Increasingly human service organisations in Australia require staff, volunteers, and social work students on placement to undergo child-related criminal history checks. In turn, many schools of social work require prospective or enrolled students to undergo criminal history checks and provide a clearance of their suitability to work with children. Universities have historically played a role of gatekeeper to the social work profession, but the appropriateness of using past criminal history in this gatekeeping process is contested. This study examines the websites of 30 Australian universities to ascertain the extent to which they require social work students to undertake child-related criminal history screening. Most universities required students to have a child-related criminal history clearance, and all but one of the remaining universities identified that screening may be required, depending upon placement agency requirements. This may limit or close off access to social work education for people with criminal histories and lived experience of hardship and disadvantage.

The opportunity to study social work in Australia is limited for people who are ineligible for a child-related criminal history clearance.

Requirements for clearances imposed by universities often go beyond those required by legislation aimed at protecting the rights and safety of children.

Universities could move away from a blanket exclusion to a more flexible “as needed” arrangement, so that people with lived experience of contact with the criminal justice system are not excluded from the social work profession.