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 |
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.
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 | 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.
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: Changes to the Working with Children Check.
We’re watching for updates from the Victorian Government and will let you know if anything changes how SMC works.