Recruitment and induction

Recruitment

Child safety begins before a person is employed. A robust screening and recruitment process helps ensure that individuals engaged by the service have the appropriate qualifications, skills, experience and personal attributes to perform the role effectively.

Importantly, effective recruitment processes help to assess a person's values, behaviours and commitment to child safety—not just their skills and qualifications. They can also help identify staff who can build positive relationships with children and families, work collaboratively with colleagues, and contribute to high-quality learning outcomes.

Once applications are received, several validation and assessment steps should be undertaken before making an employment decision.

Blue Card validation

Confirm the person holds a valid positive notice blue card or exemption card by validating it on the Blue Card Services website.

Prohibition register check

Approved providers can ensure that the person is not a prohibited person by checking the register of prohibited persons and suspended educators by logging into the National Quality Agenda IT System (NQAITS).

Qualification validation

It is important to check that the person's qualification is an approved qualification listed on the Australian Children's Education and Care Quality Authority (ACECQA) website.

Validating qualification authenticity

Take proactive steps to confirm a qualification is valid:

• Ask the individual to access their Vocational Education and Training (VET) transcript through their Unique Student Identifier (USI). They can share this with you as a printed copy or digitally (e.g. via email, link, or QR code), or choose to grant employer access through the USI portal so you can view the record directly. Note: A USI VET transcript is a government-authenticated record that provides reliable confirmation of completed nationally recognised VET training, making it a key tool for verifying qualifications issued since 2015.
• Request both the certificate and the transcript, and check for consistency.
• Check whether the Australian Skills Quality Authority (ASQA) has taken any regulatory action affecting the qualification. ASQA may have cancelled (or be in the process of intending to cancel) the qualification if it was issued between the dates they specify.
• Check the Australian government training website to confirm the registered training organisation (RTO) was registered at the time the qualification was issued. If the person's certificate was issued on a date after the RTO registration was cancelled, it is not a valid qualification.
• Seek consent for the issuing RTO to disclose information about the individual's qualification if concerns arise.
• Scan any QR code on the certificate provided to check that it works and the student's name matches the name on the certificate.

Signs of fraudulent qualifications

Carefully review the qualification documents for authenticity by looking for indicators that a qualification may not be legitimate, such as:

• spelling errors (e.g. using a 'z' rather than an 's')
• inconsistent formatting
• distorted or poor-quality images
• incorrect qualification code or title (e.g. Certificate III 'of' rather than Certificate III 'in')
• QR codes that do not function or display a different person's details
• unexplained variations in certificates issued by the same Registered Training Organisation (RTO).

Examples of qualifications provided to the Regulatory Authority that indicate authenticity concerns:

• Diploma certificate—issued by ACECQA, which is not an RTO.
• Certificate III—issued in 2022, yet the RTO had its registration cancelled in 2017, includes a spelling error and uses an incorrect course name.
• First aid certificate—has a renewal date of 3 years and 3 months, not the usual 3 years for first aid qualifications, and the QR code doesn't work.

Suitability assessment

Declarations

Request declarations from the person regarding their suitability and any current restrictions or compliance history using ACECQA's forms—the prohibition notice declaration form and the compliance history statement forms.

Interview

The interview process can be used to verify the person's identity and explore their qualifications, knowledge, experience and understanding of the role. It may include:

• corroborating information provided in their application
• exploring employment history, including gaps or frequent role changes
• identifying any prior disciplinary matters
• assessing values and behaviours through scenario-based questions
• evaluating the candidate's understanding of and commitment to child safety
• exploring their understanding of how children learn and develop, including how they build positive relationships with children and plan for and respond to children’s strengths, interests and needs.

Embedding the service's statement of shared commitment throughout the interview supports consistent assessment of suitability.

Referee checks

Obtain referee reports (PDF, 151KB) (preferably at least 2), including contacting their most recent supervisor. Referees should be able to confirm:

• employment details, roles and responsibilities
• conduct and performance, including any disciplinary concerns
• suitability to work with children
• ability to plan and deliver play-based learning experiences that respond to children’s strengths, interests and learning styles.

Finalising recruitment

Select a candidate who demonstrates capability, integrity and alignment with your service’s philosophy and child safe values. Consider how their qualifications, knowledge, skills and ability to support children’s learning, development and wellbeing will contribute to positive outcomes for children.

Once appointed, enter their details into the Worker Register within NQAITS. This system enables automated checks against the register of prohibited persons and suspended educators and alerts the approved provider to contact the regulatory authority when there is a possible match.

Induction

Induction is a structured and ongoing process, not a one-off activity. It plays a critical role in establishing child safe practices from the outset and throughout the probation period. New staff may be at increased risk of making unsafe decisions if they are unfamiliar with the service's policies and procedures, and expectations.

The induction process applies to all staff, including agency and relief educators, including:

• introducing the policies and procedures
  
• providing an orientation to contextualise the information to the service and their role
• providing role and site-specific training on following the policies and procedures, and having processes in place to confirm knowledge
• outlining expectations for appropriate interactions with children and making every interaction count
• introducing the service's philosophy, educational program, and expectations for supporting children's learning, development and wellbeing
• ensuring understanding of reporting obligations for child safety concerns.

Before working with children

Before commencing work with children, staff should be supported to understand (and be able to identify) key requirements of their role including, but not limited to:

• appropriate and inappropriate interaction practices (e.g. what behaviour guidance strategies should be used as opposed to inappropriate discipline or inappropriate conduct)
• specific behaviour guidance strategies to use with particular children (e.g. for children who have individual support plans)
• which children have medical needs, how to minimise any risks and the procedure to follow, and the location of emergency medication
• which children require additional supervision, the reasons why (e.g. they are known climbers), and the strategies to use
• the evacuation and lockdown procedures and their role in implementing them
• which children have parenting or court orders in place and who is (and is not) permitted to collect the child
• service-specific risk assessments in place (e.g. blind spots or any areas/activities that require extra supervision)
• how to identify and report concerns about children or staff.

Working independently with children

Before working without direct supervision, staff can be supported through observation, supervision and feedback. A buddy arrangement or mentoring approach may assist in reinforcing expectations and building confidence, ensuring staff understand and apply the service’s policies and procedures in practice.

Ongoing supervision and regular checks should continue beyond probation to ensure staff remain suitable to work with children, understand and are able to implement the service’s policies and procedures, and continue to demonstrate positive, responsive and respectful interactions with children. A supportive and reciprocal supervision approach encourages staff to seek guidance, raise concerns and continuously strengthen their practice.

More information

• Model code for recruitment in early childhood education and care (PDF, 144KB)—this voluntary code outlines best practice for recruitment and induction
• National Quality Framework child safe culture guide: Recruitment
• Staffing ratio and qualifications
• Regulatory priority: Staffing​