Working with Children Check SA: Fees, Validity and Spent Convictions

South Australia's Working with Children Check costs $145 for a standard applicant, $73.50 for tertiary students, and is free for volunteers, foster carers and secondary students on work experience. It is valid for 5 years, administered by the DHS Screening Unit under the Child Safety (Prohibited Persons) Act 2016.

These fees come from a live government page that does not carry an explicit financial-year label. Treat them as current at the time of writing rather than as a confirmed figure for a specific financial year, and check the responsible body for its own fee page before relying on an amount.

This article addresses the Working with Children Check as it applies in South Australia. It does not address the schemes operating in other Australian states and territories; see the background checks hub for the full comparison.

What the SA WWCC Covers

South Australia's Working with Children Check is a screening requirement administered by the DHS Screening Unit under the Child Safety (Prohibited Persons) Act 2016, covering people in prescribed positions involving contact with children, whether paid or voluntary. It draws on an expanded dataset beyond an ordinary criminal history check, including non-conviction information such as sentencing remarks and apprehension reports, consistent with the broader-dataset approach used across all eight Australian working with children schemes. A person unsure whether a specific role counts as prescribed employment should check the DHS Screening Unit's own guidance directly.

Cost and Validity

South Australia's Working with Children Check costs $145 for a standard applicant. Tertiary students pay a reduced $73.50. The check is free for volunteers, foster carers and secondary students on work experience. Once finalised, a SA WWCC is valid for 5 years from the date of finalisation, after which it must be renewed to continue in prescribed employment or volunteer roles covered by the Act.

Penalty for Working Without a Valid Check

Section 16(1) of the Child Safety (Prohibited Persons) Act 2016 sets a tiered maximum penalty for prescribed employment without a valid check: $20,000 for a first or second offence, rising to $50,000 or 1 year's imprisonment for a third or subsequent offence. Section 18 imposes a separate obligation on employers to verify a worker's check status at least every 5 years, with its own $50,000 maximum penalty for failing to do so.

South Australia's Own, Lower Spent-Convictions Threshold

South Australia's Spent Convictions Act 2009 sets a threshold materially different from, and lower than, the Commonwealth's 30-month rule. Under section 3, an "eligible adult offence" is one where any sentence of imprisonment imposed was 12 months or less, and an "eligible juvenile offence" is one where the sentence was 24 months or less. A sentence beyond either figure falls outside the eligible category and cannot become spent under the Act at all. South Australia's own government guidance states this directly: some convictions are never spent, including sex offences and sentences of more than 12 months for an adult or 24 months for a juvenile. Where an offence is eligible, a further qualification period must also pass, five years for a juvenile offence and ten years for an adult offence, before it becomes spent. Writing "sentences over 30 months can never be spent" as if it applied to South Australia is wrong; SA's threshold is 12 or 24 months, not 30.

Spent Convictions and WWCC Screening in SA

South Australia's own guidance is explicit that spent convictions do not simply disappear from every kind of check. Its Spent Convictions Act 2009 carves out an exception, in Schedule 1, for checks involving the care of children or vulnerable people, and SA's published guidance confirms the practical effect: spent convictions "can be included for checks of people working or volunteering with children, people with disability, vulnerable people, or in the aged care sector." A person with a spent conviction relevant to child safety should not assume it will be invisible to a WWCC application in South Australia.

Portability: A SA Check Only Works in South Australia

A South Australian Working with Children Check is not recognised in another state or territory. A person taking up child-related work interstate needs to apply under that jurisdiction's own scheme, whether that is NSW's or Victoria's Working with Children Check, Queensland's Blue Card, or one of the other schemes covered on the Working with Children Check across Australia page. National reform toward mutual recognition of negative notices is underway following a November 2025 intergovernmental agreement, but that is narrower than portability of a positive clearance, and no jurisdiction, including South Australia, has implemented full portability as at the date this article was verified.

Employer Obligations and Continuous Monitoring

Beyond the five-yearly verification duty in section 18, an employer engaging someone in prescribed employment should not treat a WWCC as a one-time check to be filed away. South Australia's DHS Screening Unit continuously monitors current check holders against new police and disciplinary information, so a check can be reviewed before its five-year term ends if relevant new information arises. Separately, criminal record is treated as sensitive information under the Commonwealth Privacy Act, meaning any employer collecting or verifying a WWCC result needs the individual's consent and a genuine link between the collection and the role, consistent with the framework described on criminal record and employment rights in Australia.

How the SA WWCC Differs From a Standard Police Check

A South Australian Working with Children Check is a different product from an ordinary national police check, not simply the same check under a different name. It assesses an applicant against the expanded dataset described above and results in a clearance decision specific to prescribed employment, rather than a plain record of convictions for an organisation to interpret on its own. A person who already holds a clean national police check should not assume it satisfies a WWCC requirement in South Australia; the two are assessed under different legislation for different purposes. See national police checks in Australia for how the general check works.

This article provides general legal information about the Working with Children Check in South Australia, verified 21 July 2026. It does not assess whether a specific applicant's record would affect their own application. For advice on your situation, consult a legal practitioner admitted in the relevant Australian state or territory.

Related reading: the background checks hub, the Working with Children Check across Australia, spent convictions in Australia, and criminal record and employment rights in Australia.

Frequently Asked Questions

How much does a Working with Children Check cost in South Australia?

$145 for a standard applicant, $73.50 for tertiary students, and free for volunteers, foster carers and secondary students on work experience.

How long is a South Australian WWCC valid for?

Five years from the date the application is finalised.

What is the penalty for prescribed employment without a valid check in SA?

A tiered maximum: $20,000 for a first or second offence, rising to $50,000 or 1 year's imprisonment for a third or subsequent offence.

What is South Australia's never-spent threshold for convictions?

12 months for an adult sentence and 24 months for a juvenile sentence, materially lower than the Commonwealth's 30-month threshold. Sex offences are never spent regardless of sentence length.

Will a spent conviction show up on a South Australian WWCC application?

It can. SA's own guidance confirms spent convictions can still be included in checks for people working or volunteering with children, people with disability, vulnerable people or in aged care.