Core children's workers and overseas convictions

Changes to the Children’s Act will come into effect from 24 October. The changes expand the list of specified offences in the Children’s Act (found in Schedule 2) that prevent a person from working as a core children’s worker.  The changes do this in two ways:

• It will include convictions from overseas that would be specified offences if they had been committed in New Zealand, and
• It will add three offences from the Prostitution Reform Act 2003 to the list of specified offences.

Specified Offences - Schedule 2 of the Children's Act 2014 external

Overseas convictions

The changes to include overseas convictions will affect organisations that employ or engage core children’s workers. Providers must now take reasonable steps to determine whether a core children's worker has any overseas convictions that would be equivalent to a specified offence in the Children's Act 2014. If a person has an overseas conviction that is equivalent to a specified offence, they cannot be employed or engaged as a core children's worker unless they hold a core worker exemption.

Providers will need to:

• Update policies and procedures to state that people with overseas convictions equivalent to a specified offence cannot be employed or engaged as core children’s workers, unless they have a core worker exemption.
• Review recruitment processes for core children’s worker roles and consider questions that help identify whether applicants have relevant overseas convictions.
• Make reasonable efforts to identify whether any current core children’s workers have overseas convictions that may be equivalent to a specified offence.
• Put in place a process to decide whether an overseas conviction is equivalent to a specified offence in New Zealand.

Key dates

From 24 October 2026
You must not employ or engage a new core children’s worker who has an overseas conviction that is equivalent to a specified offence, unless they have a core worker exemption for that conviction.

By 24 April 2027
You must not continue to employ or engage an existing core children’s worker who has an overseas conviction that is equivalent to a specified offence, unless they have a core worker exemption for that conviction.

This six-month period gives you time to identify any relevant overseas convictions held by existing core children’s workers. It also allows time for core children’s workers to apply for and obtain a core worker exemption where needed. Until 24 April 2027, a core children’s worker with an equivalent overseas conviction can continue to work without an exemption.

We suggest that you start checking with existing core children’s workers as soon as possible. While there may be a small number of core children’s workers with overseas convictions, gathering information to decide if an overseas conviction is equivalent to a specified offence can take a considerable amount of time.

It is the providers legal responsibility to check if an applicant for or employee in a core children’s worker role has any overseas convictions. The checks you conduct must be enough to  satisfy you that you have taken reasonable steps to identify any relevant overseas convictions and assess whether they are equivalent to a specified offence. Documents that will help include:

• overseas police certificate
• court records or other official documents
• information provided directly by the person
• statutory declarations.

We recommend asking candidates or current core children’s workers to obtain an overseas police certificate through:

• New Zealand Police (for New Zealand and Australia only), or
• Agencies listed on the Immigration New Zealand's approved overseas police certificate list.

NZ Police Vetting Service - New Zealand Police external
Australia's National Police Checking Service (NPCS) - New Zealand Police external
How to get an overseas police certificate - Immigration New Zealand external

You could also ask candidates or current core children’s workers to obtain an overseas police certificate through a third-party organisation. Examples include AIS International or CVCheck New Zealand.

AIS International external
CVCheck New Zealand external

If overseas police certificates are not in English, they should be translated by a certified organisation before they are used as part of your safety checking process. 

With the exception of Australian police certificates obtained through the New Zealand Police Vetting Service, overseas police certificates generally need to be requested directly by the individual. You may or may not choose to reimburse any associated costs.

Reusing existing police certificates

Candidates and current core children’s workers may be able to reuse overseas police certificates that were originally obtained for another purpose, such as immigration applications or professional registration.

This may only be appropriate if the person has not returned to that country for an extended period since the police certificate was completed. 

When a statutory declaration may be appropriate

In some circumstances, a statutory declaration can be used as part of your overseas conviction checking process. A New Zealand statutory declaration is a written statement made under the Oaths and Declarations Act 1957. Knowingly making a false declaration is a crime.

You can ask a candidate or current core children’s worker to provide a statutory declaration that confirms, For example:

• they have not travelled or lived overseas during the relevant period and/or
• they do not have any overseas criminal convictions and/or
• they do have an overseas conviction but have been unable to obtain a police certificate.

A statutory declaration should be considered alongside other information available to you when completing your risk assessment, and if relevant, the equivalence assessment. A statutory declaration should not be relied on as the sole source of information where other overseas checking options are available.

The New Zealand Government website has information about making a statutory declaration, including forms that can be used.

Making a statutory declaration - New Zealand Government external

If a core children’s worker has an overseas conviction, it is the provider’s responsibility to determine whether the offence would be considered a specified offence if it had occurred in New Zealand.

To make this assessment, you will need to gather as much information as possible about the circumstances of the offence.  This may include court records, police information, or other relevant documents. The legislation from the country where the offence occurred can also help clarify the nature of the offending.

You must then compare the overseas offence with the list of specified offences in the Children’s Act and decide whether it would be equivalent to a specified offence if it had occurred in New Zealand. 

When making this decision, you will need to consider:

• Whether the overseas offence contains similar key elements to a specified offence.
• Whether the behaviour involved is similar to the type of behaviour covered by a specified offence.
• Whether the victims of the offence were similar.

You must keep records of the information you reviewed and the reasons for your decision on whether the overseas offence would be considered a specified offence.

If a core children's worker disagrees with your decision that their overseas conviction is equivalent to a specified offence, they may apply for a review.

The Ministry of Education has published guidance to help providers make decisions about overseas convictions.

Guidance on overseas convictions for core workers - Ministry of Education external

The change also adds the following offences from the Prostitution Reform Act 2003 to the list of specified offences:

• Section 20: Assisting a person under 18 years of age to provide commercial sexual services.
• Section 21: Receiving earnings from commercial sexual services provided by a person under 18 years of age.
• Section 22: Contracting for, or being a client of, commercial sexual services provided by a person under 18 years of age.

Prostitution Reform Act 2003 external 

From 24 October 2026, people applying for core children’s worker roles who have any of these offences cannot be employed or engaged unless they have a core worker exemption

The New Zealand Police Vetting Service will notify providers if they identify that a core children’s worker who was previously vetted has a conviction for one of these additional offences.

The Ministry of Education has published guidance to help providers understand and implement these changes to the Children’s Act. We have included these changes in the October 2026 update to the Social Sector Accreditation Standards guidance.

Core children's workers and overseas convictions - Ministry of Education external