WWCC Fee Changes 1 July 2026: The State-by-State Budget Guide for Operators

On the first working day of the new financial year, every state and territory quietly published its updated Working with Children Check fee schedule. None of the changes were headline news on their own, but together they amount to the largest coordinated fee reset in the WWCC system since the schemes were nationalised under the National Registers framework. For any operator with staff in more than one jurisdiction — and for any finance team that budgets screening costs as a per-FTE line item — the 1 July 2026 changes are now the live numbers, not the ones your spreadsheet still shows.

The most material change is in NSW, where the application fee for the Working with Children Check and the NDIS Worker Check both rose from $107 to $112 on 1 July 2026, an indexed increase of 4.7 per cent. The Office of the Children's Guardian confirmed the new fee structure on its public Fee change FAQ page, last updated 27 May 2026. Applications remain free for volunteers. The same fee schedule also lifted the Employer's Authority fee in NSW by 25 per cent across entertainment, exhibition, modelling and still photography categories — the first fee increase for that scheme since 2015, against an estimated cumulative CPI rise of 36 per cent over the same period.

In Victoria, the Working with Children Check moved to $139.20 for an employee check, $139.20 to upgrade from a volunteer to an employee check, and $105.30 for a renewal of an employee check, with the volunteer check remaining free. The replacement card fee is $8.60. These are the fees that apply from 1 July 2026 to 30 June 2027, under the Department of Treasury and Finance's standard indexation policy.

The full state-by-state WWCC fee schedule from 1 July 2026

The table below captures the published application or renewal fee for the standard paid-worker WWCC (or its jurisdictional equivalent) in every state and territory from 1 July 2026. All figures are in Australian dollars and were verified against the relevant state or territory regulator's published fee schedule during the first week of July 2026.

• NSW — Working with Children Check: $112 (up from $107, indexed +4.7%) for a 5-year paid-worker check. NDIS Worker Screening Check in NSW also $112. Volunteer check remains free. Source: Office of the Children's Guardian, Fee change FAQ, 27 May 2026.
• VIC — Working with Children Check: $139.20 employee check, $139.20 volunteer-to-employee transfer, $105.30 renewal, $8.60 replacement card. Volunteer check free. Source: vic.gov.au Check explained, updated 1 July 2026.
• QLD — Blue Card: $108.30 for a paid Blue Card application (indexed in line with Queensland Government indexation policy on 1 July 2026). Replacement card $16.35. Volunteer and student Blue Cards remain free. Existing disability worker screening clearance holders applying for a Blue Card via the DWS form pay $15. Source: qld.gov.au Blue Card payment page, last updated 8 June 2026.
• QLD — NDIS Worker Screening (combined): Combined NDIS worker screening and Blue Card (paid worker) is $176.30 for a 5-year clearance. NDIS worker screening only (paid worker) is $161.30. Combined Queensland disability worker screening and Blue Card (paid worker) is $125.60 for a 3-year clearance. Queensland disability worker screening only (paid worker) is $110.60. Source: workerscreening.qld.gov.au Fees page, current as of 1 July 2026.
• ACT — Working with Vulnerable People (WWVP): $163 for paid work registration. Volunteer-only registration remains free. Replacement card $49. Source: justice.tas.gov.au RWVP fees (TAS), cross-referenced with Access Canberra WWVP application page.
• TAS — Registration to Work with Vulnerable People (RWVP): $137.20 employment/volunteer registration, $113.68 volunteer-only registration, $49 replacement card, all from 1 July 2026. Source: justice.tas.gov.au Fees page.
• NT — Ochre Card (Working with Children Clearance): $89 paid employment (including student placement), $8 volunteering, $35 replacement card. Source: nt.gov.au Apply for a Working with Children Clearance.
• WA — Working with Children Check: Free. WA remains the only Australian jurisdiction where the WWCC application fee is fully subsidised by the state government. Source: wa.gov.au Department of Communities WWCC application page.
• SA — Working with Children Check (DCSI Screening Unit): Approximately $107.80 for a paid-worker check, in line with the existing DHS child-related employment screening fee schedule. SA has not announced a structural fee change for 1 July 2026, but the fee is subject to annual indexation. Source: dhs.sa.gov.au Screening Unit and Department of Child Protection fact sheet.

The practical takeaway: if you are a single-state operator in WA, your WWCC line item did not move on 1 July. If you are a single-state operator in NSW, it moved up 4.7 per cent. If you are a multi-state operator with NSW, VIC, QLD and ACT staff, you are now running four different fee schedules, four different validity periods (NSW 5 years, VIC 5 years, QLD Blue Card 3 years, ACT 3 years), and four different renewal cycles. The per-FTE budget line that worked in FY25-26 will under-fund FY26-27 by an amount that scales with your headcount.

What changed in NSW on 1 July 2026 — and what did not

NSW is the most operationally consequential state for the change, because the OCG publishes a single fee schedule that covers both the Working with Children Check and the NDIS Worker Screening Check, and because the Employer's Authority fee (used in entertainment, exhibition, modelling and still photography) jumped separately. The WWCC and NDIS Worker Check both moved from $107 to $112 on 1 July 2026. The increase is indexed, not legislative — meaning the OCG can adjust again on 1 July 2027 without a regulatory amendment.

The Employer's Authority fee, by contrast, jumped by 25 per cent across all four duration categories, the first increase since 2015. The OCG framed the increase as a measured catch-up to CPI: the cumulative CPI rise between 2015 and 2026 was approximately 36 per cent, so the 25 per cent rise is below CPI. From 1 July 2027, the OCG will move to annual CPI indexation for the Employer's Authority as well, which removes the lump-sum catch-up pattern that produced this year's 25 per cent jump.

• Still photographic sessions, 1 week or less: $100 → $125
• Still photographic sessions, 1 week to 3 months: $806 → $1,007.50
• Entertainment, exhibition, modelling, 1 week or less: $200 → $250
• Entertainment, exhibition, modelling, 1 week to 3 months: $1,830 → $2,287.50
• Entertainment, exhibition, modelling, 6 to 12 months: $2,400 → $3,000

For childcare and aged care operators the Employer's Authority is rarely the headline cost, but for any operator that employs under-18s in entertainment, modelling, or still photography roles — a common pattern in marketing shoots, performance programmes, or media partnerships — the 25 per cent jump is a material budget item.

What changed in Queensland on 1 July 2026

Queensland runs the most complex set of screening fees in the country because the Blue Card (the working with children check) and the disability worker screening scheme (both the NDIS national version and the Queensland state version) are administered as separate but combinable schemes. The Blue Card fee rose on 1 July 2026 to $108.30, in line with Queensland Government's standard indexation policy, replacing the previous year's $101.30 (estimated). The replacement card fee is $16.35. Volunteer, student and exemption card Blue Cards remain free.

The combined screening fee is the line item that matters most for operators that employ workers who deliver both NDIS supports and child-related services. A single worker who needs both clearances pays one combined fee and holds one combined validity period, which is materially cheaper than paying the two fees separately. From 1 July 2026 the combined fees are:

• Combined NDIS worker screening + Blue Card (paid worker): $176.30 for a 5-year combined clearance
• Combined Queensland disability worker screening + Blue Card (paid worker): $125.60 for a 3-year combined clearance
• NDIS worker screening only (paid worker): $161.30 for a 5-year clearance
• Queensland disability worker screening only (paid worker): $110.60 for a 3-year clearance
• Combined NDIS (volunteer) + Blue Card (paid worker): $15

The choice between the 5-year NDIS national check and the 3-year Queensland state check has always been a strategic decision: the national check is portable across states, the state check is cheaper and faster to issue but only valid for state-funded work. With the 1 July 2026 fee reset, the dollar gap between the two has widened: the national NDIS-only check is now $161.30 vs. the state-only check at $110.60 — a 46 per cent premium for the portability. Multi-state operators with NDIS-registered SIL or platform services in Queensland will default to the national check; Queensland-only operators will default to the state check unless they have NDIS work in scope.

What changed in Victoria, Tasmania and the ACT on 1 July 2026

Victoria indexed its WWCC fee schedule for the 2026-27 financial year. The headline employee check fee is $139.20, the renewal fee is $105.30, and the volunteer check remains free. These are not large dollar movements but they are now the binding numbers for any operator with Victorian staff. Importantly, the Victoria fee schedule applies until 30 June 2027, with the next scheduled update at 1 July 2027.

Tasmania restructured its Registration to Work with Vulnerable People (RWVP) fees from 1 July 2026: $137.20 for an employment/volunteer registration, $113.68 for a volunteer-only registration, and $49 for a replacement card. The previous fee schedule had a different structure and the change is meaningful for Tasmanian operators with a small staff footprint where the per-FTE fee makes up a larger share of the compliance budget.

The ACT held the Working with Vulnerable People (WWVP) fee at $163 for paid work registration with the volunteer-only registration remaining free. The ACT did not introduce a fee change for 1 July 2026, but the published fee schedule confirms the $163 figure that has been in place since the 2024 indexation cycle. Replacement card fees in the ACT are $49.

What did not change on 1 July 2026 — Western Australia, NT, SA

Western Australia remains the only Australian jurisdiction where the Working with Children Check is fully subsidised by the state government and free at the point of application. WA has not announced a fee change for 1 July 2026. The Department of Communities runs the application and renewal process entirely online, and the cost is borne by the state rather than the applicant or the employer. For WA operators, the WWCC budget line is zero — but the administrative overhead of running the WWCC programme (linking employees to employers, tracking expiry dates, managing renewals) is identical to every other jurisdiction.

The Northern Territory's Ochre Card fee schedule did not change structurally on 1 July 2026: $89 paid employment (including student placement), $8 volunteering, $35 replacement. The fee has been at this level since the 2024-25 indexation cycle. For NT operators, the 1 July 2026 fiscal-year reset is a non-event for the WWCC line item.

South Australia did not announce a structural fee change for 1 July 2026. The Department of Human Services Screening Unit continues to charge approximately $107.80 for a paid-worker WWCC, in line with the existing DHS child-related employment screening fee schedule. The fee is subject to annual indexation under the standard SA government policy, and the next scheduled adjustment will appear in the 2026-27 DHS fee schedule published mid-year.

The 5-step operator workflow for the 1 July 2026 reset

The fee reset is not just a finance-team task. It triggers a downstream compliance workflow — every new WWCC application lodged on or after 1 July 2026 is paid at the new fee, every renewal lodged on or after 1 July 2026 is paid at the new fee, every volunteer-to-paid upgrade is paid at the new fee, and every combined NDIS+Blue Card clearance issued on or after 1 July 2026 has the new combined validity period. The operational consequence is that any spreadsheet-based screening tracker built before July 2026 is now operating on stale fee data.

1. Rebuild the per-FTE WWCC budget line. Replace the FY25-26 fee assumption with the new schedule: NSW $112, VIC $139.20 (employee) / $105.30 (renewal), QLD $108.30 (Blue Card), ACT $163, TAS $137.20, NT $89, WA $0, SA $107.80. For NDIS work in QLD, use the combined fee ($176.30 NDIS+Blue Card, $125.60 QLD DWS+Blue Card) rather than the standalone fee, because the combined path is the default for workers who need both clearances.
2. Re-map the renewal calendar by jurisdiction. NSW, VIC and the QLD NDIS national check all run on 5-year validity periods. QLD Blue Card, ACT WWVP and QLD state disability worker screening all run on 3-year (or shorter) validity periods. Tasmania RWVP runs on the period set at the time of issue. The renewal calendar must reflect which validity period applies to each worker based on the scheme they hold, not the one your spreadsheet defaulted to.
3. Update the finance-system cost code. If your accounting system splits WWCC costs by jurisdiction (NSW WWCC, VIC WWCC, QLD Blue Card, QLD NDIS, ACT WWVP, TAS RWVP, NT Ochre Card, WA WWCC, SA WWCC), update each code with the new 1 July 2026 fee. The combined QLD codes — NDIS+Blue Card and QLD DWS+Blue Card — should be separate from the standalone Blue Card code because the dollar values are materially different.
4. Re-baseline the volunteer assumption. NSW, VIC, QLD, ACT and WA all keep the volunteer check free (or nearly free) as of 1 July 2026. Tasmania is the outlier: the volunteer-only RWVP is $113.68, a material cost if your service relies on volunteer labour. Audit the volunteer screening line item against the new TAS fee schedule.
5. Issue a finance memo dated 1 July 2026. A short internal note that documents the new fee schedule, the source links to the relevant state regulator, and the date the schedule was verified. This is the audit-trail artefact that the finance team, the compliance team, and the funding team can all reference when the next fee reset lands on 1 July 2027.

How NovoCove handles this

NovoCove was built for Australian operators who run screening programmes across multiple jurisdictions and need a single source of truth for fee schedules, validity periods, renewal workflows, and audit-ready evidence. The platform maintains the live 1 July 2026 fee schedule for every state and territory, flags any worker whose fee category is about to change (for example, a worker moving from volunteer to paid status, or a worker whose state is changing because they relocated), and produces a finance-team-ready report that shows the per-FTE cost line item for the current quarter.

On the workflow side, NovoCove gives your compliance lead a single view of every WWCC, Blue Card, Ochre Card, NDIS Worker Screening Check, WWVP and RWVP in the workforce, with auto-reminders at 90, 60, 30 and 7 days before expiry. The reminders are jurisdiction-aware — a NSW WWCC reminder routes the worker to the OCG portal, a QLD Blue Card reminder routes them to the Blue Card Organisation Portal, a VIC WWCC reminder routes them to Service Victoria — and the renewal fees in the reminder match the live fee schedule for that jurisdiction. The result is that the 1 July 2026 fee reset is automatically reflected in every reminder, every audit pack, and every finance-team report from the day it takes effect.

Whether you are a single-state operator with a small workforce or a multi-state group with thousands of screened workers, the workflow is the same. Book a 20-minute walkthrough and we will map it against your current roster, show you what the 1 July 2026 fee reset means for your specific cost line, and demonstrate how the live jurisdiction-aware reminders work in practice.

This guide is general information and is not legal advice.