The Hon Michelle Rowland MP
Attorney-General
The Hon Tony Burke MP
Minister for Home Affairs
Minister for Immigration and Citizenship
Minister for Cyber Security
Minister for the Arts
Leader of the House
The Hon Katrine Hildyard MP
Minister for Human Services in South Australia
Joint media release
The Albanese Government’s National Continuous Checking Capability (NCCC) is entering the next stage of its rollout, connecting with South Australia’s Department of Human Services on Monday.
Once fully operational, this system will provide continuous, near real-time monitoring of national changes to criminal history information on Working with Children Check (WWCC) holders, helping keep our children and young people safe.
This means if a WWCC holder in one state or territory commits an offence in another jurisdiction, that information will be made available nationally in near real time, allowing states and territories to determine whether the WWCC needs to be reassessed.
National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) worker screening units will also be able to use the near real-time information provided by the NCCC to make decisions about NDIS worker screening check holders.
Backed by a $37 million Commonwealth investment, the NCCC pilot already has access to information about Commonwealth and ACT offences after it became available to states and territories for onboarding in December last year.
With South Australia’s Department of Human Services beginning to receive information from the NCCC pilot on Monday, the focus will turn to ensuring the remaining state and territory agencies onboard as quickly as practicable, with police forces also expected to join in 2027.
Progress on the NCCC pilot forms an important part of this Government’s reforms to strengthen WWCC schemes under the Standing Council of Attorneys-General (SCAG) Agreement and follows all states and territories having passed legislation by August, giving effect to ‘banned in one, banned in all’. That means if someone is denied a WWCC in one jurisdiction they are denied a WWCC in all jurisdictions.
This work 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.