Working With Children Check (SA)
A Working With Children Check (WWC) is the clearance required to do child-related work in South Australia. It is administered by the Department of Human Services (DHS) Screening Unit. Oho recognises it as a South Australian Working With Children Check and can confirm it against the official register.
Who needs it
Anyone engaged in child-related work in South Australia, employees and volunteers alike.
What Oho needs
The check or application number printed on the WWC, plus the holder's name. Verification is carried out through the DHS Screening Unit portal rather than a public API, so Oho must have portal credentials configured for your organisation.
How Oho verifies it
Oho verifies through the DHS Screening Unit portal. After the worker is first linked, results return in under ten minutes. South Australia establishes an automatic employer linkage between your organisation and the worker. Oho can "register interest" in a check, which enables status-change notifications, and re-checks it on the schedule you set up in the Verification Sources tab. Renewals flow through automatically.
Because South Australia uses a secure portal rather than an open register, verification depends on portal access being set up for your organisation. If access is not in place, the check cannot run and shows red.
Reading the result
Every check resolves to one of a few outcomes, shown with a colour so it's easy to scan:
| Outcome | Colour | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| MAY_ENGAGE | Green | Valid and current — the person is cleared for the work. |
| MAY_NOT_ENGAGE | Red | Not valid — for example expired, suspended, cancelled, or no matching record. |
| REVIEW_REQUIRED | Yellow | Valid but carries conditions worth a person reviewing before relying on it. |
| IN_PROGRESS | Grey | Still being checked — some registers take a little longer to respond. |
| ERROR | Grey | The register couldn't be reached; Oho will try again. |
Oho keeps watching afterwards and updates the outcome automatically if the status changes, and the worker's profile keeps a history of every check.