Parents/carers have opportunities to participate in a myriad of school activities. These may include working as a volunteer in the classroom, attending school excursions, coaching or supervising a sports team or attending as a volunteer at a school sports carnival. Parents/carers must have a POLICE CHECK to participate in these activities. Below is further information about some changes to the Police Check process.
Changes to Volunteer Police Checks
The Catholic Church in SA has recently foreshadowed changes to some of the arrangements relating to police checks for volunteers. These changes are consistent with moves across South Australia to align the volunteer police checking process more closely with recommendations arising from the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse.
While the Catholic Archdiocese of Adelaide’s Police Check Unit (PCU) will still manage the police check process, some of the changes include:
- Sourcing a Working With Children Check through the SA Government’s Department for Families and Social Inclusion (DCSI);
- A streamlined and simpler application process;
- The opportunity for volunteers to volunteer on 7 occasions per year without the requirement for a police check (where the volunteering does not include excursions or overnight stays);
- No requirement for children under 18 years of age to hold a check;
- The provision of a convenient wallet-sized clearance card as distinct from a clearance letter
As our school undertakes these new procedures and processes, it is possible that we may invite you to renew your current check, prior to its usual expiry date, under the current arrangements. If this is the case we will contact you. In the meantime if you have any questions with regards to police checks as a volunteer please contact either Maureen or Ali on 8345 4036.
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