Police Vetting Policy

Principle / Overview

This policy outlines TAP lab’s requirements for the Police Vetting of members and workshop facilitators

Application

This policy applies to all current and potential members.

Related documents

• Privacy Policy
• Police Vetting user guide
• Police vet consent form

Reason for policy

TAP lab runs activities attended by minors and has a responsibility to those minors and the activity facilitators to ensure their safety at those events. TAP lab also has a responsibility to its members to ensure their safety and protection of their information.

Policy details/Implementation

1. No member may run a workshop likely to be attended by minors unless:
   1. The minor’s guardian is present, OR
   2. The member is Police vetted, OR
   3. Another vetted member is present.
2. All members likely to have unsupervised contact with minors without a guardian present or members who TAPlab deems necessary must be Police Vetted, this includes:
   1. All members running a regular workshop (more than one per quarter)
   2. All members who have access to confidential information of other members or attendees.
   3. All members running a one-off workshop where minors are likely to be in attendance without a guardian and where a vetted member is not present.
   4. Any member who wishes to undergo a Police vet.
3. The following people do not need to be vetted, although may be if desired:
   1. A person running a one-off workshop provided that one of the conditions in (1) is true.
   2. A member that is providing one-off ‘relief’ for a regular facilitator provided that all minors have a guardian in attendance.
   3. Persons providing a workshop in collaboration with TAPlab provided one of the conditions in (1) is true.

4. Vetting is to be done by the Operations Manager, Secretary, or an appointed member of the Executive Committee.
5. Completed application forms should be stored in a secure accessible only by the people in (4) until a result is received from The New Zealand Police but not exceeding 12 months.
6. Police vets must be renewed at minimum every 30 months.
7. To be vetted an applicant must provide the Vetter with:
   1. A completed Police vet application form.
   2. Sufficient identification to comply with the Police Vet requirements (8).
8. All Police vet requests should comply with the Police Vetting guide (https://www.police.govt.nz/sites/default/files/publications/user–guide–to–pvs–vettingrequest–consent–form.pdf).

When a result is received:

1. If the result is clear the member should be recorded as passing vetting and the member must be notified their result is clear.
2. If the result returns a conviction the outcome should be assessed against appendix 1 where:
   1. Low Risk offences should not affect application.
   2. Medium Risk offences should be followed up by the named assessor(s) for a decision to be made.
   3. High Risk offenses should be denied.
   4. Other offenses are followed up by the named assessors and may be approved with conditions.
3. Any decision following a conviction should take into account recommendations made by NZ Police.
   1. A decision cannot be made without seeking further information from the applicant.
   2. Where an offence fits into multiple categories, the one with the higher restriction should be used.
4. Convictions are to be treated as confidential and are not to be disclosed to other members.

Appendix 1: Risk assessment

Risk:	Low Risk (ignore)	Medium Risk (Follow up with applicant and approve at discretion)	High Risk (Deny)	Other (follow up and approve at discretion or with conditions)
Outcome assessed by:	Operations Manager	Operations Manager, must consult with President	Operations Manager	Operations Manager and President
Factors:	–     Driving offences	–     Non-custody sentenced offences against property	–        Offences against minors –        Offences against a person (within 3 years) –        Offences with custody sentence (released within past 3 years) –        Any specified offence under Schedule 2 of the Children’s Act 2014	–        Financial offences [may not be in a role with access to TAPlab funds] –        Low value theft [may not be issued with access card] –        Custody sentence (released over 3 years) –        Other noncustody sentenced offences

     

Appendix 2: Definitions and notes

• A partially filled template for Police vetting consent is available, the default values should be used where possible
• Under “If this is a mandatory Children’s Act request, please specify the check reason”
• A New Children’s Worker is someone who has not previously been a facilitator
• An existing Children’s worker is someone who is currently, or previously was a facilitator
• A CA renewal is someone who has been previously vetted – Section 1 must be completed by a person registered in queryMe –          When loading a request in queryMe:
• The role should be “Support Services (child/youth)”
• We do not run Australian checks (this incurs additional fees)