Police vetting for early learning services

On this page

Overview
Children's workers including certified teachers
People who are not children's workers but may have access to children
Who does not need a police vet
Apply for a New Zealand Police vet
Risk assessments after a police vet
Record keeping and privacy
Right to access records of safety checks
More information

Overview#

Police vetting and risk assessment processes for people who work in or have access to a service are a key part of early learning service providers' health and safety responsibilities.

These obligations are under the Children's Act 2014 and the Education and Training Act 2020.

Before a person can begin work or gain unsupervised access to children, service providers must ensure all relevant requirements are completed.

Different legislative requirements apply depending on whether an individual is:

a children's worker under the Children's Act 2014 or
another person connected with the service.

These are related processes. Both require a police vet, but they serve different purposes.

It’s important to correctly identify roles so you can apply the right requirements.

If you are unsure if the person is a children’s worker who requires more than a police vet follow the flowchart below.

Click on the flowchart below to enlarge it.

Are your staff children's workers?

Do they work in a regulated service and the work is paid or part of an education or vocational training course?

If no, they are not a children's worker. If yes, does the work involve regular or overnight contact with children
- If no, they are not a children's worker. If yes, does the work take place without the child's parent or guardian being there?
  - If no, they are not a children's worker. If yes, they are a children's worker.

Information

As part of the Government’s response to the Abuse in Care Royal Commission of Inquiry, on 24 October 2026:

more offences were added to the list of Schedule 2 offences and
the need to identify equivalent overseas convictions for core children's workers was introduced.

Children's workers including certified teachers#

Children's workers including certified teachers

Police vetting is one component of safety checking children’s workers required by the Children's Act 2014.

Under the Children's Act 2014:

all children's workers must be safety checked before they begin work
they must be rechecked every 3 years
it is an offence to employ or engage a children's worker without completing the required safety check before they start work
it is an offence to fail to complete a safety recheck every 3 years.

Do not employ people convicted of Schedule 2 offences

You must take reasonable steps to make sure you do not employ anyone who has been convicted of certain offences or an equivalent overseas conviction, unless they have been granted a core worker exemption. Schedule 2 of the Children's Act lists those offences.

Children’s Act 2014: Schedule 2 – New Zealand Legislation

Identifying equivalent overseas convictions

From 24 October 2026 you must consider overseas convictions equivalent to Schedule 2 offences under the Children’s Act 2014 when safety checking core children’s workers.

A person with an equivalent overseas conviction cannot be employed or engaged as a core children’s worker unless they have been granted a core worker exemption.

Transition period for existing children’s workers until 24 April 2027

By 24 April 2027 you must not continue to employ or engage a core worker who has an overseas conviction equivalent to a Schedule 2 offence.

This means that from 24 April 2027 the following people cannot continue in a core worker role unless they are granted a core worker exemption:

a core worker with a conviction listed in Schedule 2
a core worker with an equivalent overseas conviction
an existing core worker with a conviction for a newly added offence.

You can find detailed guidance on the page below. Identify and complete relevant steps in the guidance and record the process you follow.

Overseas convictions and education core children's workers

Core worker exemptions

A person with an equivalent overseas conviction or New Zealand conviction for a Schedule 2 offence can only work as a core children’s worker if they are granted a core worker exemption.

People can apply to Te Kāhui Kāhu for a core worker exemption.

Core worker exemptions – Te Kāhui Kāhu

Certified teachers

The Teaching Council of Aotearoa New Zealand (Teaching Council) is responsible for vetting registered teachers and relief teachers. This is part of the process to hold a practising certificate or Limited Authority to Teach (LAT).

This means you do not need to undertake a separate police vet when you undertake a safety check.

For certified teachers, the Teaching Council would have assessed any overseas criminal history. Teachers with relevant convictions are not certificated unless they have obtained a core worker exemption.

New convictions

Registered teachers are expected to disclose any new convictions and serious matters to the Teaching Council.

The Teaching Council will not share the content of police vets with you.

The New Zealand Police Vetting Service will advise employers if existing core workers who have been vetted previously have been convicted of any of the newly-added offences.

Find a registered teacher – Teaching Council of Aotearoa New Zealand

Lapsed practising certificates

If a teacher's practising certificate lapses, the teacher cannot continue working as a children's worker until:

the certificate has been renewed
an extension to teach has been received
you get a police vet for them yourself.

You should also complete other parts of the periodic safety re-check to make sure risk has been assessed.

Other components of safety checking

Learn more about children's workers and how to carry out a safety check.

Safety checking for child protection in early learning

People who are not children's workers but may have access to children#

People who are not children's workers but may have access to children

For anyone working in an early childhood education service who is not defined as a children's worker, there must be a completed:

police vet
risk assessment of the information in the vet.

This is set out in Schedule 4 of the Education and Training Act 2020.

Schedule 4 of the Education and Training Act 2020 – New Zealand Legislation

Non-teaching and unregistered employees and contractors

You must police vet and assess:

a non-teaching or unregistered employee before the person begins work at the service
any contractor or employee of a contractor before the person has or is likely to have unsupervised access to children.

Members of governance groups

Police vets at a governance level are part of the process of applying for a probationary licence. Information about this is available in the EC1 probationary licence application form on the Education Review Office (ERO) website.

My applications – ERO

Adults living in home-based care premises

Anyone aged 17 years or over who lives in a home where home-based education and care is being provided must be police vetted and a risk assessment must be undertaken.

If the adult lives in a home that will be used for home-based education and care, you must get their police vet before the service starts operating, even if they are unlikely to be there when the service is operating.
If an adult moves to a home that is already being used for home-based education and care, you must get a police vet for them before they move in.

Who does not need a police vet#

Under the Children’s Act 2014 or the Education and Training Act 2020, you do not need to a police vet for:

any employee who works in a different location from the service
any employee who only works outside of the licensed operating hours.

Volunteers#

Volunteers do not need to be police vetted under the Children's Act 2014 or the Education and Training Act 2020.

Although you are not legally required to police vet volunteers, always think about child safety. As good practice, you could safety check or police vet volunteers who have regular, overnight or one-on-one contact with children.

Apply for a New Zealand Police vet#

Applications may take up to 20 business days to process.

A police vet must be updated by the employer at least every 3 years.

Learn more about what a police vet is and how to apply for one.

Police vetting service – New Zealand Police

Police vets by other organisations#

Some other organisations, including tertiary training providers and relief teacher agencies, may supply a police vet as part of safety checking a children's worker.

Your service is responsible for confirming that a full safety check has been done.

Risk assessments after a police vet#

After a police vet, early learning service providers must do a risk assessment. This is to assess whether the person would pose a risk to the safety of children if they were to work at your service.

The police vet will include any information that the New Zealand Police think is relevant to the role the person will hold at your service.

Early learning service providers must consider that information to assess whether the person would pose a risk to the safety of children if they were to work at your service.

Guidelines for risk assessment#

Under Schedule 4 of the Education and Training Act 2020 you must:

follow our guidelines when doing a risk assessment and
show this in your decision-making.

Education and Training Act 2020 Schedule 4 – New Zealand Legislation

You must consider the relevance of the information in the police vet to the role being vetted for – for example, whether there are any matters relating to children or other vulnerable people.

You must also consider any risk to children.

What you must take into account

If there has been a conviction, you must take into account:

the nature and severity of the offending
the individual’s age at the time of the offending
the amount of time that has passed since the offending
whether any more offending has happened since
whether behavioural change has happened since
the number of convictions that are relevant to the role
other offences committed or a pattern of recurring offending
any aggravating or mitigating factors.

Record keeping and privacy#

You must keep a record of the police vet for at least as long as the person vetted is employed or engaged by your service.

That person must be told how long the information is kept and why.

If the information is used for an audit, you must have their permission for this before they are police vetted.

Review your policies and procedures regularly#

Policies and procedures for using information in the police vet to support employment decisions should be reviewed regularly so they align with the Act and our guidelines.