Course-specific requirements

Enrolment in some courses requires additional checks and declarations to be completed, because they require you to either undertake clinical placements in NSW Public Health Facilities, or child-related placements as part of your study. This website will provide information on these courses, and guide you through any necessary steps to ensure that all checks are completed in time for you to commence your placement.

• NSW Health Clinical Placements - Employment Screening Requirements
• Prohibited Employment Declaration (The Working with Children Check)
• I have an enquiry

2013 courses that require additional checks and declarations

If you are enrolled in any of the listed courses, you will need to comply with relevant mandated checks and declarations before you can commence any placement required as part of your study.

What you are required to do

If you are enrolled in any of the courses listed above, at enrolment you will be provided with a package containing all the relevant information to allow you to complete most necessary checks and declarations at that time. If you are required to undertake a National Criminal Record Check (NCRC), you will be given instructions on how to complete this.

If you are already enrolled and will be undertaking a clinical placement in a NSW Health Public Health Facility, or a child-related placement, you must ensure that you have complied with all mandated requirements prior to the commencement of your placement.

You will not be able to commence your placement unless all necessary checks and declarations have been completed.

Enquiries

If you have any concerns or wish to discuss any issues arising from the NSW Health policy or child-related placement requirements you should contact your faculty representative.

NSW Health Clinical Placements

NSW Ministry of Health Employment Screening Policy requires all students to undertake additional checks and declarations prior to the commencement of a clinical placement in a NSW Public Health Facility. If you are enrolled in a course that requires these checks, and have not already done so as part of your enrolment, you should complete the following immediately:

• Obtain a National Police Certificate (NPC) either through a State or Territory Police Service or through the Australian Federal Police.
• Return to the Student Centre completed and signed copies of the Working with Children Check and NSW Health Student Undertaking form.
• Read the NSW Health Code of Conduct Agreement and sign the Code of Conduct Agreement for Students Undertaking Clinical Placements form which you will need to present at the commencement of your clinical placement.

Failure to complete and submit the above mandated NSW Health checks or any delay in seeking the National Police Certificate may result in delay or non-acceptance by NSW Health of your application for placement.

National Criminal Records Check (NCRC)

Obtaining a criminal record check

All students undertaking clinical placements in NSW Public Health Facilities are required to undertake a National Criminal Record Check (NCRC) and obtain a National Police Certificate (NPC) prior to the commencement of their placement.

A NCRC (Form P799) can be obtained either through a State or Territory Police Service or through the Australian Federal Police. A fee is payable.

You must ensure that the name provided to obtain your Criminal Record Check matches the name on your Student Campus Card. If your name does not match, you will not be allowed to commence your clinical placement.

If you name is held incorrectly on University records, you should correct this immediately. Information on how to amend your name as held by the University can be found on the Change of Personal Details form.

Additional information for international students

If you are an international student, you may apply for a NPC prior to arriving in Australia through the Australian Federal Police (AFP), and application forms are available on the AFP’s website. In addition to the instructions on the ‘Application Completion Guide’, you are required to:

• enter Code Number 37 in section 1 ‘Purpose of NPC;’
• tick ‘No’ to the fingerprint check in section 5.

In addition to obtaining a NPC, you must obtain a police certificate (with English translation) from your home country and any country you may have resided in, incorporating any charges you may have against your name.

If you are unable to provide such certificates, you must complete a statutory declaration stating that you have no pending, current or previous criminal charges or convictions from your home country or any country that you have resided in. If you have any criminal records, the statutory declaration must list the offences, the dates and any court outcome.

Note that a statutory declaration under the Oaths Act 1900 (NSW) may only be made in the presence of a Justice of the Peace, a Legal Practitioner, a Judicial Officer or a person authorised to witness a declaration in the jurisdiction in which it is sworn. A Justice of the Peace is usually available at the Student Centre (Camperdown campus) during normal operating hours.

Following lodgement of your NCRC you should allow a minimum of 15 working days for it to be processed. A NPC will be mailed to the address provided by you on the form.

Students with no criminal history

Where the NPC does not reveal any criminal history, it is accepted as proof of clearance for clinical placements within NSW Public Health Facilities.

If you are an international student, the NPC, along with your overseas Police Certificate and/or statutory declaration with no offences, are accepted together as proof of clearance.

You must present the original documents to the NSW Public Health Facility prior to, or at the commencement of each placement. Under NSW Health Policy, the NSW Public Health Facility is required to sight the original documentation and keep a copy for their records.

Students with a criminal history

If your NPC (or overseas Police Certificate/statutory declaration for International students) shows any convictions or pending charges, you will be required to apply to the Employment Screening and Review Unit (ESRU) – NSW Health for authority to undertake clinical placements within NSW Public Health Facilities.

You must provide the ESRU with copies of any Police Certificates (in Australia and/or overseas) and statutory declarations you completed and other relevant documents including the Student Risk Assessment Form.

ESRU will complete a risk assessment and if you are deemed suitable for placements within NSW Public Health Facilities, you will be issued with a ‘Clinical Placement Authority Card’ or a conditional letter.

If you are issued a conditional letter following a risk assessment, you must disclose any conditions to your faculty’s Clinical Placement Coordinator, who must then inform the NSW Public Health Facility before any placement can be confirmed. The NSW Public Health Facility must determine whether they can manage you in accordance with the conditions.

The NSW Public Health Facility may refuse a clinical placement if they are unable to manage the student in accordance with the conditions. If your application is declined, you will be informed of this decision in writing and will be required to advise your faculty.

A valid Clinical Placement Authority card or a conditional letter issued by NSW Health must be presented to the NSW Public Health Facility in which you are undertaking your clinical placement.

NSW Health Student Undertaking and Code of Conduct Agreement

The NSW Health Student Undertaking requires you to agree to notify the NSW Ministry of Health if you are charged or convicted of any criminal offences after the date of issue of your National Police Certificate or during the completion of your course. All students undertaking clinical placement in a NSW Public Health Facility as part of their course must sign this form.

Return the completed and signed form, along with your Working with Children Check, to the Student Centre.

Before commencing each clinical placement, you are required to have read the NSW Health Code of Conduct and submit a signed Code of Conduct Agreement for Students undertaking Clinical Placements form to the NSW Public Health Facility at the commencement of your clinical placement, stating that you have read and will comply with the NSW Health Code of Conduct.

Occupational Assessment, Screening and Vaccination Against Specified Infectious Diseases

If you are enrolling in a course that requires you to undertake clinical placement in NSW Health Facilities, the NSW Ministry of Health requires you to provide evidence of compliance with the requirements of the Occupational Assessment Screening and Vaccination Against Specified Infectious Diseases policy.

You must provide evidence of protection against the infectious disease(s) specified in the policy and comply with the policy’s requirements at your own cost, prior to attending placement in a NSW Health facility, and submit the required forms and declarations as soon as possible after your enrolment. For more information please read the Important Requirements for Students in Relation to Assessment Screening Vaccination (pdf).

You can obtain a Vaccination Record Card at no cost by contacting the Student Centre.

Prohibited Employment Declaration (The Working with Children Check)

If you are undertaking clinical placement in a NSW Public Health Facility (in addition to the above listed checks and declarations), or child related placement as part of your course you must complete a Working with Children Check.

Under the Commission for Children and Young People Act 1998 it is an offence for a prohibited person to apply for, attempt to obtain, undertake or remain in child-related employment, or to sign this declaration. If the University becomes aware that a student is a prohibited person, it cannot refer that student to a child-related placement or allow a placement to continue.

A prohibited person is a person who is convicted of the following (whether in NSW or elsewhere):

• murder a child
• serious sex offence, including carnal knowledge
• child-related personal violence offence (an offence committed by an adult involving intentionally wounding or causing grievous bodily harm to a child)
• indecency offences punishable by imprisonment of 12 months or more
• kidnapping (unless the offender is or has been the child’s parent or carer)
• offences connected with child prostitution
• possession, distribution, or publication of child pornography; or,
• attempt, conspiracy or incitement to commit the above offences.

A prohibited person includes a Registrable person under the Child Protection (Offenders Registration) Act 2000.

Details of these offences can be found online at Working With Children Employer Guidelines Fact Sheet 1. A conviction includes a finding that the charge for an offence is proven, or that a person is guilty of an offence, even though the court does not proceed to a conviction.

Once you have completed your details online, be sure to click the ’Confirm & Print’ button to print your form. You will need to sign the printed form and return it, along with your signed NSW Health Student Undertaking, to the Student Centre.

I have an enquiry

If you have any concerns or wish to discuss any issues arising from the NSW Health policy or child-related placement requirements you should contact your faculty: