People who have been charged but not convicted of a sex offence, and other `high-risk' people, could be banned from working around minors under a revamp of the Working With Children Check.
NSW Minister for Citizenship and Communities Victor Dominello will table new legislation on Wednesday that he says will simplify and strengthen the system for running background checks on people working children.
The new check would be required of everyone whose paid or volunteer work requires ongoing contact with children, or for carers or adults living in a foster carer's house.
"It accesses broader criminal histories and has only two outcomes - a clearance or a bar," Mr Dominello said.
"This is a significant departure from the current system where some employers can choose whether or not to employ a high-risk person."
Currently, convictions for sex offences or serious violence against children result in an automatic ban.
Under the proposed laws, a person charged with child sex offences but not convicted or acquitted, or a person who "shows patterns of cruel or violent conduct towards children" could be deemed ineligible to be cleared, a spokeswoman for the minister told AAP.
The organisation making the call would be the Commission for Children and Young People - taking over from four agencies currently responsible.
"This is inherently more efficient and effective," the spokeswoman said.
She said more people would undergo background checks, however.
"Under the current system, most volunteers do not undergo a background check - they only sign a declaration stating they are not prohibited from working with children," she said.
"Under the new system, all workers will undergo the same check."
Under the new legislation, checks would also be valid for just five years. Currently, workers are only required to be checked at recruitment.
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