BABA BELIEVES IN THE SAFETY OF OUR KIDSWWC ARE NOW COMPULSORY

In 2025 and beyond, BABA are now required to keep a Working With Children (WWC) Register for their committee, officials, Blazers representative program coaches & managers. Clubs are responsible for keeping a WWC Register for their Domestic Coaches & Managers.

When To Apply For A WWC Check

A person who requires a WWC Check should apply when they are about to start, or are continuing in, ‘child-related work’. This includes children under the age of 18 engaging in ‘paid‘ ‘child-related work‘.

Our Association falls into category 12 – A Club, Association or Movement.

Some examples of roles considered to be in child-related work are listed below. Please note that in all cases, for a role to be considered to be in child-related work, the usual duties of that role must involve, or be likely to involve, contact with a child.

Roles include:

• Volunteers and employees of a club, association or movement who have contact or are likely to have contact with children as part of their usual duties including coaches, trainers, leaders, team managers and officials
• Sports trainers (often paid on a casual basis) attached to a team, club or association for first aid purposes and who have contact with children if they are injured
• Canteen staff at a club or association who have contact with children as part of their usual duties
• Ambulance volunteers who the club or association pay to help with first aid services.

The following exemptions apply to this category:

• Child volunteers under 18 years of age
• Unpaid students on placement under 18 years of age
• Short-term visitors to Western Australia (WA)
• A parent volunteering at the same club, association, or movement at which their child is involved, or ordinarily involved

What Is The Parent Volunteer Exemption? 

Western Australia considers that voluntary work done by parents to support their children should not be regulated by legislation. Many parents give up their time to volunteer in organisations with their children like sporting clubs, schools, and churches and may be exempt from a Working with Children (WWC) Check under the Working with Children (Screening) Act 2004 (the Act).

If a person is exempt from a WWC Check, they are ineligible to apply under the Act and the WWC Screening Unit actively monitor that parent volunteers aren’t applying for a WWC Check when they shouldn’t be.

To safeguard children in these situations there are other child safety strategies which are more workable and effective.  Please note, the parent volunteer exemption only applies where the child of the parent is under 18 years of age.

Who is ineligible to access the parent volunteer exemption? A person with a current Interim Negative Notice or Negative Notice is banned from accessing the parent volunteer exemption.

Fees

Current fees for a WWC Check are:

• $87.00 – for employees and self-employed people
• $11.00 – for volunteers, unpaid people, students on unpaid placement and for a replacement card.

The $11 Fee will apply for BABA applicants – Our Officials including Coaches, Managers, Referees & Court Coordinators are not considered employees or self-employed, they are considered volunteers or unpaid people under WWC guidelines.

Application Forms

WWC Check Application Forms are currently provided in hardcopy format and are available from authorised Australia Post outlets.

BABA have pre-filled WWC application forms available for BABA Officials only. Please visit GLC or NCC during their opening hours to collect a pre-filled & signed application for a Working with Children Check.

If you are a domestic coach or manager and require a WWC, please contact your Club directly or visit their website for further information.

Lodge An Application Form

When lodging a WWC Check application form at an authorised Australia Post outlet the person must present certain documents to prove their identity, so the correct criminal record information is obtained. The person will need to provide:

• a completed and signed WWC Check Application Form
• the required fee
• 100 points of identification.

A list of current identification documents accepted for WWC Checks can be found in the Sample WWC Check Application Form (PDF, 1.01MB). If the required 100 points of identification cannot be met, please refer to the alternate lodgement process.

Online Renewal Eligibility

A person is eligible to renew their WWC Card online if:

• Their current WWC Card has not yet expired
• They are continuing to engage in child-related work
• Their previous two renewals were not lodged online
• They are not changing their name, date of birth, gender or WWC Card photo.