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Background checks
When your not-for-profit organisation recruits employees or volunteers, you need to conduct appropriate screening procedures to manage any risks they may pose to your organisation.
It’s important that your organisation screens and inducts employees and volunteers in a thorough and systematic way. Certain background checks are required by law (under legislation or contract) and others are discretionary.
In considering what level of screening is appropriate, your organisation should assess whether a role will involve:
- unsupervised access to money or property
- contact with vulnerable clients or children
- access to sensitive information
- providing personal care or physical assistance to clients
- driving duties
These factors can help determine the types of checks your organisation should implement to minimise risks associated with employees and volunteers.
If someone has access to money, equipment or data, it may be appropriate to conduct a police check. If they will be working with children (this has a special meaning), it's a legal requirement to conduct a Working With Children Check. And specific requirements apply to workers providing National Disability Insurance Scheme services and supports.
Even where there is no legal or contractual requirement to carry out checks, organisations should still conduct some level of screening of employees and volunteers. This reflects their responsibility to provide a safe environment for employees, volunteers and clients. To meet this duty of care, organisations must be appropriately informed about the people who represent them.
Note - child safety
In addition to their responsibilities to employees, volunteers, clients and the public, organisations may have specific duties to protect children.
These duties can arise under the common law of negligence, work health and safety laws, and state and territory legislation. In some jurisdictions, organisations that exercise care, supervision or authority over children must take reasonable precautions to prevent child abuse by people associated with the organisation. The legal standard expected of organisations is generally higher where children are involved, recognising their particular vulnerability.
For more information, see our fact sheets on child safety.
Note - Privacy laws
During the recruitment process your organisation will gain access to personal information about candidates, so privacy laws may apply to govern the ways your organisation manages that information.
Even if privacy laws don't apply to your organisation, the ways your organisation uses, stores and discloses that information might impact on your reputation, so it's worth considering how best to approach information about individuals.
For more information, see our guide to privacy.
We have produced a comprehensive guide on screening checks for each state and territory.
Each guide includes information on:
- Working with Children Checks
- NDIS Worker Screening Checks
- Police Checks
The content on this webpage was last updated in July 2026 and is not legal advice. See full disclaimer and copyright notice.
