Victorian WWC Check changes from 19 October 2026

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The Short Version

From 19 October 2026, Victorian churches have two new things to manage for the Working with Children (WWC) Check:

WWC Connect: you link your workers and volunteers to your church in a new government portal.

WWC Child Safety Training: anyone applying for or renewing a WWC Clearance completes a government course first.

Your Safe Ministry Check screening and training don’t change. We still verify Victorian WWC Clearances, just as we do now.

What changes and who does what

What it is Who does it Where Done in SMC?
WWC Connect Links each worker and volunteer to your church, and keeps that link current Church admin Victorian Government portal Not at this stage. We're looking at ways to integrate or automate where possible.
WWC Child Safety Training Government course before a clearance is issued or renewed The person applying or renewing Part of their WWC application No
SMC screening We verify each person's Victorian WWC Clearance Automatic SMC Yes, no change
SMC training Safe ministry training built for your church Your ministry team SMC Yes, no change

Change 1: WWC Connect

WWC Connect is a new Victorian Government service that records which people do child-related work for which churches, clubs and other groups.

From 19 October, before someone starts child-related work at your church, you’ll need to:

Step What it means for a church
Check Confirm they hold a valid WWC Clearance or relevant exemption
Connect Link them to your church in WWC Connect
Record Keep a record showing you did both
Maintain Update the connection when they start, stop, or their details change

Deadlines

Who Connect them in WWC Connect within
Volunteers 21 days of engaging them
Paid staff 7 days of engaging them

“Engaging” means the day they first do child-related work for you, or the day you agree they will (in writing or verbally).

Before they start, check their clearance using the Government’s WWC status checker.

Your Current Team

Connecting people who were already serving before 19 October is strongly encouraged but not required. If their details change after 19 October, you must update them in WWC Connect.

Records to Keep

Keep these for at least 7 years after someone stops child-related work:

  • name, address, email and phone
  • proof you checked their clearance
  • the dates they started and stopped
  • any changes to their contact details

If a clearance changes

The Social Services Regulator will email you if a connected person’s clearance is suspended, barred, revoked or expires. You won’t be told the reason. Stop them doing child-related work straight away and update WWC Connect.

The Government is also asking churches to connect their current workers and volunteers once WWC Connect opens. It’s worth planning that now, so it isn’t a rush later.

Change 2: WWC Child Safety Training

From 19 October, anyone who is:

  • applying for a new WWC Clearance
  • renewing a WWC Clearance
  • moving from a volunteer to an employee WWC Clearance

will need to complete the Government’s WWC Child Safety Training before their application is finalised.

Renewals will take a little longer than people are used to. If someone on your team has a clearance expiring in the next few months, let them know to start early.

Step What it means for a church
Check Confirm they hold a valid WWC Clearance or relevant exemption
Connect Link them to your church in WWC Connect
Record Keep a record showing you did both
Maintain Update the connection when they start, stop, or their details change

Will volunteers now do two lots of training?

This is the question we’re hearing most. The short answer: we don’t know yet how much the 2 courses overlap, and we won’t guess.

The Government has said its course covers recognising concerning behaviour and grooming, and responding to concerns. It has also said the course adds to a church’s own child-safety training, induction and supervision. It doesn’t replace them.

We haven’t been able to review the full course content. Once we have, we’ll tell you how the 2 compare.

What we can say now is that they do different jobs:

Government course SMC training
Built for Anyone with a Victorian WWC Clearance Your church
Covers The role we all play in keeping children safe, respectful behaviour, recognising concerning behaviour and grooming, responding to concerns Recognising and responding to concerns in church life
Tells people who to report to at their church No. It can't, because every church is different Yes. Your Safe Ministry Contacts and your church's process
Replaces the other? No No

Avoiding repeat training

SMC’s Recognise Previous Training feature lets a trainee indicate that they have already completed some training elsewhere. They indicate the modules their course covered, allowing them skip what they’ve done and still get the parts that are specific to your church.

Our advice for now: keep your normal SMC training requirements, and allow for the Government course when someone applies for or renews their clearance.

Your 5-Step Checklist

# Do this Who When
1 Keep using SMC for training and screening as normal Admin Ongoing
2 Check every Victorian worker and volunteer has a current WWC Clearance or exemption. Your SMC dashboard shows this. Admin Before 19 October
3 Get set up in WWC Connect and plan when you'll connect your current team Admin When the portal opens
4 Tell the people who handle safe ministry and recruitment at your church Pastor or admin This week
5 Tell anyone applying or renewing about the new training Ministry team leaders Ongoing

Questions

Do I do WWC Connect through Safe Ministry Check?

No. WWC Connect is a Victorian Government requirement, done in the government portal.

Does SMC still check Victorian WWC Clearances?

Yes. Nothing changes there.

If a volunteer renews, does our church’s link carry over?

The Government hasn’t said yet. The safe approach is to connect them in WWC Connect yourself. We’ll update this page when the Regulator confirms.

Does SMC’s check replace the Government’s WWC status checker?

SMC still verifies Victorian clearances. The Government asks churches to use its WWC status checker before engaging someone, so do both.

Does the Government course replace SMC training?

No. The Government says it adds to a church’s own training. It also can’t tell your people who to go to at your church if they have a concern.

Who do I ask if I’m not sure something applies to us?

The Victorian Social Services Regulator runs the WWC Check and WWC Connect. Their guidance is the place to check: 

We’re watching for updates from the Victorian Government and will let you know if anything changes how SMC works.