Police vetting for schools and kura Māori
Police vetting is part of the safety checking processes required by both the Education and Training Act 2020 and the Children’s Act 2014. Different requirements apply to people who undertake different types of work in schools and kura Māori. These requirements ensure that any risk to children is assessed so that places of learning are safe for our ākonga.
Changes to the Education and Training Act 2020 in August 2023 include clarifying police vetting requirements for non-teaching and unregistered employees at schools, as well as contractors and their employees who work at schools.
Information about these changes, including the new risk assessment guidelines, can be found on our website:
Risk assessments for police vets completed under the Education and Training Act 2020
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This information explains the vetting requirements and processes that schools and kura Māori need to apply.
- Who is police vetted?
- Teaching Council of Aotearoa New Zealand
- Employment agencies or tertiary providers
- Volunteers
- The vetting process
- Risk assessments for police vets completed under the Education and Training Act 2020
- Managing vetting information
- Using police vets and broader safety checks completed by other organisations
- More information
What is a police vet?
A police vet is a search of the information held by New Zealand Police about an individual. It checks for a criminal history and may also provide other information about that person held by the NZ Police.
For overseas workers, we recommend getting copies of police certificates from the relevant countries.
If a new offence under the Children’s Act 2014 comes to the attention of NZ Police after the vet results have been issued for an individual, they’re able to contact the employing or contracting organisation who obtained the vet to alert them to this new information.
Schedule 2: Specified offences, Children's Act 2014 – NZ Legislation(external link)
Who is vetted?
All children's workers need to be vetted. This includes staff employed and other children's workers engaged (whether they’re contracted or not) at a school or kura Māori, whose work involves regular or overnight contact with children.
A school or kura Māori must request a police vet for anyone employed or contracted (including the contractors’ employees) to work during normal school hours, and for contractors and their employees who have or are likely to have unsupervised access to children.
A school or kura Māori can rely on (trust) the police vetting and other safety checks for other children’s workers not required under the Education and Training Act, under the Children's Act 2014.
Volunteers don't need to be police vetted under the Children's Act 2014 or the Education and Training Act 2020.
The following resource can help determine what level of safety checking and police vetting is required for a school or kura Māori.
What checks do I need to undertake for adults coming into my school or kura Māori? [PDF, 449 KB]
Teaching Council of Aotearoa New Zealand
A school or kura Māori isn’t required to request a police vet for a teacher (including a principal or relief teacher) who has been issued a current practicing certificate or limited authority to teach (LAT) by the Teaching Council of Aotearoa New Zealand (Teaching Council).
Your school or kura Māori can reply on the Teaching Council to police vet registered teachers and those with a Limited Authority to Teach (LAT). They’re responsible for completing a police vet as part of deciding whether the individual is of good character and fit to hold a practising certificate or LAT.
The Teaching Council considers not only specified offences, under Schedule 2 of the Children's Act 2014, but considers all information and convictions in the police vet, for example, convictions for fraud or drug related offences that may give concern. Registered teachers are expected to disclose any new convictions and serious matters to the Teaching Council.
The Teaching Council won’t share police vets with schools or kura Māori.
Please check the Teaching Council register to confirm that an individual holds a practicing certificate of LAT:
Search the register – Teaching Council of Aotearoa New Zealand(external link)
Employment agencies or tertiary providers
A school or kura Māori is able to rely on confirmation of police vetting and other components of a safety check for relief teachers supplied by an agency.
They can also rely on confirmation from initial teacher education providers and other tertiary organisations when hosting their students on practicum.
If a school or kura Māori sources relievers independently rather than through an agency, they’ll need to complete all components of the safety check themselves, including the police vet.
For more information about relying on safety checks completed on behalf of a school or kura Māori by other organisations, see Part 4 of our Children's Act 2014 guide.
Children's Act 2014 requirements for schools and kura(external link)
Volunteers
Volunteers don't need to be police vetted under the Children's Act 2014 or the Education and Training Act 2020.
A school or kura Māori can choose whether to safety check (including whether to vet) volunteers that support their school (this may be guided by their own child protection policies and any health and safety policy or procedures).
If a school or kura Māori chooses to police vet a volunteer, the vet request should be submitted to teh NZ Police as a non-Children's Act 2014 vet (that is, one that isn’t required by the Children's Act 2014 legislation).
Safety checking steps – Children's Act 2014 guide [PDF, 5.2 MB]
The vetting process
When a vet check needs to be done
Police vets must be obtained as part of the broader safety check required under the Children's Act 2014 before the person starts work. Police vets must be renewed every 3 years.
Allowing enough time for checks to be processed
It usually takes 20 days for a vet to be processed, but at peak times it may take longer.
Submit your request as soon as possible for new employees or contractors, and plan ahead for police vets expiring in the next few months.
Requesting a police vet
Only approved agencies can request a police vet.
All schools and kura Māori can register to be an approved agency and request vets through the NZ Police Vetting Service.
Forms and guides – NZ Police Vetting Service(external link)
A school or kura Māori must get the agreement of the person to be vetted first. They should explain to the person being vetted how long the information will be kept and why, and send them the NZ Police Vetting Service Request and consent form to complete and sign.
The NZ Police can also complete an optional request for an Australian criminal history check.
Vetting process – NZ Police(external link)
Overseas workers should request copies of police certificates from their countries of citizenship and from any country in which they have lived for 1 or more years within the last 10 years.
Visit the Teaching Council website for more information about how this can be done.
Overseas police clearance – Teaching Council NZ(external link)
Risk assessments for police vets completed under the Education and Training Act 2020
School boards must consider the information contained in the police vet to assess whether the person would pose a risk to the safety of children if the person were to carry out work at the school.
In carrying out a risk assessment, school boards must take into account any guidelines on risk assessments issued by the Ministry. Information about risk assessments, and the new guidelines for schools, can be found on our website here:
Risk assessments for police vets completed under the Education and Training Act 2020
Managing vetting information
A school or kura Māori must keep all police vets confidential and manage vetting information in accordance with the:
Privacy Act 2020 – NZ Legislation(external link)
Public Records Act 2005 – NZ Legislation(external link)
Circular 2006/19: School records retention and disposal(external link)
As good practice, we suggest a school or kura Māori maintain a record of the dates on which every person has been Police vetted.
Sharing police vets with another agency
A school or kura Māori can’t share a police vet and can’t accept vetting information from other agencies to meet their requirements.
Vetting results are intended for the requesting agency only and are based on information the school or kura Māori supplied about the role the person is fulfilling, or being recruited for, at the time.
Using vets and broader safety checks completed by other organisations
There are some exceptions where schools and kura Māori can rely on police vetting as part of a safety check, completed by other agencies as part of their own certifying, enrolment or employment processes.
Other organisations
If you choose to rely on a police vet for a children's worker undertaken by another organisation on your behalf, we recommend you seek permission from the person being safety checked for this to occur before the safety check is undertaken.
We also recommend you obtain confirmation from the person or organisation acting on your behalf that they are undertaking the check, prior to doing so.
You should also request confirmation in writing that the check has been done to the standard set out in the Children's Act 2014. The documentation should be about the individual concerned, rather than generic.
You may choose not to rely on a police vet undertaken by another organisation, and to instead obtain your own police vet.
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