Compulsory requirements
All students who, as part of their program, undertake activities where interaction with patients or the public is required, such as in field or clinical placements/visits and in University clinics and gyms, must demonstrate that they have Australian screening clearances which will be current for the duration of that activity.
Criminal history and background checks are an assessment of an individual's criminal history against a variety of state and national databases. These are part of legislated risk management requirements for organisations where children and/or vulnerable adults may be present. Students must ensure their clearances will be valid for the duration of their placement.
The University's requirement is for each clearance to be undertaken every three to five years, depending on the type. Details regarding the required currency of each clearance can be found on the student checklists. However, some placement venues may require one or more specific screening checks to have been conducted more recently. Details regarding the required currency of a clearance for a specific placement venue will be communicated via InPlace and/or email from the Clinical Placement Unit. You can also clarify these requirements by contacting the Clinical Placement Unit.
All students are required to have:
- A Criminal History Check (CHC) certificate through National Crime Check
- A Working With Children Check through the Department of Human Services (DHS) Screening Unit
- A Department of Human Services (DHS) Screening Unit Disability Employment Screening Check (Completed before 1st of February 2021 or a National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) Screening (Completed after the 2nd of February 2021.)
Professional Placement Student Declaration
Placements are an important part of your Program, and it is important that you understand your professional responsibilities whilst on placement.
The Professional Placement Student Declaration outlines a student’s obligations regarding professional placements throughout their program with Placement Organisations. The online Student Declaration form will supersede the Consent and Authority to release form.
Students will be required to read this declaration and acknowledge each section prior to commencing placement. When you enrol in a course or program provided by the UniSA Allied Health and Human Performance and UniSA Clinical and Health Sciences Academic Units, which require students to undertake a professional placement, a link to the online Student Declaration form will become available on your “To do“ list on your InPlace homepage.
Students who are required to complete the declaration will be sent an email alert advising them to complete the form.
This Declaration will apply for the duration of your program and all placements and will be mandatory for all students to complete before commencing any placement.
Applying for a Criminal History Check (CHC)
UniSA has partnered with National Crime Check to provide students with a fast, easy and cost-effective way to obtain their criminal history check 100% online.
When applying for your Criminal History Check, please allow for a minimum of 5 – 10 working days from the date you submit your ID documents. The process may be further delayed if additional information is required from interstate or international jurisdictions pertaining to the name search.
Please use the NCC Background check User Guide below to assist you with your application; all students are required to follow the steps outlined in the user guide to complete the application:
NCC Background Check User Guide (2,171 KB)
To apply for your Criminal History Check directly through the National Crime Check portal, using the link below:
https://unisa.nationalcrimecheck.com.au/
If you need help with your CHC application, contact National Crime Check via email; please ensure you give your full name and date of birth along with your enquiry: support@nationalcrimecheck.com.au
Please note:
- NCC will not reissue your certificate if you lose it.
- Please do not upload tax receipts to InPlace as evidence in lieu of your Clearance certificate.
- If you have a current National Police Certificate, International Fit2Work Clearance or any other National Coordinated Criminal History Checks accredited by the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission (ACIC) with the correct wording: Occupation/Position section: 'Health and Aged Care University Placement' and for the Proposed place of Work: 'University of South Australia Health Care Sector Placement', these will still be accepted. This information will be prefilled if you use the National Crime Check online application above.
Applying to the Department of Human Services (DHS) for a Working with Children Check and NDIS Screening
All students undertaking a placement in South Australia are required to hold a current Department of Human Services (DHS) screening check for:
- Working With Children Check (valid for five years)
AND - NDIS Screening (valid for five years)*
*Students with a current Disability Employment Service Check will not need to apply for the new NDIS screening until their current Disability Employment Service Check is due to expire, (less than six months from expiry), or their circumstances change..
To apply for Working with Children Check and/or NDIS Screenings directly through the DHS Screening Unit portal using the link below:
https://screening.sa.gov.au/applications/application-information-for-individuals
All students are required follow the steps outlined below to complete the application:
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Step 1: Start your DHS application
Read the information on the DHS Website in relation to Submitting your application for a check to ensure that you have everything you need, then click on the Apply for a check button.
If you do not have an Australian drivers licence and a current Australian passport, an Australian birth certificate, or an Australian citizenship certificate, you will need to verify your identity offline by using the ‘print and seek’ option. That is, by showing your original identity documents to an independent permitted verifier.
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Step 2: Complete the Application with your details
First Name: Enter First Name
Last Name: Enter Last Name
Email: Enter your UniSA email address
Confirm email: Re-enter your UniSA email address
Date of Birth: Enter Date of Birth
Reference Number: Enter your UniSA Student ID
Proposed Start Date: Enter your placement start date if you know. Otherwise, leave blank.
Continuation of work: DO NOT CHECK THIS BOX
Role Description: Please enter the following text: Student clinical placement in the health sector
Please ensure that the First Name, Last Name and Date of Birth on your application is an exact match to the First Name, Last Name and Date of Birth that you have recorded on the UniSA system
If you need to update your details on the UniSA system, please contact Campus Central for assistance.
Screenings Required: Tick the relevant checklist boxes:
- If you require both a Working with Children check and NDIS Screening, tick both boxes.
OR
- If you have an existing Working with Children check and only require the new NDIS clearance, tick only the NDIS check box.
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Step 3: NDIS Screening additional information
If you tick the NDIS Screening check box, more information will be required.
Complete as follows:
Applicant type: Select Tertiary/Secondary Student
NDIS worker check residency and work eligibility declarations
PLEASE NOTE: If you do not reside in SA please leave the first check box blank.
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Step 4: NDIS Employer Endorsement
Enter the following NDIS Employer ID to the relevant field:
4-GDEKZL2
Then Click the Search button
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Step 5: Add Employer
The details of the UniSA Health should display. Click the Add Employer button
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Step 6: Check Correct Employer is displayed
The selected Employer will be displayed:
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Step 7: Complete the reCAPTCHA check box
Read the remaining information on this page.
Click the I’m not a robot check box and follow instructions
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Step 8: Start Application
Click Start Application button
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Step 9: DHS Login details initiation
The DHS Screening Unit will then Initiate your Login details and email you a link to the DHS Screening Unit portal.
Once you receive this email you will need to activate your Login the DHS portal immediately to progress with your application.
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Step 10: Upload your DHS notification email into InPlace
When your application has been processed, you will receive an email notification from DHS regarding the outcome of your clearances.
Upload your notification email into InPlace immediately. This will then be verified by the CPU Office Team.
Applying for an International Police Clearance (International Students)
An international criminal history check is required in circumstances where a student declares that they have resided in a country other than Australia for a period exceeding 6 months as an adult (>18 years of age or more) or if a student has declared a criminal history in a jurisdiction outside Australia.
International Criminal history checks are to be conducted by either Fit2Work or AIS International Students who have obtained an International criminal history check as part of their AHPRA application may use this clearance as evidence.
International checks are usually ready within 5 to 15 working days. However, depending on the processing times of government agencies coordinating checks in each country, they may take longer. You may want to contact the vendors to confirm processing times for your international criminal history check to ensure they meet your expectations.
If you fit the above category, please access the Fit2Work or AIS International website to read more about and initiate your application. If you have any questions regarding this process, you must contact your preferred vendor directly.
The International Police Clearance is valid for 12 months; following this, students must obtain an Australian Criminal History Check (CHC) accredited by the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission (ACIC).
Aged care requirements
Additional requirements of aged care organisations as a result of Department of Health and Ageing compliance standards
People who have lived in a country other than Australia for any period of time after the age of 16 must provide a statutory declaration stating they were not convicted of murder or sexual assault, and not convicted of and imprisoned for any other form of assault during their time living overseas. Any such criminal record would exclude the person from working with, or being placed within, an aged care service if they have unsupervised access to care recipients. In addition to the statutory declaration, which a Justice of the Peace can assist with, the person must also have a criminal history clearance to cover the time (after age 16) that they have lived in Australia.
Criminal History check disclosures
If a student has a disclosure notification in their Criminal History Check the Clinical Placement Unit may be required to release a student’s details and a copy of their Check and/or all or part of the information contained therein to the Placement Organisations and/or the reference group representing the Placement Organisations.
When a student uploads a Police Check with disclosures to InPlace, the document will remain on the ‘Reject’ status for the duration of its validity on InPlace. As a general rule, this will not stop students from proceeding to placement however may cause a delay in the publishing of their placement details.
Students with High-Risk disclosures may be referred to the Program Director to assess preclusion from placement.
Relevant legislation
In response to concerns of those in positions of trust, abusing or misusing their trust, to sexually, emotionally, and physically abuse and neglect children (that is, people under the age of 18) and vulnerable adults, the Children and Young People (Safety) Act 2017 replaced the Children's Protection Act 1993. This legislation requires all health care venues and all education venues to address this by policies that include police checks for students prior to their being accepted by the placement venue for field/clinical placement.
