NSW:No checks on volunteers puts kids at risk

AAP General News (Australia)
02-14-2011
NSW:No checks on volunteers puts kids at risk

Hundreds of thousands of children are at risk of being targeted by sex offenders ..

whose positions as volunteer sports coaches and mangers are not undergoing background
checks.

The Sydney Morning Herald reports sports associations have called for a statewide database
to tighten controls on background checks of volunteers .. similar to a Queensland model.

The Herald reports clubs say they have neither time nor resources to investigate the
statutory declarations volunteers must fill out .. which state whether they've been investigated
for child abuse.

Netball NSW has told the paper it cannot background check its volunteers .. but NSW
Commissioner for Children and Young People MEGAN MITCHELL says auditing shows not one
false declaration has been discovered among several thousand forms.

Officials from several sports codes say they want to adopt Queensland's Blue Card model
.. in which volunteers' details are collected on a central database .. which can be accessed
by any organisation needing to perform background checks.

AAP RTV psm/

KEYWORD: CHECKS (SYDNEY)

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