Safety checking for child protection in early learning

Safety checking is required under the Children’s Act 2014 and the Education and Training Act 2020.

Children’s Act 2014 – New Zealand Legislation

Schedule 4 of the Education and Training Act 2020 – New Zealand Legislation

Consequences of not safety checking

It is an offence to employ or engage a person as a children's worker without completing a full safety check before they start work. It is also an offence to not re-check children’s workers every 3 years.

For non-compliance with safety checking, we may either reclassify your licence as provisional or suspend your licence. If compliance is not achieved by the date we set, we may cancel your licence.

For serious non-compliance with safety checking, we may consider referring to the Police for criminal investigation. This may lead to a criminal prosecution and a fine of up to $10,000 per person not safety checked.

Definition of a children's worker

All children's workers must be safety checked before they can start work at your early learning service. They must be re-checked every 3 years. Nearly everyone working in your early learning service is considered a children’s worker.

This includes:

all service providers, service owners, managers, head teachers and persons responsible
all teachers, including relief teachers (independent or from an agency)
all other staff who have regular contact with children
all coordinators and educators in home-based services
all students working in your service as part of their educational or vocational training, including school students
staff employed by other organisations who work at your service such as early intervention teachers.

Children's Act guide

The guide explains the requirements your early learning service must meet under the Children's Act 2014.

This includes guidance for safety checking requirements at playgroups and Playcentres.

Children's Act 2014 guide | This resource will be updated to reflect recent changes to agency roles and responsibilities. In the meantime, much of the information and guidance it contains remains relevant and may still be a useful source of information. Where there is any inconsistency, users should rely on current legislation and official guidance published by the relevant agency.

Definitions in Children's Act 2014 Download PDF

Licensing and certification criteria requirements

Services must have a written procedure for safety checks, maintain a record of the safety checks they have completed and the results. You can find out more about the requirements for each service type below:

Important

Police vetting

Police vetting is part of the safety check process.
Police vetting for early learning services

You must do a risk assessment after a Police vet for non-children’s workers who will have unsupervised access to children.
Risk assessments after a Police vet for early learning services

Keep a record of safety checks

You must have a record of all safety checks on adults and the results.

You must show us your procedures and any safety check records, if we ask for these.

You must also show any safety check records to other agencies if requested. This is permitted under the Children's Act.

Children's Act 2014: Powers of entry and inspection – New Zealand Legislation

Children's Act 2014: Requirement to provide information – New Zealand Legislation

Safety checks by a third party

If you use a third party to safety check your children's workers, you are responsible for confirming these are completed and that a person does not pose a risk to children.

The licensing criteria has guidance on what to do when another organisation does safety checking on your behalf.

Approved safety check service

To avoid any conflicts of interests, owners or operators of early learning services must use a third party to complete their own safety checks and checks of any person who is related or closely connected.

We have approved CV Check NZ to do safety checks on children's workers.

You can choose to use this service, or another service that meets the appropriate standards.

Children's worker safety check – CVCheck NZ

You will need to pay to use a screening service.

You must not use a safety check completed by a children's worker's previous employer.

Workforce restriction and core worker exemption

You must not engage or employ a person with a specified offence in a core children's worker role unless they have a core worker exemption.