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CLAUSE NOTES
Registration to Work with Vulnerable People Amendment Bill 2015
Clause 1: provides the short title for the Act
Clause 2: the Act will commence on the Royal Assent except Part 3 which
commences on 1 April 2016.
Clause 3: a reference to the Principal Act is a reference to the Registration
to Work with Vulnerable People Act 2013.
Clause 4: inserts section 2A of the Principal Act in relation to the Object
of the Act to protect vulnerable persons from the risk of harm.
Clause 5: amends section 3 of the Principal Act to insert the definitions of
‘criminal intelligence information’, ‘Register’, ‘reportable
behaviour’, ‘reporting body’ and to substitute new definitions for
‘registration’ and ‘regulated activity’.
Clause 6: amends section 6 by removing the need for a person to register
simply because they deal with a vulnerable person’s record or
make a decision about a vulnerable person. This change
addresses recommendations 6 and 24 of the Working with
Children Checks Report issued by the Royal Commission into
Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse (the Royal
Commission).
Clause 7: inserts section 7A of the Principal Act in relation to the Ministers
power to introduce an interim regulated activity.
inserts section 7B of the Principal Act in relation to establishing
that the paramount consideration of the Act is the safety,
welfare and protection of vulnerable persons.
Clause 8: inserts sections 11A and 11B of the Principal Act in relation to
identifying the functions and powers of the Registrar and the role
of establishing and maintaining a register.
Clause 9: amends section 18 of the Principal Act in relation to removing
some applicants ability to commence work in a regulated activity
while an application is being assessed. This change allows the
Registrar to use information contained in the Register to
establish that a person poses a possible risk of harm to
vulnerable people - For instance, if a person has had their
application rejected in another state or territory. This change
addresses aspects of recommendation 3 of the Working with
Children Checks Report issued by the Royal Commission.
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Clause 10: inserts section 18A of the Principal Act in relation to providing
for ‘special circumstances’ where a person may be entitled to
commence work in a regulated activity without complying with
the conditions of section 18. The first regulation of this type is
made under Part 4 where it is proposed that a person should be
permitted to commence as a carer appointed under the Children,
Young Persons and Their Families Act 1997 despite the fact that
they may not yet have applied for Registration to Work with
Vulnerable People. Other similar regulations are expected to be
made in future where it is deemed in the interests of protecting
vulnerable people from the risk of harm.
Clause 11: amends section 20 of the Principal Act in relation to requiring a
person to advise the class of their involvement in regulated
activities (Volunteer or Employment). This information affects
later changes to ensure the subsidised volunteer fee is not
affected by people applying for this class rather than the
employment class.
Clause 12: amends section 22 of the Principal Act in relation to providing
that the Registrar may request information be supplied within 15
working days. This change will speed up some assessments and
will reduce the risk of harm to vulnerable people that comes
from having no timeline for supplying information (Note:
applicants can commence work once they have applied, so
delaying supplying critical information to the Registrar can impact
on risk.)
Clause 13: repeals section 23 of the Principal Act but is replaced by the
new Part 6A.
Clause 14: amends section 26 of the Principal Act in relation to risk
assessment. This change provides for the amendment to section
28 (below).
Clause 15: amends section 28 of the Principal Act in relation to establishing
the types of information that can be taken into consideration in
assessing the risk of harm a person poses to vulnerable people.
This information includes criminal history, non-convictions
information, criminal intelligence and interstate working with
children assessments. This change addresses aspects of
recommendations 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 32 and 33 of the Working
with Children Checks Report issued by the Royal Commission.
Clause 16: repeals section 29 of the Principal Act but is replaced by Part 6A.
Clause 17: amends section 30 of the Principal Act in relation to ensuring
that information supplied by organisations such as Tasmania
Police (or interstate counterparts) is not provided to an applicant
in reasons for a negative notice if that information could
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prejudice enforcement of the law, a fair trial or adjudication, or
disclose the existence of a confidential source etc. The changes
are similar to existing provisions in the Security and Investigations
Agents Act 2002.
Clause 18: amends section 31 of the Principal Act in relation to establishing
a reasonable time period for a person who has received a
proposed negative assessment to request reconsideration. A
person has 20 working days to prepare their written response to
a proposed negative risk assessment and may request a further
20 working days extension.
Clause 19: amends section 32 of the Principal Act to provide a similar
outcome to the amendment of section 30 (above).
Clause 20: amends section 33 of the Principal Act in relation to what the
Registrar must do when an applicant advises the class of their
involvement in regulated activities (Volunteer or Employment).
This information affects later changes to ensure the subsidised
volunteer fee is not affected by people applying for this class
rather than the employment class.
Clause 21: amends section 37 of the Principal Act (similar to the
amendment of section 31) by providing a reasonable time period
for a person that has been provided proposed conditional
registration. A person has 20 working days to prepare their
written response to a proposed conditional registration and may
request a further 20 working days extension.
Clause 22: inserts section 41A of the Principal Act in relation to providing
registrants with the ability to amend registration from volunteer
registration to both volunteer and employment registration.
Clause 23: amends section 42 of the Principal Act in relation to including
the class of registration on the registration card.
Clause 24: amends section 43 of the Principal Act in relation to removing
the need for people requesting a replacement card to provide
written reasons for their request for a new card. This change
reduces red tape.
Clause 25: repeals section 45 of the Principal Act but is replaced by the
new Part 6A.
Clause 26: substitutes section 48 of the Principal Act in relation to advising
the Registrar of certain details. Previously there was no
requirement for the registrant to advise of a new employer or
volunteer body. This would have meant that if registration was
suspended or cancelled the Registrar could not advise employers
or volunteer bodies. This change reduces the risk of harm to
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vulnerable people by providing the means for quick action by the
Registrar and Employers/Volunteer bodies if new information
results in a negative risk assessment.
The changes also provide for advice about a change of address
to be supplied through Service Tasmania’s - Client Update
Service (CUS). This change reduces red tape by not requiring an
applicant to communicate the change separately. By using the
CUS a person can notify multiple agencies of their change of
address in a one stop shop approach.
Clause 27: inserts section 49A of the Principal Act in relation to immediate
suspension in certain circumstances. This new section provides
the Registrar the ability to move quickly to suspend registration
and to stop a person from engaging in a regulated activity if there
is sufficient grounds for determining a person registration should
be suspended. This change addresses one of the risks of
allowing a person to commence work or volunteer before
registration is fully assessed. This change addresses aspects of
recommendation 25 of the Working with Children Checks Report
issued by the Royal Commission. This recommendation is that
people be permitted to commence in a regulated activity while
an application is assessed. This is a reasonable outcome so long
as the risks associated are adequately addressed.
Clause 28: amends section 50 of the Principal Act in relation to ensuring
that information supplied by organisations such as Tasmania
Police (or interstate counterparts) is not provided to an applicant
in reasons for a notice of proposed suspension or cancellation of
registration if that information could prejudice enforcement of
the law, a fair trial or adjudication, or disclose the existence of a
confidential source etc. The changes are similar to existing
provisions in the Security and Investigations Agents Act 2002.
Clause 29: amends section 51 of the Principal Act in relation to ensuring
that information supplied by organisations such as Tasmania
Police (or interstate counterparts) is not provided to an applicant
in reasons for a notice of proposed suspension or cancellation of
registration if that information could prejudice enforcement of
the law, a fair trial or adjudication, or disclose the existence of a
confidential source etc. The changes are similar to existing
provisions in the Security and Investigations Agents Act 2002.
Clause 30: amends section 52 of the Principal Act in relation to removing
the need for a person to explain why their card was lost or
destroyed. This change reduces red tape.
Clause 31: inserts PART 6A of the Principal Act in relation to the Registrar’s
powers regarding compliance with and administration of the Act.
The new part replaces sections 23, 29 and 45.
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This change implements recommendations 32 and 33 of the
Working with Children Checks Report issued by the Royal
Commission. These recommendations are that the all State and
Territory Governments should grant screening agencies the
statutory power to monitor compliance with Working with
Children Checks laws. This includes powers to compel the
production of relevant information for the purposes of
compliance monitoring.
Clause 32: amends section 53 of the Principal Act in relation to ensuring
that information supplied by organisations such as Tasmania
Police (or interstate counterparts) is not disclosed through the
reasons for decision following a review by the Magistrates Court
(Administrative Appeals Disision) The changes are similar to
existing provisions in the Security and Investigations Agents Act
2002.
Clause 33: inserts PART 7A of the Principal Act in relation to reportable
behaviour.
Inserts section 53A of the Principal Act that provides for
reporting bodies to advise the Registrar where a person has
engaged in reportable behaviour. The description of reportable
behaviour will change depending on the information source and
will be prescribed in regulations. As a broad description
reportable behaviour is information that indicates a person poses
a risk of harm to vulnerable people. The information could be
Tasmania Police holdings or it could be information such as
information about disciplinary action against a teacher, child care
worker, aged care worker or disability services worker along with
relevant information from a Child Protection investigation.
This change implements recommendations 19 (c) of the Working
with Children Checks Report issued by the Royal Commission.
Clause 34: inserts sections 54A, 54B and 54C in Part 8 of the Principal Act.
Section 54A has been moved from section 23 which has been
repealed.
Section 54B provides for the sharing of Negative Notice
information with other State and Territory registering authorities
for Working with Children Checks laws. This change protects
vulnerable people from the risk of harm by ensuring all
registering authorities have access to interstate decisions and the
information assessed in making those decisions.
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This change prepares for the implementation of
recommendations 3 (a) of the Working with Children Checks
Report issued by the Royal Commission.
Section 54C provides Employers and Volunteer bodies with the
ability to advise the Registrar if they engage a person in a
regulate activity. One of the major national challenges for
registering authorities is ensuring they have the details of the
bodies that engage people in regulated activities in order to
advise these bodies if registration is suspended or cancelled.
However, under this approach the bodies that engage a person
in regulated activities will be published and accessible by any
organisation that has been provided with a person’s unique
registration number (and surname). If an employer or volunteer
body notices their organisation is not listed when they check the
online facility– they can add their details. Applicants are then
advised that an organisation has advised that they engage the
person in a regulated activity. If the registrant advises they are
not engaged by an employer or volunteer body registration is
amended and the employer is advised that their details have not
been added. The employer must then make a decision about
whether they wish to continue to engage the person in the
regulated activity (because they will not be advised if registration
is suspended or cancelled). This change reduces red tape as
other approaches would require the Registrar to write to the
applicant, wait for the applicant to change the details and
possibly follow such actions later.
This change reduces the risk of harm to vulnerable people by
ensuring that if a person’s registration is suspended or cancelled
bodies engaging the person can be quickly advised of the
outcome so they can make decisions about the role the person
performs (if any) in future.
Where 99% of applicants are likely to accept the change this
approach removes needless red tape.
Clause 35: amends section 60 of the Principal Act in relation to the
regulations providing for matters relating to the Register and its
maintenance and details concerning the notification by a
reporting body of information about reportable behaviour.
Clause 36: replaces section 51 of the Principal Act in relation to savings and
transitional provisions concerning the changes to class of
registration. In effect a person that previously held employee
registration will now hold employee/volunteer registration.
Because the screening process is identical for both classes it is
deemed appropriate to provide both forms of registration so
that a person holding the class of registration can be employed
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and volunteer without making any further changes. This change
reduces red tape by not requiring a person to change their
registration details.
Clause 37: a reference to the Principal Act is a reference to the Registration
to Work with Vulnerable People Act 2013.
Clause 38: amends section 15 of the Principal Act in relation to providing
clearer direction to people about the period a person can
engage in a regulated activity without registration.
The amendment of subsections (3)(b) and (c) removes the need
for a person to register if they work in a child related activity for
3 days in a 4 week period. The requirement is simplified by
requiring registration where a person expects to work in a
regulated activity greater than 7 days per calendar year.
This change implements recommendations 14 (iii) of the Working
with Children Checks Report issued by the Royal Commission.
The insertion of subsection 3(d) provides that a non-Australian
resident can be engaged in a regulated activity (other than an
overnight camp for children) for one continuous 28 day period
in any 12 month period. There must be a registered person
present and engaged in the regulated activity. This amendment
provides for overseas guests to participate in major national
events.
The omission of subsections (iv) and (v) remove the exemptions
for Registered Health Practitioners and Lawyers. In effect this
means that a Registered Health Practitioner or Australian Lawyer
engaged in a regulated activity for greater than 7 days in a
calendar year must register.
This change partially implements recommendations 14 (b) of the
Working with Children Checks Report issued by the Royal
Commission. Remaining exemptions will be reviewed in line
with any National agenda flowing from the Royal Commissions
report.
Clause 39: inserts section 16A of the Principal Act which establishes an
offence for a person who is registered in the class of volunteer
that has been engaged for financial or other material benefit or
reward (these people should hold employee/volunteer
registration).
Clause 40: inserts section 17A of the Principal Act which establishes an
offence for an employer who engages a person or requires a
person to be engaged in a regulated activity if that person holds
the registration class of volunteer but the engagement will result
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in the person receiving financial or other material benefit or
reward (these people should hold employee/volunteer
registration.
There is a defence if the registered person applies to amend
their registration before or on the day they commence. The
Department is developing the ability to make this change online.
This facility will be available when the section commences on 1
April 2016.
Clause 41: a reference to the Principal Regulations is a reference to the
Registration to Work with Vulnerable People Regulations 2014.
Clause 42: inserts PART 2A of the Principal Regulations which provides for
the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services
to appoint carers under the Children, Young Persons and Their
Families Act 1997 despite the person having not currently
applied for registration to work with vulnerable people.
Clause 43: is a standard clause to ensure the above regulations can be
amended or repealed in future.
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