Convicted sex offender coaching kids in NSW without Working with Children Check

A Sydney man convicted of sexual offences was operating as a tennis coach alongside kids for almost two years without holding a valid Working with Children Check (WWCC).

A Sydney man convicted of sexual offences was operating as a tennis coach alongside kids for almost two years without holding a valid Working with Children Check.

A Sydney man convicted of sexual offences was operating as a tennis coach alongside kids for almost two years without holding a valid Working with Children Check (WWCC).

The shocking details about the 48-year-old man’s behaviour were heard at the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal (NCAT) on Tuesday, after he appealed a decision to reject his application.

A WWCC is mandatory for any adult in child-related work, paid or unpaid, in NSW.

If an application is rejected by the Office of Children’s Guardian (OCG), the person can appeal the decision at NCAT.

Tribunal documents state the man was convicted of sexually touching a female international student in November 2020, who was his employee at a cafe in Sydney’s CBD, and sentenced to a community corrections order for 18 months.

The tribunal heard that a second complaint was made by another female employee at the time, who was also an international student, alleging similar behaviour.

No charges were laid due to the woman returning to her home country.

It was revealed during Tuesday’s hearing that before the man applied for a WWCC, he had “several years’ experience as a tennis coach, including working with children from July 2022 to March 2024 without any allegations being made against him”.

It wasn’t until August last year that the man applied for a WWCC; his application was denied by the OCG days later as he was considered a “disqualified person”.

The man worked as a tennis coach for 18 months despite not holding a valid WWCC.

The man provided references to the tribunal including two employers who employed him as a tennis coach, but they only referred to his work as a coach and not his convictions.

The tribunal heard that the man was also recently granted Australian citizenship and had to undergo “additional vetting” due to his conviction.

In his application to the tribunal, the man said the conviction imposed “significant penalties” because it affected his ability to work as a tennis coach and “volunteer on school camps or excursions”.

In NCAT’s findings it said the man was a potential risk to young underage women and stated the tribunal that the “applicant does not pose a risk to the safety of children”.

“This does not preclude the applicant from making another application in the future.”

An OCG spokesman said the authority welcomed NCAT’s decision to uphold its refusal.

“While we cannot comment on criminal matters that may be underway, we can confirm that it is an offence for an adult to engage in child-related work, paid or unpaid, in NSW without a WWCC clearance or application.”

It comes after The Daily Telegraph revealed earlier this month that kids’ sport spectators were being roped into last-minute volunteering without holding WWCC, in what whistleblowers claimed was putting kids at “serious risk”.

Sheree Buchanan, head of abuse law at Law Partners, said: “This shows a person with such convictions has not only been able to appeal a WWCC refusal but has been actively coaching children and interacting with clientele.”

ACU’s Institute of Child Protection Studies director Professor Daryl Higgins said: “The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse confirmed there needed to be a nationally consistent approach with WWCC and it’s shameful that in the eight years since the handing down of the final report that this has not progressed.”

Danielle De Paoli, special counsel and head of Maurice Blackburn’s NSW abuse law practice, said the NCAT WWCC appeals process exposed a “loophole”, which required urgent action to be taken by the government.

Originally published as Convicted sex offender coaching kids in NSW without Working with Children Check