Children's Act safety checks
Wintec is required by law to complete a safety check of students enrolled in a number of our programmes. These include programmes in sports, health and social practice and education – in fact any programme where a student will complete a placement or practicum when they could be working directly with children or young people under 18 years old. The safety check process is part of Wintec’s commitment to complying with the Children's Act 2014, which brought in new legislation around working with children and young people.
The safety check will be completed at induction or at some point during your first couple of weeks of study and requires you complete an NZ Police Vetting form, a questionnaire, contact details of a referee, as well as additional forms of ID – the additional information required is set out below.
It is possible you may have provided some of this information as part of your enrolment, but for the safety check we need to obtain this in a specific format. We are also required to sight different forms of ID for the safety check and police vetting.
Information and documents we are required to collect:
- Details of your past five years work experience and qualifications you have gained (this will be a form you will be asked to complete)
- A questionnaire detailing your previous experience working with children or young people
- An NZ Police vetting form and Wintec Declaration (International students are not required to complete police vetting until their residency reaches over one year)
- An email address of a referee we can contact regarding your suitability to work with children and young people. This person must have known you for at least a year and be happy to fill out a short online questionnaire. Your referee cannot be a family member, extended family, partner or someone who lives at the same address as you.
- Two forms of ID one of which must be a photo ID. You will need to supply – one from each category - see below
ID Requirements for Safety Checking
Category 1: ID can be either a birth certificate, passport, firearms licence or certificate of citizenship.
If your birth cert is issued before 1998 you will need to bring a verified copy - this is a copy that has been sighted and signed by a Justice (JP), Public Notary, Court Registrar, Deputy Registrar, Public Trust Officer, Barrister or Solicitor of the High Court.
If your birth certificate was issued after 1998 Wintec can verify this for you.
Category 2: ID can be an additional Category 1 ID or a Drivers licence, 18 plus card, student ID, IRD card, NZ Cert of Citizenship, Community service card.
What happens next?
It is important that as part of your initial enrolment you let us know of any convictions you have or that are pending. If you are unsure whether a conviction impacts your ability to study your chosen programme, please contact the Student Enrolment and Information Centre to discuss this. Please note police vets are collected for CA safety checks and the purposes of the programme of study requirements.
If as a result of the safety checking process an unsatisfactory result arises a student may be withdrawn from their programme of study. Students must also declare any pending or new convictions that arise at any stage during their enrolment. A conviction or failure to declare a conviction may also result in a student being immediately withdrawn from their programme.
If you would like more information about the Children's Act or the safety checking process Wintec is required to complete, please contact: vcaadmin@wintec.ac.nz
Policy and Procedures Documents
Student documents:
Child Protection (Student Placements) Policy
Child Protection (Student Placements) Procedures and Principles
Staff documents:
