If anyone in your Victorian business works with kids, your obligations changed on Monday 19 October 2026.
Until now, the Working with Children Check was mostly the worker’s job. They applied, they carried the card, and they told the regulator where they worked. That’s flipped. The legal job of telling the regulator who is doing child-related work for you, and when they start and stop, now sits with you.
There is no business-size threshold. Sole traders are in. Labour-hire agencies are in. If you engage someone in child-related work in Victoria, this applies to you.
Here’s what changed, what you need to do this week, and what can wait a few weeks.
What Actually Changed on 19 October 2026?
Three things, and all of them land on the employer.
A new online service called WWC Connect. Organisations must now use it to notify the Social Services Regulator (SSR) when someone starts or stops child-related work for them, and when their details change. It runs through Service Victoria.
Record keeping is now a legal requirement. You must keep evidence that you verified each person, plus their details and engagement dates, for at least seven years. Failing to do so is an offence.
Mandatory online child safety training. Anyone applying for a new clearance, renewing one, or switching from a volunteer to an employee clearance must now complete the training before their application can be finalised. Details are on the mandatory child safety training page.
You’ll also notice the language shifting from “WWC Check” to “WWC Clearance”. Same thing, new name.
Who Does This Apply To?
Anyone who engages a person to do child-related work. That’s work in certain services, places or activities that usually involves direct contact with children. It doesn’t include occasional contact that’s just incidental to the job, and it applies whether or not the contact is supervised. The government’s definition of child-related work is worth a quick read if you are not sure.
“Worker” is broad. It covers full-time, part-time and casual employees, volunteers, contractors, sub-contractors, students on placement, apprentices and trainees, drivers, and committee members of unincorporated associations.
Some people are exempt from holding a clearance, such as people under 18, parents volunteering in their own child’s activity, and VIT-registered teachers who are teaching. If you rely on an exemption, you still need to keep evidence of it.
What Do You Need to Do Before Someone Starts?
The government sums it up in four steps: Check, Connect, Record, Maintain. Here’s what each one means in real life.
1. Check Before You Engage
Use the WWC status checker to confirm the person can do child-related work. Do this even if they hand you their card. Sighting a card is no longer enough.
Timing is the trap here. You must verify before whichever comes first: their first day of child-related work, or the day you reach an agreement with them to do it. That agreement can be verbal. So in practice, check before you make the offer, not on day one.
When you run the check, enter your email to get a copy of the result. That copy is your evidence.
2. Connect Within the Deadline
Once you engage them, connect them to your business through WWC Connect:
- Paid workers: within 7 days of engagement
- Volunteers: within 21 days of engagement
The clock starts on the engagement date. If you agree terms before they start, that earlier date counts. You don’t need to connect someone just because they’ve applied for a job.
Watch your casuals. If a casual is engaged for irregular one-off stints with no pattern, each stint can count as a new engagement. And if you re-engage someone you’ve previously disconnected, you must check and connect them again.
3. Record Everything for Seven Years
For every person you engage in child-related work, keep:
- their name, address, email and phone number
- evidence you verified them before engaging them
- the date they started and stopped child-related work
- any changes to their name or contact details
Keep these for at least seven years after the engagement ends. You can download what you enter in WWC Connect, but the verification evidence is on you. Store it somewhere you can actually find it in 2033.
4. Maintain the Record
Update WWC Connect within 7 days (or 21 for volunteers) when someone stops doing child-related work for you, or when their details or your business details change. Workers cannot update their own record. That job is yours.
When someone leaves, record their end date. Don’t delete them. The regulator wants the history kept. For ongoing volunteers with no end date, the regulator expects you to check in with them once a year about whether they’re continuing.
Do You Need to Add Your Existing Staff?
Not straight away. The connect requirement applies to people engaged on or after 19 October 2026. But the regulator strongly encourages connecting your existing team, and we agree.
Here’s why. You only get notified if someone’s clearance is suspended, revoked or expires if they’re connected to you. If they aren’t, you won’t hear about it, and engaging someone without a current clearance is still an offence. There’s a bulk upload option using a CSV template, so this doesn’t have to be a week of data entry.
Also note: if an existing worker changes their details or stops child-related work, the regulator says you must update WWC Connect. That’s much easier if they’re already in there.
How Will the New Training Affect Hiring?
Candidates who need a new clearance, and existing staff renewing theirs, now have an extra step before their application can be finalised. Sector bodies are reporting the training takes around 45 minutes. Not huge, but it adds friction, and friction adds delays.
Tell candidates early in the process so they can get started. Clearances run for five years, so check when your team’s renewals are due and give people a heads-up before the deadline sneaks up on them.
What’s the Real Risk If You Get This Wrong?
Engaging someone in child-related work when you know, or are reckless about whether, they don’t hold a current clearance can mean up to two years’ imprisonment or a fine of up to $50,184 for an individual. For a company, the maximum fine is $250,920.
Failing to notify the regulator through WWC Connect is an offence. Failing to keep the required records carries fines of $1,045.50 for an individual and $2,091 for a company.
The regulator has said it will take a reasonable and proportionate approach to enforcement while businesses get set up. Treat that as breathing room, not a free pass. “We didn’t get around to it” won’t land well if something goes wrong with a child in your care.
Can Someone Else Manage WWC Connect for You?
Yes. You can add delegates so the right people in your business can connect and update workers. You can also give another organisation, such as your HR provider, authority to make notifications on your behalf. You’ll still need to set up your own Service Victoria business profile first.
Our tip: make sure clearance status alerts go to someone who can act on them the same day. If a clearance is suspended, that person must stop child-related work immediately.
Your To-Do List
Urgent: Do This Week
- Set up your Service Victoria business profile and WWC Connect access. Name an owner and a backup.
- Connect anyone you engaged on or after 19 October. If you agreed terms with someone on Monday 19 October, their 7-day deadline is Monday 26 October.
- Update your Victorian recruitment and onboarding checklists with four steps: check before engagement, connect within the deadline, keep evidence for seven years, and update or end-date records when things change.
- Brief your hiring managers. Verification now happens before the offer, and the new training may slow down new applications and renewals.
Next Few Weeks
- Bulk upload your existing child-related workforce.
- Set up a records folder for verification evidence that will survive staff turnover and a system change.
- Update your offboarding checklist so WWC Connect is updated within 7 days (21 for volunteers).
- Update your privacy collection notices. You need to tell workers their information is being shared with the Department of Government Services and the SSR.
- Diarise clearance renewals and annual volunteer check-ins.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need to connect job applicants in WWC Connect?
No. You only connect someone once you engage them. That said, you need to verify them before you reach an agreement, so check before the offer goes out.
Do casual staff and contractors need to be connected?
Yes. Employment type doesn’t change the requirement. Casuals, contractors, sub-contractors and students on placement who do child-related work all need to be verified and connected.
A worker showed me their WWC card. Do I still need to check?
Yes. You still need to verify their current status using the WWC status checker and keep a copy of the result.
How long do I need to keep WWC records?
At least seven years after the person stops doing child-related work for you.
Who is responsible for labour-hire workers?
The agency. The labour-hire agency verifies, connects and keeps records for workers it places with you. If you’re the host business, ask your agency to confirm they’re doing it.
What if I can’t notify within the deadline?
Contact the Social Services Regulator before the deadline passes. For technical issues with the portal, contact Service Victoria on 132 842.
Do I need to connect a worker who is already connected to another organisation?
Yes. Every organisation that engages them must connect them, so each one is notified if their clearance status changes.
Need a Hand Getting This Sorted?
If you’re an HR Gurus client, talk to your allocated HR Guru (account manager). We’ll help you update your recruitment, onboarding and offboarding checklists, sort out a record-keeping setup that will actually hold up, and cut through the BS on what applies to your business.
Not a client yet? Get in touch with HR Gurus and we’ll help you get compliant without drowning in red tape.
Sources
- Victorian Government: Working with Children (WWC) Connect
- Victorian Government: Mandatory child safety training for WWC Clearance holders
- Victorian Government: Who requires a Working with Children Check?
This article is general information only, current as at 20 October 2026, and is not legal advice. Penalty amounts are for the 2026/27 financial year. Speak to us about your specific situation.