WWCC Tracking: How to Collect and Track Working with Children Checks

If your staff, contractors or volunteers work with children, you need a current Working with Children Check (WWCC) for each of them. Collecting the card once is easy. Knowing that every card is still current a year later is the hard part.

This post covers why a WWCC needs tracking, not just filing, and how to set WorkZerk up to do it in about 15 minutes.

Every state runs its own check

There is no national WWCC. Each state and territory has its own scheme, its own name for it and its own rules.

State or territory	What it is called	Run by
NSW	Working with Children Check	Office of the Children's Guardian
Victoria	Working with Children Check	Social Services Regulator
Queensland	Blue card	Blue Card Services
Western Australia	Working with Children Check	Department of Communities
South Australia	Working with Children Check	DHS Screening Unit
Tasmania	Registration to Work with Vulnerable People	Consumer, Building and Occupational Services
ACT	Working with Vulnerable People registration	Access Canberra
Northern Territory	Working with children clearance (Ochre Card)	SAFE NT

A check from one state generally does not cover work in another, so someone moving interstate usually has to apply again.

Why a WWCC needs tracking, not just filing

Cards expire. Depending on the state, a check lasts between two and five years. A blue card, for example, is valid for three years unless it is cancelled or suspended. A photo of the card in someone's inbox does not tell you when that happens.

You are expected to keep a record. In NSW, the Office of the Children's Guardian asks organisations to keep, for each worker, their full name, date of birth, WWC number, the verification date and outcome, the expiry date, and whether they are paid or a volunteer. It also says to remind workers to renew, and to remove anyone whose check has expired from child-related work.

You have to check it with the regulator. NSW employers must verify WWCC numbers online. Queensland organisations must link a worker's blue card before they start working with children. In Victoria, from 19 October 2026 all employers must use the WWC Connect online system to verify workers and connect them to their organisation.

Spreadsheets drift. Someone types the expiry date wrong, nobody updates the row when a card is renewed, and the person who kept the sheet leaves. Then the board or a funding body asks whether everyone is covered, and nobody can say for sure.

Rules differ between states and change over time, so this is general information, not legal advice. Check with the screening agency in each state you work in.

What WorkZerk does with a WWCC

WorkZerk keeps the paperwork side of the job in one place:

Each person uploads their card or clearance letter from a private link on their phone, with no account or password.
They have to enter the expiry date before they can send it. WorkZerk's AI check reads the date on the card and flags it if it differs from the date they typed.
You approve each card, and WorkZerk records who approved it and when.
The card is saved to the person's contact record, so it counts on every portal they are on and they are never asked for it twice.
WorkZerk emails the person before their card expires and asks for the renewed one.
The Document compliance report shows who is current, who is expiring and who is missing a card, across everyone.

What it does not do: WorkZerk does not run the check, verify a number with the regulator, or link anyone to your organisation in the Blue Card or WWC Connect systems. Those steps stay with you, and WorkZerk gives you somewhere to record that you did them.

Setting it up in WorkZerk

1. Turn on two-factor authentication

Asking people to upload documents needs two-factor authentication on your account. Set it up first under Account, then Two-factor authentication (opens in WorkZerk in a new tab).

2. Create a Working with Children Check field

Open Fields (opens in WorkZerk in a new tab) in the sidebar. Add a field called Working with Children Check, choose the Upload type, and tick Require an expiry date.

This field is what turns the card into a tracked document. Every copy anyone sends lands here, on their contact record, with its expiry date.

While you are there, add any other details you want on the record:

WWCC number, a Text field.
Paid or volunteer, a Choice field with two options.
WWCC verified on, a Date field your team fills in after checking the number with the regulator.

Shortcut: the Staff onboarding (Australia) pack already includes an optional Working with Children Check that creates the field for you. See starter request packs.

3. Create a portal, or use the one you have

A portal is the private page your people open from their link. Open Portals (opens in WorkZerk in a new tab) and click New portal, or add the WWCC to an onboarding portal you already run. Give it a name your people will recognise, such as "Riverside Swim Club coaches".

4. Ask for the card

On the portal's Requests panel, click + Insert, choose Upload, and name it "Working with Children Check". Pick your new field under Document type and make sure Require expiry is on.

Leave Min files at 1 so the card is required. Use the description to tell people what to send, for example: "Upload a photo of your card or your clearance letter. In Queensland this is your blue card."

Then add a Fields request for WWCC number (and Paid or volunteer if you added it), so the number is typed in rather than read off a photo.

5. Add your people

Add people to the portal and send each one their private link. If you do not have a list, for example for a volunteer drive, turn on the portal's self-registration link and share that instead. Anyone who opens it enters their name and email and gets their own link.

6. Review, verify and approve

Uploaded cards wait under Needs review on Requests (opens in WorkZerk in a new tab). For each one:

Check the name and expiry date against the card. If the person typed the date wrong, click Change date and correct it.
Verify the number with the screening agency in your state.
Approve the card.
Enter today's date in WWCC verified on on their contact record.

7. Switch on the expiry reminders

Open Automations (opens in WorkZerk in a new tab). Switch on Document expiring reminder and Document expired reminder. Both start switched off.

The expiring reminder goes 30 days before a card expires. Most states let people renew a few months early, so consider changing it to 60 or 90 days to give them time for the new card to arrive.

The reminders stop by themselves once the person uploads the new card.

8. Check who is covered

Open Requests (opens in WorkZerk in a new tab) and click Document compliance. Each person shows as current, expiring, needs review, expired or missing for their WWCC.

Tick Only people who aren't compliant for the list to work through, and use Download CSV when your board, insurer or funding body asks for a register.

Getting started

Start a free WorkZerk trial at workzerk.com, then work through the steps above. If you get stuck, the getting started guide walks through a first portal end to end, or email us at [email protected].