Under the Albanese Government’s leadership, critical ‘banned in one, banned in all’ legislation is now in place across all states and territories.
This means if a person is rejected from holding a Working with Children Check (WWCC) in one jurisdiction, they are rejected in all – banned in one, banned in all.
This important milestone follows the passage of Western Australia’s Working with Children (Screening) Amendment Act 2025, joining all other states and territories in mutual recognition of negative WWCC notices.
All governments are continuing to work together to deliver on the priority actions set out under the Standing Council of Attorneys-General Agreement to Deliver National Working with Children Check Reform , established in November 2025. This includes recent agreement on a national baseline of serious offences, minimum national standards for WWCC risk assessment processes, and the types of information to be shared with state and territory WWCC screening units.
Strengthening WWCC regimes forms part of the Government’s broader efforts to prevent harm and abuse, including through the development of a Second Action Plan under the National Strategy to Prevent and Respond to Child Sexual Abuse 2021-2030.
