Youth safety training
You need to complete youth safety training if you fall into one or more of the following categories:
- All Defence personnel and contractors whose roles involve interaction with young people under the age of 18.
- Defence personnel and contractors whose position role has been identified and annotated as ‘youth-related work’.
- Defence personnel under the age of 18.
- Defence personnel aged 18 and over with peers under the age of 18.
- All cadets under the age of 18.
- Officers and instructors of cadets.
- Defence approved helpers.
- Defence members and ADF cadets aged 18-25 with peers under the age of 18.
- Training can be found on Campus or CadetNet using the Course Codes provided in the Youth Safety Training Guide.
Use the following links to obtain a WWCC for your state or territory:
Check the Youth Safety Training Guide for a breakdown of what training you need to complete and how often it needs to be renewed. Depending on your individual requirements, you will have to complete one or more of the following five training packages:
- Level 1 – Awareness package.
- Level 2 – Practitioner training package.
- Level 3 – Leader training package.
- Level 6 – Youth, designed for young people between the ages of 13–18 years.
- Level 6 – Young Adult, designed for young adults aged 18–25 years with peers aged under 18.
Youth safety training can be found on Campus or CadetNet using the Course Codes provided in the Youth Safety Training Guide
You are required to obtain and maintain a Working with Children Check if you meet any of the following criteria:
- You work in a defined youth-related work position.
- You provide overnight care and supervision of youth participating in a Defence Youth Program or Defence Force Recruiting camp/activity.
- You are a Cadet Adult Volunteer, including Officers of Cadets, Instructors of Cadets, and Defence Approved Helpers.
Use the following links to obtain a WWCC for your state or territory:
Cadets
You must be a minimum age of 12 and be turning 13 in the same calendar year.
Cadets are required to cease their membership no later than the end of the calendar year that they turn 18.
ADF Cadets aims to be inclusive of all young people and Officers and Instructors of Cadets, including those with disabilities, health conditions and allergies. All reasonable steps will be taken to include any person whose individual circumstances may necessitate special consideration in Cadet Unit activities, provided such steps do not jeopardise the safety or cadet experience of others.
Defence Work Experience Program
Defence conforms to state and territory based legislation relating to Work Health and Safety in relation to work experience when designing work placement activities. A safety risk assessment is undertaken for all work experience placements.
Contact points for organising a Work Experience Placement will be included in the information provided on the Defence Work Experience Program website. Simply look up the individual placement details to locate a point of contact.
Defence does not require any pre-requisite training other than that required by state or territory guidelines/policy. You should check with the relevant education department in your state for any specific requirements.
Students are encouraged to apply for a Work Experience Placement in the Australian Defence Force regardless of their health and fitness. However, the educational institution must notify Defence (through the Agreement) of any students who have medical or other conditions that may affect their ability to participate in all or part of the Work Experience Placements and/or have special needs. Some placements require the applicant to complete a health and fitness questionnaire in relation to physical activities.
The point of contact for the advertised placement or the Work Experience Liaison Officer within your region will be able to provide you with guidance.
For Students
You must be at least 15 years old to attend a placement. You are able to apply for a placement when you are 14, as long as you have turned 15 years old by the first day of the placement.
All Work Experience with Defence must be arranged through the Defence Work Experience Program. Either you, your school or a Defence member will need to contact the Work Experience Manager who looks after the base the Work Experience is being held at. Relevant permissions will need to be sought to allow the placement to go ahead. The hosting unit, yourself, your parents and school will be required to fill in documentation which will be provided to you by the Work Experience Manager. If these documents are not filled in and returned by the due date, the placement will not go ahead.
Discuss your situation with your Careers Adviser and the Work Experience listed on the Information Pack for the placement you’re interested in.
Yes, however the same criteria apply in regard to submitting an online application.
No. Successful candidates are selected by a merit process.
For Parents
Successful candidates selected by a merit process. Multiple applicants from the same school are considered, but we cannot guarantee all will be given a place. In the event a student is suitable however has been unsuccessful, consideration (where possible) will be given to place the student in the next available opportunity.
• to provide written advice of any ongoing medical condition (such as asthma, allergies, etc.) and provide a treatment or action plan where required, if your child is under 18 years of age
• to provide agreement for your child's personal information to be used to obtain a security clearance, should it be required
• if under the age of 18, ensure the student has appropriate supervision by a responsible adult if they coming from outside the local area to participate in the Work Experience Program
• arrange and meet costs for any transport and accommodation associated with attending the placement
• If your child is under 18 years of age, you will be informed of any issue relating to security, health and safety, unacceptable behaviour, incident or complaint that may arise in the workplace in relation to your child.
For Educational Institutions
In the majority of cases, students are selected on the basis of a clear and concise application, including completion of questions against the selection criteria. Eligibility criteria also apply. This criteria is listed on the Information Pack for the placement.
To ensure a fair and equitable distribution of available positions, schools are to be mindful of other schools interest in specific placement opportunities. In the event there are sufficient positions available, then additional numbers from the same school will be given due consideration. In the event a suitable student is unsuccessful, consideration (where possible) will be given to place the student in the next available opportunity, noting that we usually have more applications than we have positions available.
All Work Experience with Defence must be arranged through the Defence Work Experience Program. Either yourself, your school or a Defence member will need to contact the Work Experience Manager who looks after the base the Work Experience is being held at. Relevant permissions will need to be sought to allow the placement to go ahead. The hosting unit, yourself, your parents and school will be required to fill in documentation which will be provided to you by the Work Experience Manager. If these documents are not filled in and returned by the due date, the placement will not go ahead.
It is a requirement for staff who are supervising students overnight to hold a Working with Children Check/Working with Vulnerable People Check as applicable to their state.
Security requirements for entry to bases are quite strict. If you require a visit to a base for any reason, please contact the Work Experience Manager in charge of the base well in advance of the placement to see if it can be arranged. Where required, your Work Experience Manager will work with you on alternate arrangements.
Our agreements are similar in content to Student Placement Records. It is a way for us to collect relevant and important information about the participant, including personal details, emergency contact and medical information. It also allows us to gather information about the educational institution, including a point of contact and their contact details, insurance information and any activities that students cannot participate in due to limitations in school insurance policies or that are determined as excluded/prohibited according to departmental policies. It also gives educational institutions the opportunity to provide any information about participants that is relevant to the safe conduct of a placement.