Working with Children Check changes in Victoria: Your guide to WWC Connect

If you hire staff or volunteers for child-related work in Victoria, things change on Monday 19 October 2026. WWC Connect is now live, and checking someone's Working with Children (WWC) Clearance is no longer a one-off box you tick at hiring.

The good news? The new system is run by the Victorian Government, and the most useful part of it (being told when someone's clearance status changes) comes built in. Here's what's changed, who it affects, and what you actually need to do.

The short version for anyone hiring in Victoria:

• Before the offer: verify the candidate's WWC Clearance on the government's WWC status checker, and keep the evidence.
• Once they accept: connect them in WWC Connect within 7 days (21 for volunteers). The clock can start when they sign, not on day one.
• When they leave or their details change: update WWC Connect. In return, the government alerts you if a connected person's clearance changes.

What is WWC Connect, and what changed on 19 October?

WWC Connect is a new online service, accessed through Service Victoria, where organisations and sole traders record the people they’ve engaged to do child-related work. Recording someone is called “connecting” them.

Connecting is now a legal requirement. It tells the Social Services Regulator (SSR) who is working or volunteering with children on your behalf, so it can alert you if a connected person’s clearance is suspended, revoked, expires or they’re excluded.

Mandatory child safety training also started on 19 October. Anyone applying for or renewing a WWC Check must complete a 45-minute online module first. The worker does this, not the employer, but it’s worth flagging to candidates who need a new check.

Knowingly or recklessly engaging someone without a current clearance carries serious penalties, including fines of up to $250,920 for organisations. For timeframes, record-keeping and what counts as child-related work, see the SSR’s WWC Connect page.

Why is Victoria changing the Working with Children Check?

The changes are in response to the 2025 Rapid Child Safety Review, commissioned after Victoria Police began investigating alleged offending by a childcare worker. Police say he worked at 23 centres across Melbourne between 2017 and 2025, and that he held a valid Working with Children Check at the time. A clearance reflects what's known when it's issued, which is why employers need to hear when that changes.

The case showed how one person can move between many services without each of them knowing when something changes. WWC Connect closes that gap: the regulator can see where clearance holders are working, so every connected employer can be alerted at once. It brings Victoria into line with NSW and Queensland, which already work this way.

Who needs to use WWC Connect?

If you engage anyone to do child-related work in Victoria, this applies to you. That's work that usually involves direct contact with children, supervised or not. Incidental contact doesn't count.

"Engage" is broad. It covers permanent, part-time and casual employees, volunteers, contractors and sub-contractors, students on placement, apprentices and trainees. There's no minimum hours threshold, and short-term engagements still count. Here are a few specifics worth knowing:

• Sole traders carry the same obligations as organisations when they engage someone else.
• Labour hire agencies verify and connect the workers they list. Host businesses don't connect agency staff.
• Head offices verify and connect workers even when they work day-to-day at a branch or subsidiary, and pass status changes on to that site.
• Shared workers must be connected by every organisation that engages them.
• Early childhood services still need WWC Connect, on top of their National Early Childhood Worker Register obligations. VIT-registered teachers engaged to teach are the main exception.

Do you need to keep re-checking WWC status?

Once you connect someone in WWC Connect, the government notifies you by email, and in the portal, if their clearance is suspended, revoked, expires or they’re excluded.

Connecting existing staff and volunteers isn’t mandatory, as the requirement only applies to people you engage from 19 October onwards. However, the SSR strongly encourages it, because you’ll only get alerts for people you’ve connected.

If you’re told you need a paid service that re-checks your team’s WWC status daily or weekly to stay compliant, that’s not what the rules require.

How does WWC Connect work with Checkmate?

Checkmate verifies a candidate's WWC Clearance against Victorian Government records during screening, alongside ID verification and a liveness check, so you know it's current before the offer goes out. From there, you connect them in WWC Connect and the government's portal handles status alerts.

For the full detail, read the Social Services Regulator's WWC Connect FAQs, which are updated regularly.

Sources

• Working with Children (WWC) Connect FAQ, Social Services Regulator, updated 14 October 2026
• Changes to the Working with Children Check, vic.gov.au, updated 7 October 2026
• WWC status checker, Service Victoria
• Investigation of alleged incidents in childcare centres, vic.gov.au, updated 1 July 2026
• Role of an employer with the Working with Children Check, NSW Office of the Children's Guardian, updated 7 July 2026