Guide to volunteer work with children checks

Enhancing volunteer onboarding in Australian organisations requiring children checks

Over the last few years, volunteer services in child-related work have seen a major shift. Not only have volunteer numbers dropped; volunteers also tend to favour virtual or informal opportunities over a formal volunteer position.

While these factors in itself put a lot of pressure on volunteer coordinators, organisations are also now demanding thorough screening in the form of background checks and working with children’s checks to ensure compliance. While ultimately this is a good thing, it does add an extra step to the onboarding process, which if not executed correctly, can deter volunteers from completing their volunteer application journey.

With less time to volunteer, volunteer managers are needing to get creative with their volunteer programs, taking the time to understand and recognise volunteers’ interests and create personalised experiences to reflect their volunteer community’s needs.

62.7% of volunteer managers consider personal relationship building one of the top engagement and retention strategies, but 66.4% can’t find the time to do it. With greater demands for an engaging and personalised experience, volunteer managers are turning to technology to help.

Why Is the volunteer working with children check important?

The Working With Children Check (WWCC) is a critical safeguard component guaranteeing child safety within Australia. This screening tool assesses the background of people working or volunteering with children, aiming to prevent those who pose a risk from engaging in child-related work. The WWCC ensures that only individuals who have been thoroughly vetted and cleared can interact with vulnerable youth populations, thereby providing a safer environment for children.

In Australia, the requirements for a WWCC vary slightly across states and territories, but the overarching principle remains the same: Anyone working in a child-related role must obtain a valid WWCC, be it adult volunteers at a family resource centre or healthcare professionals at a children’s hospital. As a result, validating a WWCC is often a necessary part of the application process to volunteer work in healthcare, education, sports coaching and community services.

State requirements for Working With Children Checks

The requirements for obtaining a WWCC vary across different states and territories in Australia. The table below outlines these requirements:

Fines for non-compliance in different states and territories

Organisations and volunteers can face significant fines if they don’t comply with WWCC requirements. The table below highlights the fines for different regions:

Effective management of the validity of WWCC can be streamlined through a few strategic approaches. First, maintaining a centralised database of all volunteer credentials, including WWCC expiry dates, can prevent lapses. Regular audits and updates to this database are essential. Rosterfy enhances this process by offering automated reminders and a robust tracking system, allowing organisations to manage volunteer compliance efficiently. By leveraging Rosterfy’s features, nonprofits can mitigate the risk of non-compliance and ensure a safe environment for the children they serve.

Supporting both the child and the individual volunteer

A robust volunteer orientation and onboarding process that integrates compliance ensures children’s safety and significantly impacts volunteer satisfaction.

By effectively communicating volunteer requirements, you can ease the administrative burden and make volunteers feel supported, creating a positive impression from day one that will boost volunteer engagement and retention.

To assist volunteers in understanding and meeting WWCC requirements, organisations can:

• Conduct informational sessions with small groups.
• Provide detailed guides on child protection and family services.
• Offer one-on-one support at critical points of the volunteer application.

Managing the intricacies of managing and advocating volunteer opportunities can be time-consuming and complex. This includes tasks such as:

• Tracking expiration dates of each WWCCs.
• Ensuring timely renewals to guarantee patient safety.
• Maintaining accurate records that allow for prompt volunteer assignment.

The administrative load can be daunting, leading to potential oversights and non-compliance. Rosterfy’s platform automates reminders for expiring credentials, maintains a centralised database for easy access to volunteer information and provides robust tracking systems to ensure compliance is consistently met.

Higher engagement levels among volunteers directly correlate with better outcomes for the organisation and the children it serves. When volunteers feel supported and valued, they are more likely to be enthusiastic and committed to their roles. This enthusiasm translates to better quality of interaction and care provided to the children. Additionally, streamlined processes reduce the administrative burden on staff, allowing them to focus more on building meaningful relationships with volunteers and enhancing the overall volunteer experience.

Leveraging Rosterfy for Optimal Results in Child-Related Work

Leveraging Rosterfy’s comprehensive suite of features can significantly enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of volunteer management for Australian organisations requiring children checks.

• Rule-based screening: Rosterfy ensures that every new volunteer meets the necessary compliance standards from the outset, simplifying the onboarding process while reducing the manual workload on administrators and providing peace of mind that all volunteers have been thoroughly vetted.
• Progress tracking: Elevate the volunteer experience by keeping them informed and engaged through communicationsincluding push notifications via SMS, email and video. Volunteers are more likely to remain committed when they receive timely updates and reminders, ensuring they stay on top of required tasks and training.
• Workflow automation: The platform automates critical processes such as interview invitations, contract personalisation and signing and training modules. This not only ensures a standardised and efficient onboarding experience but also frees up valuable time for volunteer managers to focus on more strategic activities.
• Integration: Rosterfy seamlessly integrates third-party training modules, allowing organisations to maintain a consistent delivery of their training plans through automated triggers. The integration with Sterling Volunteers enhances the screening and background check process, ensuring high-quality and efficient vetting of volunteers.

Success stories from Australian organisations underscore the transformative impact of Rosterfy. Organisations like Variety Vic and Ocean Heroes have streamlined their operations by replacing cumbersome email threads and spreadsheets with Rosterfy’s communication tools and check-in mode. This has significantly reduced the time spent on administrative tasks and improved the overall volunteer experience.

NAPCAN, an organisation working to prevent child abuse, manages a vast database of nearly 5000 community specialists. Rosterfy has facilitated better connection and communication among these specialists, while also capturing essential data on the program’s impact. This data-driven approach has led to strategic shifts in recruitment, enabling NAPCAN to more effectively address their mission.

By implementing Rosterfy, organisations not only ensure compliance with WWCC requirements but also create a more nurturing and efficient volunteer environment. The automation of routine tasks and robust tracking systems enhance both volunteer satisfaction and organisational outcomes. This, in turn, leads to better engagement and retention of volunteers, ultimately ensuring a safer setting for the children they serve. Rosterfy’s platform stands as a pivotal tool in modern volunteer management, empowering organisations to focus on what truly matters — their mission.

Becoming a role model for community safety

Are you ready to streamline your volunteer onboarding and ensure compliance with child safety requirements? Rosterfy can help.

Our platform simplifies the management of WWCC, automates reminders and maintains a centralised database to prevent lapses and ensure a safer environment for children.

Enhance volunteer engagement and satisfaction with our automated workflows and comprehensive tracking systems. Join successful organisations like Variety Vic and NAPCAN in transforming your volunteer management processes.

About Rosterfy

Rosterfy exists to connect communities to events and causes they are passionate about through volunteer and paid workforce management technology.

Our proven end to end technology allows charities, events and nonprofit organisations to recruit, register, screen, train, manage and report with ease, replacing manual processes with automations to better engage and retain your volunteers and paid staff.