Aged Care Checks

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Which Plan Do I Need ?

Disability & Aged Care Worker Jobs Plan

A one stop shop for your credentials for Aged Care Check

• • All checks and credentials in one portal for support work
  • Easy to share securely between supporters and employers
  • From simple police check to full sharing of all qualifications , checks and insurances

 Support Worker Jobs Plan includes:

 

(1) Relevant Criminal History Checks

• Australian National Police Check
  
• International or New Zealand Police Check where required

(2) VEVO (VISA Right to Work Check) where required

(3) Support Worker Plan includes facility for:

• Upload and Monitoring of your WWCC or NDIS Worker Screening Check (or equivalent) if required
  

 

From the  Worker Checks Support Worker Portal you are able to:

      - Print or e-share your checks and profile

      - Add your checks and qualifications to your profile

      - Add your Insurance Certificate of Currency

 
Receive email alerts for renewals and prior to checks being removed from the Worker Checks system*

 
*In accordance with Commonwealth Privacy Act and ACIC guidelines, Worker Checks are only able to store your Police Check information for 12 months from the date of application.

Screening requirements for the aged care workforce

 

If you want to work in a paid or volunteer aged care role, you must undergo a screening process for your Aged Care Check. The clearance protects the safety and wellbeing of people accessing aged care.

About Aged Care Checks

The screening check looks into a person’s criminal and work misconduct history to make sure they are suitable for work in an aged care setting. 

Types of screening for Aged Care Checks

 

There are currently 2 screening options for the aged care checks, depending on your role and whether your employer is also a registered National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) provider.

Police check and certificate

A police check is the process of checking a person has a criminal history. A police certificate is a report of a person’s criminal history. 

The 2 terms are interchangeable in aged care.

NDIS Worker Screening Check

NDIS Worker Screening Checks are recognised in aged care. They check your:

• national criminal history
• relevant reportable incidents
• relevant disciplinary proceedings or complaints.

You must have this check if you work or want to work in:

• a risk-assessed role with people with disability
• an aged care setting that supports NDIS participants.

Aged Care Checks – Screening requirements

Current screening requirements to work in aged care vary depending on: 

• your role
• the aged care provider you work for.
•  

If your employer is an NDIS-registered aged care provider:

 

Role	Screening Requirement
New or ongoing aged care staff who will work with NDIS participants	NDIS Worker Screening Check
New or ongoing aged care staff who will not work with NDIS participants	Nationally Coordinated Criminal History Check

 

If your employer is not an NDIS-registered aged care provider:

Role	Screening requirement
New or ongoing aged care staff member who will not work with NDIS participants	Nationally Coordinated Criminal History Check
New or ongoing aged care staff member who previously worked with NDIS participants	Nationally Coordinated Criminal History Check   Aged care providers recognise valid NDIS Worker Screening Checks.

 

Solution for Aged Care Checks

Worker Checks Support Worker Plans a one stop shop for your credentials for Aged Care Workforce screening checks.

 

Support Worker Jobs Plan includes:

 (1) Relevant Criminal History Checks

• Australian National Police Check
• International or New Zealand Police Check where required

(2) VEVO (VISA Right to Work Check) where required

(3) Support Worker Plan includes facility for:

• Upload and Monitoring of your WWCC and NDIS Worker Screening Check (or equivalent) if required

 

From the Worker Checks Support Worker Portal you are able to:

      - Print or e-share your checks and profile

      - Add your checks and qualifications to your profile

      - Add your Insurance Certificate of Currency

 
Receive email alerts for renewals and prior to checks being removed from the Worker Checks system*

 
*In accordance with Commonwealth Privacy Act and ACIC guidelines, Worker Checks are only able to store your Police Check information for 12 months from the date of application.

Learn more on Support Worker Plans here >

 

 

 

 

Resources 

For more information, see:

• Aged Care Worker Screening Guidelines
• Information for aged care workers 
• Information for aged care providers that are registered NDIS providers
• Information for aged care providers that are not registered NDIS providers
• Aged Care Code of Conduct.

 

 

Aged Care Legislation Guidance

Worker Checks is the  leading provider if you require a Aged Care police check and all aged care checks for your employment or organisation’s risk management.

The Aged sector, by nature, involves staff working with individuals who are extremely vulnerable. It is an industry that touches most members of our community in some way and it is little wonder that it is under constant scrutiny when it comes to the integrity of the individuals placed in positions of trust in aged care environments.

In 2007, the Department of Health implemented police check requirements for Commonwealth funded aged care organisations (“Approved Providers”). Police Certificate Guidelines were developed to assist organisations and were updated in July 2019. These guidelines are “intended to complement robust recruitment practices and are part of an approved provider’s responsibility to ensure all staff and volunteers are suitable to provide care to the aged”.

This article looks at what these requirements are and options for aged care providers to ensure full and ongoing compliance.

What legislation outlines the requirements for Disability & Aged Care Police Check for organisations?

Requirements are detailed in the Commonwealth Government’s Aged Care Act 1997 (“the Act”) which is supported by 22 Aged Care Principles that outline what is required by the Act.  Several of these principles cover aspects such as police checks, record-keeping, ensuring compliance and community visitors.

What is the basic requirement?

Approved Providers must ensure that a Nationally Coordinated Criminal History Check has been undertaken for relevant individuals. Results of the police check must be obtained in the format of a certificate or report and detail:

• The individual’s full name and date of birth;
• The date of issue; and
• A reference number or similar.

The Police Check Guidelines specify that it is “best practice” to have a  Nationally Coordinated Criminal History Check undertaken for the purpose of working in aged care.

Who must police checks be undertaken for?

Police Checks must be undertaken for individuals who are:

• Staff members over the age of 16 and likely to have either supervised or unsupervised access to care recipients; or
• Volunteers with unsupervised access to care recipients who are over the age of 16 (except where they are a full-time student, then over the age of 18).

Individuals contracted through agencies that provide staff may be considered staff members by the Act. The agency and the Approved Provider should have a contract in place that states that all individuals put forward under this arrangement have current police certificates that do not preclude them from working in aged care.

When should a Police Check for Disability and Aged Care   be undertaken?

The  Nationally Coordinated Criminal History Check should ideally be undertaken prior to an individual commencing work, although there are allowances made for exceptional circumstances. In these cases, the circumstance must relate to essential care being provided, an application for the police check needs to be made prior to the date of commencement and the individual is required to be supervised during this time.

In these instances where a police check has been applied for (but not yet completed) for a new staff member or volunteer, a statutory declaration is required stating that the individual has not been convicted of a precluding offence. A template for such a statutory declaration is provided in the Police Check Guidelines.

Police checks are required to be renewed every year for all relevant individuals. Approved Providers must also put in place “reasonable measures” to ensure that individuals notify them if they are convicted of a precluding offence within that period.

Does this only cover Australian criminal records?

Yes, a Nationally Coordinated Criminal History Check will only cover offences where the candidate has been convicted in Australian states and territories.

All staff or volunteers who have been a citizen or permanent resident of a country other than Australia when over the age of 16 are required to sign a statutory declaration stating that they have not been convicted of a precluding offence.

Best practice is to have all staff or volunteers who have resided outside of Australia in the previous 10 years have an International Police Check conducted for:

• each country they have resided in for a period >3 months
• for each country i the previous 10 years

Disability Police Check – what records need to be kept?

Approved providers must ensure their records demonstrate that they hold:

• a police certificate not more than 12 months old for all relevant individuals;
• proof that an application has been made for a police check for new staff or volunteers;
• an International Police Check for each country resided in for a period >3 months within the past 10 years
  
• a statutory declaration for relevant individuals for exceptions to the above.
  

Where police check certificates or reports are held by the individuals themselves or agencies, the Approved Provider needs to sight the original or true certified copy and the information and associated reference number should be kept on record. Worker Checks free business solution is the best solution to assist with your workforce compliance.

All records must be kept in accordance with the Privacy Act 1988 (Commonwealth) and should include a register of staff and volunteer police check information, including police certificate reference numbers and expiry dates.

Which offences preclude employment in aged care?

The Act specifies that an individual is unable to be employed or to volunteer in an aged care if they have:

• A conviction for murder or sexual assault; or
• A conviction of (and sentence to imprisonment for) any other form of assault.

All individuals with such offences should not be employed or accepted as an unsupervised volunteer. If a current staff member or volunteer is convicted of a precluding offence, it is the responsibility of the Approved Provider to ensure the individual does not continue in this role.

What about other offences included in an Aged Care Police Check?

The Police Check Guidelines recommend that any convictions highlighted by police checks that do not specifically preclude the individual from aged care should be assessed on a case-by-case basis. An approved provider’s decision regarding the employment of a person with any recorded convictions must be rigorous, defensible and transparent. Aspects to consider are listed as including:

• the individual’s access to care recipients and level of supervision;
• relevance of the conviction to the role;
• whether preclusion from employment is proportionate to the type of conviction;
• how long ago the conviction occurred;
• employment history since (and any references);
• the individual’s attitude to the offence;
• any patterns;
• the likelihood and consequence of an incident occurring; and
• treatment strategies that could be implemented.

The Police Check Guidelines provide further information regarding discrimination on the basis of criminal record.

Is there a specific Aged Care Police Check?

If your employer is an NDIS-registered aged care provider:

 

Role	Screening Requirement
New or ongoing aged care staff who will work with NDIS participants	NDIS Worker Screening Check
New or ongoing aged care staff who will not work with NDIS participants	Nationally Coordinated Criminal History Check

 

If your employer is not an NDIS-registered aged care provider:

Role	Screening requirement
New or ongoing aged care staff member who will not work with NDIS participants	Nationally Coordinated Criminal History Check
New or ongoing aged care staff member who previously worked with NDIS participants	Nationally Coordinated Criminal History Check   Aged care providers recognise valid NDIS Worker Screening Checks.

 

 

Are aged care organisations audited?

Compliance with police check requirements is monitored by the Aged Care Standards and Accreditation Agency and Approved Providers need to have procedures in place to demonstrate that they are meeting these requirements by recording and monitoring their individual requirements.

 

How can Worker Checks assist with Disability & Aged Care Police Check requirements?

Worker Checks undertakes many police checks for Approved Providers to assist organisations to comply with the Aged Care Act 1997.

Worker Checks offer the following:

• Full accreditation by ACIC;
• Support Worker Plans fr the disability & aged care workforce screening
  
• Police Certificate templates that comply with the Act’s specific requirements;
• Secure Online portal for individual’s to store and print their certificates, or share them electronically from within their online portal.
• A flexible system whereby either organisations or individuals themselves can request police checks;
• Typically results are presented within the hour. Cases where a possible name match is identified that requires additional research by the relevant state police authority can take up to 10 working days);
• Online system to facilitate 24/7 ordering and the retrieval of police check certificates;
• Employer or User Pay options
• Annual re-screen alert feature, where ongoing compliance is ensured by Worker Checks notifying our clients when an individual’s police check is due to be renewed annually.

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