Children’s Act 2014

Children's worker safety checking - Safety checks

31: Requirements of safety checks

You could also call this:

"Rules for Checking if Someone is Safe to Work with Children"

When you have a safety check, it must follow certain rules. You must check the person's identity as set out in regulations made under section 32. You must also think about specific information and do a risk assessment as prescribed by regulations made under section 32.

The risk assessment looks at how safe it is for children if the person is working with them. You have to do this to make sure children are protected. The assessment is done according to rules made under section 32.

If someone has a conviction for a serious offence, it cannot be hidden, even if they would otherwise be considered to have no criminal record. This is because of the Criminal Records (Clean Slate) Act 2004, which has some exceptions. This rule applies when someone is having a safety check to work with children in a core worker role.

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This page was last updated on 6 August 2025

View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM5501715.

Topics:

Family and relationships > Children and parentingCrime and justice > Criminal law

30: Defence relating to short-term emergencies, or

"A defence for organisations that didn't follow rules in an emergency to keep children safe."

32: Regulations prescribing requirements for safety checks, or

"Rules for keeping kids safe: what to check and how to do it"

Part 3Children's worker safety checking
Safety checks

31Requirements of safety checks

Every safety check of a person must comply with the requirements for safety checks for core workers or for non-core workers (as appropriate) prescribed by this section and by regulations made under section 32.
Every safety check of a person must include—
confirmation of the identity of the person, carried out as prescribed by regulations made under section 32; and
consideration of specific information prescribed by regulations made under section 32; and
a risk assessment, carried out as prescribed by regulations made under section 32, that assesses the risk the person would pose to the safety of children if employed or engaged as a children's worker.

Despite anything in the Criminal Records (Clean Slate) Act 2004, nothing in that Act authorises the concealment of a conviction for a specified offence of a person who is subject to a safety check in relation to employment or engagement as a core worker, even if the person is otherwise deemed to have no criminal record.