Check if you need WWVP registration before applying
A Working with Vulnerable People (WWVP) registration aims to reduce the risk of harm or neglect to vulnerable people. It is required for some paid and volunteer roles which involve working with children and people with disability.
Please check your employer or organisation requirements before applying.
Roles requiring WWVP registration
Not everyone needs a WWVP registration.
A WWVP registration is only required for certain roles and activities under the Working with Vulnerable People (Background Checking) Act 2011 (WWVP Act).
Before you apply or renew a WWVP registration, check with your employer or the organisation you are working or volunteering for whether it is legally required.
You need a WWVP registration if you have regular contact with children and vulnerable people in a work or volunteer setting. This includes:
- working or volunteering with children in areas such as:
- child protection services
- justice facilities for children
- child education or care services (including childcare, counselling and support services)
- child accommodation services
- child commercial services (including photography, gyms, entertainment or talent competitions)
- working or volunteering with vulnerable people, including in:
- mental health services
- migrants, refugees, asylum seekers services
- services for people who have difficulty communicating in English
- services for homeless people
- public housing and accommodation support for people suffering financial hardship
- justice facilities
- crime prevention and victim support services
- addiction services
- community services
- disability services
- respite care services
- emergency services
- providing a service accessed by children or vulnerable people, for example:
- transportation
- coaching and tuition
- vocational and educational training
- religious activities
Please see the Working with Vulnerable People (Background Checking) Act 2011 (WWVP Act) for a full list of services and exemptions.
Exemptions to WWVP registration requirements
You may not need a WWVP registration if:
- you have incidental (rather than regular) contact with children and vulnerable people in your work or volunteer role, no more than three days in any four-week period and no more than 7 days in any 12-month period
- you are under 16 years old
- you hold certain professional registrations and you only work in a regulated activity in your professional capacity (e.g., as a police officer, health practitioner registered with AHPRA, lawyer, a financial services licensee)
- you hold a Working with Children Check from another state or territory, and you engage in a regulated activity for no more than 28 days in any 12-month period
- you are a close relative of the vulnerable person taking part in the regulated activity and all other vulnerable persons are expected to be accompanied by their relatives
- you are a high school or secondary college student on a work experience placement or doing a practical training course
- you work for a Commonwealth or Territory government agency whose only contact with vulnerable people is providing services at a public counter/shopfront or by telephone
- you meet any other exemption criteria listed in Section 12(2) of the WWVP Act.