

(a)

means any purpose that is for, or connected with, the operation or administration of, or compliance with, a relevant law (insofar as may be relevant to the National Disability Insurance Scheme); and

(b)

includes any of the following purposes —

(i)

verifying the identity of a person who is, or who has at any time been, an applicant for, or the holder of, a clearance under this Act or a corresponding law;

(ii)

considering and deciding a person’s application for a clearance under this Act or a corresponding law;

(iii)

assessing and determining under this Act or a corresponding law whether a person poses a relevant risk of harm;

(iv)

assessing and determining whether a risk assessment of a person is required under this Act or a corresponding law;

(v)

ongoing monitoring of a person who holds a clearance under this Act or a corresponding law for the purpose of determining whether the person requires a risk assessment or poses a relevant risk of harm;

(vi)

considering and deciding a person’s application for the cancellation of an NDIS worker check exclusion certificate under this Act or a corresponding law;

(vii)

conducting an internal review or external review under this Act or a corresponding law;

NDIS work —

(a)

means work comprising, or connected with, the provision of supports or services to people with disability under the National Disability Insurance Scheme; and

(b)

includes work that —

(i)

is the subject of requirements under the NDIS Act for a person to have a clearance under this Act or a corresponding law in order to be allowed by a registered NDIS provider to engage in that work; or

(ii)

is undertaken in the exercise or performance by a person of a power or duty delegated to the person by the CEO under this Act; or

(iii)

the CEO is satisfied is work in respect of which it is otherwise necessary or convenient for a person to have a clearance to facilitate the person’s engagement in particular work;

but

(c)

does not include, if the regulations so provide, work that is carried out in circumstances, or by a person, prescribed by the regulations for the purposes of this definition;

NDIS worker check clearance or clearance means a clearance granted under section 15(1) or 28(7) or under a corresponding provision under a corresponding law (however a clearance may be described under the corresponding law);

NDIS worker check clearance certificate means a certificate issued on the granting of a clearance;

NDIS worker check exclusion certificate means a certificate issued under section 15(4) or 25(11) or (14) or under a corresponding provision under a corresponding law (however such a certificate may be described under the corresponding law);

non‑conviction charge means a charge for an offence that has been disposed of by a court otherwise than by way of a conviction, and has a meaning affected by subsection (5);

notifiable person, in relation to an applicant for a clearance or the holder of an NDIS worker check clearance certificate under this Act, means —

(a)

any person who proposes to engage, or who engages, the applicant or holder in NDIS work, as has been made known to the CEO under, or for the purposes of, this Act; or

(b)

any other person prescribed by the regulations for the purposes of this definition;

officer means a person employed in, or engaged by, the Department whether as a public service officer under the Public Sector Management Act 1994, under a contract for services, or otherwise;

pending charge means a charge for an offence that has not yet been disposed of by a court;

presumptively disqualified person — see section 8(2);

public authority means —

(a)

a department of the Public Service; or

(b)

a body, whether incorporated or not, that is established, constituted or continued for a public purpose under a written law and that, under the authority of a written law, performs a statutory function on behalf of this State; or

(c)

an entity established by or under the Health Practitioner Regulation National Law (Western Australia); or

(d)

any other entity prescribed by the regulations for the purposes of this definition;

relevant information, in relation to a person, means —

(a)

information relevant to verifying the identity of the person; or

(b)

information about the person disclosed in an application for a clearance, or for the cancellation of an NDIS worker check exclusion certificate, under this Act or a corresponding law; or

(c)

information relating to the person’s criminal record, and any other information relating to the person that is connected with, or otherwise related to, a conviction or charge mentioned in a criminal record; or

(d)

information about workplace misconduct by the person in this or another jurisdiction, being misconduct that concerns persons to whom a relevant risk of harm relates; or

(e)

information about any order imposed on the person by a court or tribunal relating to child protection, apprehended violence or domestic or family violence in this or another jurisdiction; or

(f)

information relevant to determining whether the person requires a risk assessment under this Act or a corresponding law; or

(g)

information about the person’s clearance history; or

(h)

information about any current or past engagement of the person by an NDIS employer in this State or another State or a Territory; or

(i)

other information relevant to determining whether the person poses a relevant risk of harm; or

(j)

information about —

(i)

the status of any application under this Act; or

(ii)

any process or step that is being taken, or has been taken, under a relevant law; or

(iii)

any certificate held, suspended or cancelled under this Act or a corresponding law; or

(iv)

any interim bar imposed under this Act or a corresponding law;

(k)

any other information prescribed by the regulations for the purposes of this definition;

relevant law means —

(a)

this Act; or

(b)

a corresponding law; or

(c)

the NDIS Act;

relevant risk of harm means risk of harm to people with whose protection a relevant law is concerned;

risk assessed role means —

(a)

a key personnel role of a person or an entity; or

(b)

a role for which the normal duties include the direct delivery of specified supports or specified services to a person with disability; or

(c)

a role for which the normal duties are likely to require more than incidental contact with a person with disability;

risk assessment has the meaning given in section 17(1);

Torres Strait Islander child means a child who is a descendant of the indigenous inhabitants of the Torres Strait Islands;

unacceptable risk means the risk described in section 17;

vulnerable person means an adult who is, or may be, unable to care for themselves, or unable to protect themselves from harm or exploitation, due to age, illness or disability.

(2)

For the purposes of this Act —

(a)

a self‑employed person who does NDIS work will be taken to be an NDIS employer who engages themselves to do that work; and

(b)

a person may do NDIS work as a volunteer in their own right and, in this case, the person is taken to be self‑employed as a volunteer.

(3)

For the purposes of the definition of relevant information in subsection (1), a person’s clearance history is the history of action taken under a relevant law in respect of —

(a)

an application for a clearance by the person, or a clearance granted to the person under this Act or a corresponding law, including any risk assessment, determination, imposition of an interim bar, refusal of an application, or suspension or cancellation of an NDIS worker check clearance certificate under this Act or a corresponding law; or

(b)

an application for the cancellation of an NDIS worker check exclusion certificate under this Act or a corresponding law.

(4)

For the purposes of the definition of risk assessed role in subsection (1), and without limiting what may constitute more than incidental contact, the normal duties of a role are likely to require more than incidental contact with a person with disability if those duties include —

(a)

physically touching a person with disability; or

(b)

building a rapport with a person with disability as an integral and ordinary part of the performance of those duties; or

(c)

having contact with multiple people with disability —

(i)

as part of the direct delivery of a specialist disability support or service; or

(ii)

in a specialist disability accommodation setting.

(5)

A reference in this Act to a non‑conviction charge includes a reference to an expunged conviction as defined in the Historical Homosexual Convictions Expungement Act 2018 section 3(1).

(6)

Subsection (5) applies despite anything in the Historical Homosexual Convictions Expungement Act 2018.

(7)

Except where the contrary intention appears, a term used in this Act that is defined in the NDIS Act has the same meaning in this Act as it has in that Act.

Regulations

This provision refers to the regulations (prescribed by the regulations, any regulations, the regulations). Made under this Act:

National Disability Insurance Scheme (Worker Screening) Regulations 2021

This Act’s bill:Explanatory memorandum Second reading speech

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5 Terms used