The NSW Government is helping teachers and educators get ready for term 1 2024, with the new option to renew their mandatory Working with Children Check online in as little as 10 minutes.
The new renewal option saves busy workers up to 1 hour and allows people to complete the administrative task from the comfort of their own home or office.
Teachers, childcare workers, and volunteers are among the roughly 1.9 million people in NSW who hold a Working with Children Check, and those in regional areas will particularly benefit from the new online renewal option.
More than 3000 people have renewed their WWCC online since the option launched late last year, with 98% providing a ‘thumbs up’ in their feedback on the transaction.
The online verification for WWCC is a significant step in the NSW Government’s digital identity journey, removing the need to share copies of physical documents and cards to prove an identity.
The identity checks use advanced facial verification technology that can securely verify a person’s identity and detect their presence through a liveness check, to confirm authenticity.
Service NSW will confirm the identity of a person by matching their live facial scan with the reference image associated with them, such as the photo that was taken when a driver licence was issued.
To preserve privacy and safeguard against fraud, photographs used for verification are immediately and permanently destroyed after the real-time check is completed.
Renewing a WWCC using digital proof of identity is optional and people can still apply in-person at Service NSW.
Minister for Customer Service and Digital Government Jihad Dib said:
“The new online option for renewing your Working with Children Check is a great example of how we are using technology to improve access to government services and helping people save valuable time.
“The state’s teachers, volunteers and childcare workers no longer need to travel to a Service NSW Service Centre to renew their Working with Children Check.
“The new process is streamlined, efficient and secure, cutting the transaction time from 70 minutes to 10 minutes on average and helping to pave the way for more uses of photo verification technology in the future.”
Executive Director Identity NSW Lenka Bradovkova said:
“Digital Working with Children Check renewals allow those who need to renew this important credential to do so without needing to present documents in person at a Service Centre to prove who they are.
“We hope this new option will become the go-to renewal method for essential workers looking to easily meet their compliance obligations and reclaim valuable time.”