Working With Children Check on Your Resume (Blue Card & WWCC)

A Working with Children Check buried in your job history is a clearance nobody sees — and for childcare, school, aged care and disability work it is the first thing an employer screens for. In Queensland it is called a Blue Card; wherever you are, it belongs in a plain-text Checks line in the top third of the page, marked current, because that is as far as most Australian employers read before they decide who to call.

You have applied for care or education work, you have the right heart for it, and the phone is silent. When you are new to Australia and rent is due, that silence is frightening — and it is easy to assume the problem is your English or your experience. Usually it is neither. Usually a screener simply could not see, in the first few seconds, the one clearance the role turns on.

This guide is for people new to Australia going for childcare, early learning, school support, coaching, disability or aged-care work where a children's check applies. For the general layout rules, start with the Australian resume guide. This page covers what changes when a role screens for who you're allowed to work with.

Blue Card, WWCC, Ochre Card: what is the check called in each state?

A Working with Children Check is a government screening that decides whether you are cleared to work with under-18s, and it is run separately by each of Australia's 8 states and territories — under 5 different names. Getting the name wrong on your resume signals you are not set up for local work, so name it the way your state does:

State	What it is called	Who issues it	Valid for
QLD	Blue Card	Blue Card Services, Dept of Justice	3 years
NSW	Working with Children Check	Office of the Children's Guardian	5 years
VIC	Working with Children Check	Victorian Government	5 years
WA	Working with Children Check	WWC Screening Unit, Dept of Communities	3 years
SA	Working with Children Check	DHS Screening Unit	5 years
NT	Ochre Card (Working with Children Clearance)	Northern Territory Government	2 years
ACT	Working with Vulnerable People (WWVP) registration	Access Canberra	5 years
TAS	Registration to Work with Vulnerable People	Department of Justice	5 years

Fees and renewal periods change, so confirm both with your own state's issuer before you rely on them.

One caveat that catches a lot of newcomers: each state runs its own scheme, with its own issuer, fees and rules, and the checks do not transfer between states. Queensland does not recognise other states' checks, and a Blue Card does not make you cleared in Sydney. If you have moved interstate, you generally have to apply again from scratch — so don't list an interstate card as if it covers you where the job actually is. Confirm what you need with the issuer in the state where you'll be working, not with what a friend in another state told you.

Put your check up top, in plain text

The right place for a Working with Children Check is a plain-text Checks or Licences line in the top third of your resume, named for the state you are working in and marked current — for example Blue Card (QLD) — current. Care and education employers screen for that line before anything else, so a check mentioned three lines into a past job has effectively been hidden.

Four rules:

• Add a Checks or Licences line near the top — for example, Blue Card (QLD) — current or Working with Children Check (NSW) — current
• Name your state and say "current", so it's clear the card is valid where they are and you're ready now
• Repeat it in your one-line summary, because a hirer scanning on a phone should not have to scroll to find it
• Keep it in plain text, never inside a logo, badge or image — scanning software reads text, and a clearance trapped in a graphic is invisible to it

For the exact mechanics of how a check or ticket line is worded and placed, see where to put your RSA on your resume — the same rules apply here. To see what an employer's software actually pulls out of your file, run the resume checker, A$4.99.

What child-related employers screen for first

A resume for care or education work is a trust document before it is a skills document. Coordinators screen it for four things before your experience. Those four are the right check for your state, any other screening you hold, whether you are safe and reliable around vulnerable people, and whether you can get there and start. It has to answer all four fast:

• Do you hold the right check for this state? Covered above — put it up top, named correctly
• What other screening do you hold? Many roles also want a police check or first aid — list only the ones you genuinely have
• Are you reliable and safe with vulnerable people? Say plainly that you understand the responsibility; this is the whole job
• Can you actually get there and start? A licence, transport, current city and a local mobile all say "ready now"

For many newcomers the honest truth is that being cleared, dependable and genuinely caring matters more than a long local history — and all three can go on the page today.

Waiting on your check? Write it honestly

If your check is still being processed, write it as Blue Card — applied for (submitted July 2026), using the month you actually lodged it. That shows a coordinator you understand the requirement and have it moving. Screening can take weeks, and you do not have to sit on your hands until it lands. But claiming you already hold a card you have only applied for ends offers on the spot, and it travels between local employers.

It reads as organised, not behind.

For many child-related roles you cannot legally start until your check is approved. Queensland's "no card, no start" rule is the strictest. But "no card" means no approval, not no plastic. In Queensland the decision is what lets you start, and the card itself can arrive weeks later. Applications commonly take several weeks either way. That is why applying is step one, before you start applying for jobs. Confirm the rule for your own state with the issuer.

No Australian experience? Reframe what you've got

For care and education work, "no Australian experience" matters far less than newcomers fear. Employers are screening for someone cleared, warm and dependable — none of which need a local employer's name attached.

Three moves surface what you already carry:

• Mine your past for care. Raising children, looking after elderly relatives, teaching, tutoring, coaching or community work back home all count and all translate
• Lead with the human qualities in plain words — patient, reliable, calm with kids — rather than adjectives piled up
• Write results-style lines. Ran after-school activities for 20 children twice a week for a year, never a safety incident lands harder than responsible for children

You are not apologising for a short local history. You are showing you are safe, steady and ready — which is the entire hiring question for a first care or education start.

What should a working with children resume include?

A finished resume for child-related work names the check the way your own state names it. It sits in a plain-text Checks line in the top third, marked current. If it is still in progress, it is marked "applied for" with the month. These six checks confirm the rest of the page matches what a coordinator reads first.

• Lists your check up top — named the way your state names it, marked current, in plain text
• Uses the correct card for the state the job is in, and never an interstate one as a substitute
• Shows any other screening the ad names — and only ones you truly hold
• If the check is pending, says "applied for" honestly, never claims it's issued
• Leads with reliability, care and readiness to start
• Carries no photo and no date of birth — see the Australian resume guide for the full rules

For the screening side of aged-care and disability work — police checks and NDIS Worker Screening — see the police check and NDIS resume guide, and for the care sector broadly the aged care resume guide. If you're studying here, the international student resume guide covers work-hour and visa lines.

Getting a first care or education start can take a few goes, and that's normal. A resume built the way these employers actually read one gives you a fairer crack at it. If you'd rather not assemble it yourself, you can build it in a few minutes with your check already in the right place — you see about half of it free before paying.