Working With Children Check Requirements for Tutoring Companies (Every Australian State)
What Working With Children Check do tutors need in each Australian state?
Every Australian state and territory runs its own working-with-children screening scheme — different name, different cost, different renewal period — and a paid tutor (including an ABN contractor) needs the paid/employee tier, not the free volunteer tier, in every one of them. The table below lists each state’s scheme name and current settings; confirm the exact fee against that state’s own portal before you rely on it, since most states adjust fees each financial year on 1 July.
| State/Territory | Scheme name | Paid/employee tier required for tutors | Typical validity | Current fee |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Victoria | Working with Children Check — Employee card | Yes (not Volunteer card) | 5 years | Employee card ~$131.60 (2026 FY rate — reconfirm each 1 July) |
| NSW | Working with Children Check (WWCC) | Yes (paid worker category) | 5 years | ~$112 for paid workers (reconfirm each 1 July) |
| Queensland | Blue Card (Blue Card Services) | Yes | 3 years | ~$100 (reconfirm each 1 July) |
| Western Australia | Working with Children (WWC) Check | Yes | 3 years | Check the current fee at the state’s own WWC Check portal before applying |
| South Australia | Working with Children Check (WWCC) | Yes | 5 years | Check the current fee at the state’s own screening portal before applying |
| Tasmania | Working With Vulnerable People (WWVP) registration | Yes | 3 years | Check the current fee at the state’s own WWVP portal before applying |
| ACT | Working With Vulnerable People (WWVP) registration | Yes | 5 years | Check the current fee at the state’s own WWVP portal before applying |
| Northern Territory | Ochre Card | Yes | 2 years | Check the current fee at the state’s own Ochre Card portal before applying |
Two things every state’s scheme has in common, which matter more than the fee: a paid tutor never qualifies for the free/volunteer tier, and an ABN contractor is still a “paid worker” for WWCC purposes — being a contractor rather than an employee does not remove or reduce the obligation. If you’re deciding how to classify your tutors at all, see contractor vs employee for Australian tutoring companies — but know that decision has zero effect on this one.
Why the contractor/employee question doesn’t change anything here
New operators frequently assume that because a tutor is “just a contractor,” the WWCC requirement is somehow lighter, or that a Volunteer card is close enough. It isn’t. The check is tied to whether the person is working with children in a paid capacity, not to their employment classification. An ABN contractor invoicing you for tutoring hours is being paid to work with children — full stop. They need the same paid/employee-tier card an employee would need, in whichever state they’re tutoring in.
Whether this actually comes up, and how, depends heavily on the state and the tutor’s own background — some schemes and cultural contexts make the paid/volunteer distinction more obvious than others. What doesn’t change across any of that is the obligation itself: you sight the correct paid/employee-tier card before the first session, every time, regardless of what a tutor assumed going in.
What you (the engager) must actually do
Regardless of which state’s scheme applies, the same three obligations sit with you as the business engaging the tutor:
- Sight the card before any paid session — not after. A photo of the card is an acceptable record; a verbal assurance is not.
- Record the card number and expiry date. Most states have an online employer-verification tool to confirm a card is current and hasn’t been revoked — use it, don’t just trust the physical card.
- Verify it’s the paid/employee tier, not the free/volunteer tier — the single most common gap.
Keep this record for the life of the engagement and beyond — Victoria’s own guidance recommends retaining card numbers, expiry dates and sighting dates for a minimum of 7 years, even after a tutor leaves.
Should you reimburse the cost?
This is a genuine differentiator in tutor recruitment, and the answer that’s worked in practice is: pay it, but attach a condition.
The policy I run at EquateIt: reimburse the Employee-card cost after a tutor completes their first 10 paid tutoring hours, paid alongside the next invoice once that milestone is hit, with the tutor submitting their original receipt. The 10-hour threshold isn’t arbitrary — it shows commitment on both sides before you spend the money, and most tutors who quit early do so in the first one or two sessions, which this filters out cleanly. If you reimburse on day one instead, you’re exposed to paying for a card the tutor never uses.
Whatever you decide, put it in writing in the offer or contract — don’t leave it as a verbal understanding that gets litigated later.
Tracking this without a spreadsheet spiral
At one or two tutors, a card number and an expiry date in a spreadsheet is manageable. Past five or six, tracking who’s verified, who’s about to expire, and who owes a reimbursement by hand is exactly the kind of admin that quietly breaks — usually discovered when a card has already lapsed and a booking needs to be pulled.
This is genuinely built into ClassQuill already, not a roadmap item: tutors submit their WWCC (card number, expiry, upload) during onboarding, it shows as pending/submitted/verified on their profile, and a daily job automatically notifies the tutor at 60 days before expiry, then the tutor and every org admin/owner at 30 days, 7 days, and again if the card actually expires — so a lapse doesn’t get discovered mid-booking. The reimbursement-tracking side (a dedicated requested/paid badge and the 10-hour vesting rule specifically) isn’t a dedicated feature yet — for now that fee rides through the general expense-claims approval flow.
Practical checklist
- Identify which state’s scheme applies to each tutor (based on where they physically tutor, or their home state for online-only tutors — most schemes are state-of-residence-linked; check the specific state’s portal if a tutor works across state lines).
- Confirm they hold the paid/employee tier, not the free/volunteer tier.
- Sight the card and verify it online via that state’s employer-verification tool before the first paid session.
- Record the card number, expiry date, and the date you sighted it.
- Decide your reimbursement policy (if any) and put it in writing.
- Set a renewal reminder well before expiry — don’t rely on the tutor to notice.
General information only — not legal advice. Fees and validity periods above reflect each state’s published rate as of July 2026 research and are typically reviewed each financial year; confirm the current fee and requirements at your state’s own screening authority before relying on any figure in this guide.
Legal disclaimer. This article is general information only. It is not legal advice and must not be relied on as such. Working with Children Check requirements are set independently by each state and territory government and change periodically. Before engaging any tutor, confirm the current requirements, fees and validity period with the relevant state or territory screening authority. ClassQuill is a software company — we are not lawyers or a screening authority.
