Private tutors operating in NSW without Working with Children Checks

Leading experts have described the private tutoring industry as ‘highly unregulated’, saying some tutors are operating without a valid Working With Children Check.

Leading experts have warned about private tutors operating without valid Working with Children Checks. File picture: iStock

Leading experts have warned about private tutors, labelling the industry as “highly unregulated” with some operating without valid Working With Children Checks (WWCC).

It comes as education sources have raised serious concerns about WWCC in NSW, saying “major loopholes” exist where some teachers have been found to be working closely with children despite being investigated.

They say that even if an educator has been stood down from a school they can still hold a valid WWCC for the duration of the investigation – sometimes up to a year – while undertaking tutoring and volunteer roles at sports clubs.

It prompted calls from Australia’s peak tutoring body and leading experts to call for strengthened WWCC measures, including changing the current five-year expiry window to an annual or two-year renewal.

They say that the current WWCC card is a “historical document”, and while employers and parents do have the powers to verify a check, a shorter expiry date would prevent those being investigated from slipping through the cracks and harming children.

One source familiar with WWCC in educational settings said he was aware of reports being made about a teacher’s conduct at an independent school in Sydney’s west after they were “aggressive” and “verbally abusive” towards a student.

It’s believed the student was left “shaken” by the ordeal and was now being homeschooled.

Some tutors are operating without valid Working with Children Checks. File picture: iStock

“The school investigated the issue internally but failed to report the conduct to the Office of Children’s Guardian (OCG),” the source said.

“The teacher went on to work as a school tutor and this meant that no red flags were raised about their conduct, meaning they could maintain their WWCC for another two years.”

Another source said: “When a teacher is under investigation there is a major loophole that can occur if a complaint is unproven.”

The Telegraph last week revealed that a male classroom teacher who allegedly sexually assaulted another educator in front of a student was granted an NDIS Worker Check despite being the subject of an active investigation by the Department of Education into his conduct.

Families and Communities Minister Kate Washington said the government was working on ways to strengthen the WWCC system.

“But keeping children safe is everyone’s business, so the system relies on employers complying with their clear legal obligations to ensure their workers have the necessary and current clearances,” she said.

Meanwhile, hundreds of school tutors based in NSW have been found to advertise their services on social media and classifieds websites, with some failing to mention that they hold a WWCC.

The OCG sounded the alarm on private tutors earlier this year, saying its WWCC team found tutors working for families despite their clearance being barred.

An OCG spokeswoman said it was an offence for tutoring agencies to engage tutors in child-related work without a WWCC clearance.

It is also an offence for a tutor to work in the sector without a WWCC clearance.

Australian Tutoring Association chief executive Mohan Dhall said he was aware of “dozens of incidents” where tutors were failing to hold valid or expired WWCC, labelling the sector as “highly unregulated”.

“Parents usually rely on a tutor to show them a physical WWCC card that has a five-year expiry date,” he said.

“It’s an historical document, so if a parent doesn’t check the validity of it then it places a real risk to child safety.”

Australian Tutoring Association chief executive Mohan Dhall says the industry is ‘highly unregulated’. Picture: Brett Costello

Mr Dhall, who is also a lecturer in education at the University of Technology Sydney, has also called for tutors to undertake vocational training prior to working in the field.

He said there was also a “strong need” for a national tutoring register that would work the same way as a teachers’ register that could also list an educator’s WWCC details.

Sheree Buchanan, head of abuse law at Law Partners, said: “Being trusted to work with children who are our most vulnerable members in our community requires hefty regulation.

“While I understand that WWCC is currently valid for five years in NSW and supposed to be closely monitored, I would support annual renewals of WWCC to further protect children from predators,” she said.

Psychologist and director of ACU’s Institute of Child Protection Studies Professor Daryl Higgins said he supported a standardised system such as a national register that would include private tutors as well as teachers, but emphasised the need for strengthened education around child safety.

An OCG spokeswoman said: “The NSW WWCC includes a point-in-time records check, but goes beyond that with continuous record checking, and was the first in Australia to do so.

“By law, organisations included in the NSW Reportable Conduct Scheme must notify the OCG of reportable allegations and reportable convictions against their employees,” she said.

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Originally published as Private tutors operating in NSW without Working with Children Checks