WICEN Vic: Working with Children Checks

Tue Jul 18 17:39:20 CDT 2017

Morning allŠŠ

I currently have one due to my photography & film work as occasionally I
find myself working with children, most likely when working for a Charity or
in the arts.  For example the opera we are filming tonight may have a child
performer.  My parents (Mother) had been in early childhood education all
their lives and in their later years owned a child care centre for nearly 20
years.  So I have always been aware of the potential issues when working
around children and having my WWC was more so a precautionary tick in the
box if challenged.  My wife who works for Swinburne University is now
required to have one for her employment and it will become a policy for
Swinburne that all further employees must have a WWC prior to being awarded
employment.

Cheers,

Mark
VK3FOTO
www.thehikingham.com
MB: 0409 500 414

From:  wicenvic <wicenvic-bounces at vic.wicen.org.au> on behalf of Timothy Mc
Bain - VK3MIT <vk3mit at gmail.com>
Date:  Tuesday, 18 July 2017 at 9:23 pm
To:  'Graeme Brown' <vk3bxg at gmail.com>, 'John Elliott' <jaellio at gmail.com>
Cc:  'WICEN EMail List' <wicenvic at vic.wicen.org.au>
Subject:  Re: WICEN Vic: Working with Children Checks

An interesting discussion.

I have a WWC card, as it is a requirement of my employment as a Coach
Driver. (At least the WWC fee is tax deductibleŠ.)

I have listed not only WICEN as an ³employer² or ³interested party², but
also all radio clubs that I belong to, amongst other groups. Most, if not
all of us would be members of a Radio Club, who, hopefully, have their fair
share of youth coming through the ranks, hence the WWC need. What are the
policies of those clubs that you belong to relating to WWC requirements?

The attitude I¹ve taken (both on a professional requirement level and on a
private level) is to include every single type of activity, no matter how
unlikely, that I may be involved with that may involve minors  camps,
sporting activities, transporting of, etc etc.

I understand the possible concern about ³big brother² or similar, but when
you have been issued Bus Industry policy documentation (that had to be
signed and returned) that warns against ANY contact with a child  including
such things as a ³high five², shaking hands, any form of comforting of a
child who may be upset or injured, and even just talking with a child (as it
may be considered ³grooming²) etc etc, one gets very cautious.

My closing comment is that no matter where you go, or what you do, someone
around you will have a camera (phone) and a photo of contact with a child no
matter how innocent and well-intentioned it may be, can be distributed
instantly.

Take care with this issue, and protect yourselves.

Tim.
VK3MIT

From: wicenvic [mailto:wicenvic-bounces at vic.wicen.org.au] On Behalf Of
Graeme Brown
Sent: Monday, 17 July 2017 7:00 PM
To: John Elliott <jaellio at gmail.com>
Cc: WICEN EMail List <wicenvic at vic.wicen.org.au>
Subject: Re: WICEN Vic: Working with Children Checks

Hi All,

As a WIA examination assessor I have a WWC Card and as a volunteer for the
WIA there is no cost and therefore there should be no cost for volunteers
for WICEN. (Hope I am correct).
There have been occasions during WICEN activities in the past when I have
either been alone with an audience of children wanting to help or teenagers
only assisting at check points; and I have no doubt other members have found
themselves in a similar situations. On all occasions I at have had my WWC
Card at the ready if questioned and felt justified as a WIA member to do so
in the name of "radio communications".

So it is now probably time that the WICEN committee comes up with a policy
to cover all members and non members assistants with regard to Working With
Children checks. Those with WWC cards  will only need to notify the
Department of Justice to add WICEN as an employer if a policy is adopted.

Graeme Brown

On Mon, Jul 17, 2017 at 12:31 PM, John Elliott <jaellio at gmail.com> wrote:
> 
> I have to agree with Mark's comments. If you require all WICEN members to have
> WWC checks/cards then the committee better get serious about it and formulate
> a clear plan.
> 
>  
> 
> A few years ago now, when I was membership officer WICEN attended an activity
> where fourteen (14) of the  WICEN operators/assistant operators  , were NOT
> WICEN members , but had filled out the appropriate  form as temporary members
> ??.   Now you (committee) have to consider that you will need  to confirm, in
> writing, that these temporary members (whatever that means) have WWC cards
> before you can let them participate in an activity under the WICEN banner....
> 
>  
> 
>  
> 
> 
> 
> Regards
> John Elliott
>  
> 
>  
> 
> On 17 July 2017 at 11:57, Mark Dods <madods at optusnet.com.au> wrote:
>> 
>> As a Scout Leader I have a current WWC card, so if WICEN decide to require
>> them, it would not inconvenience me.
>> 
>> I also see no harm in individual WICEN members applying for a WWC card or
>> including WICEN on their list of "employers".
>> 
>> However, I would be opposed to WICEN requiring WWC checks, partly because of
>> the administrative overhead for WICEN, but mainly because it is unnecessary
>> and represents bureaucratic "scope creep". The WWC is clearly not intended
>> for everyone who may come into contact with children. (Let's face it,
>> everyone comes into contact with children at some time.) The WWC website says
>> this prominently: "Not everyone who has contact with children needs a Working
>> with Children Check".
>> 
>> The WWC "Who needs a Check" page lists 6 criteria for "Child Related Work",
>> ALL of which must be met for a person to NEED a WWC check. Working for WICEN
>> does not meet the third of these in that none of the listed occupational
>> fields apply to us. "Clubs and Associations" comes close, but the details of
>> that occupational field are "Clubs, associations or movements of a cultural,
>> recreational or sporting nature" (My emphasis) which do not describe WICEN.
>> 
>> It is conceivable that a WICEN member may fail a WWC check, and while that
>> person may therefore not be someone I would esteem, I see no reason why they
>> should not be able to contribute to the community by serving as a WICEN
>> operator.
>> 
>> My 2c (inc GST).
>> 
>> Mark.
>> 
>> On 16/07/2017 9:09 PM, Tony Langdon wrote:
>>> 
>>> On 16/07/2017 5:17 PM, John and Bronwyn Morrissey wrote:
>>>> 
>>>>  
>>>> My view is that WICEN should encourage all members to have WWC, and my
>>>> understanding is that WICEN (as an incorporated volunteer organisation)
>>>> should be able to sponsor those wishing to gain WWC.
>>>>  
>>>> Personally, I have had WWC for many years and recommend all WICEN members
>>>> obtaining one too.
>>> For me personally, it's a non issue.  I already have a WWC, which I ned for
>>> both work and volunteer roles, so the only change would be adding WICEN to
>>> my list of places where I use it.  On an organisational level, I do see it
>>> as a good thing to require WWC for all members.  That's got to be a selling
>>> point for operating at any events where there's likely to be children.
>>> Having WWCs also means less risk of having to test those grey areas in
>>> court. 
>>> -- 
>>> 73 de Tony VK3JED/VK3IRL
>>> http://vkradio.com
>>>  
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> wicenvic mailing list
>>> wicenvic at vic.wicen.org.au
>>> http://vic.wicen.org.au/mailman/listinfo/wicenvic_vic.wicen.org.au
>>  
>> 
>> 
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>  
> 
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