Police Vetting
Just over a year ago I was appointed as the Police Liaison Officer for District 9940 following the untimely death of David Green. I had recently retired from my law practice and it seemed people thought I needed something to fill in my time!
Since then I have been processing applications for police vetting and setting up a recording system which hopefully will be easier for me and subsequent liaison officers to access past vetting records. In the past twelve months there have been over 200 new vetting applications processed.
Rotary’s work with young people and the leadership opportunities it provides are highly valued by our members and young people who benefit from our programmes and support. We want to make sure that we can continue to provide opportunities for young people who will be our future leaders.
The requirement for police vetting was strengthened when the Vulnerable Childrens Act was introduced in NZ in 2014 imposing on Rotary an obligation to have members and others vetted in some circumstances in addition to the obligations already set by RI. Section 23 of the Act provides “The purpose of this Part is to reduce the risk of harm to children by requiring people employed or engaged in work that involves regular or overnight contact with children to be safety checked.” The focus is on providing a safe and secure environment for youth whether as exchange students or youth involved in Rotary projects. Societal expectations have changed over the years to require a more risk averse environment and so we need to; enhance our protection of young people in our care, ensure that Rotarians and associated others are protected, and continue to maintain the good name that Rotary has established in working with youth. We need to also ensure that some sensible practices are consistently applied, e.g. RI recommends that a young person is always in the company of two adults, rather than just one. This is to protect not only the student but also Rotarians and others involved in Rotary activities.
Most clubs have become at least aware of the new requirements. Some (but not many) have embarked on a process of ensuring all members (and associated others) involved in club youth activities are vetted but many clubs are still coming up to speed. This does not mean that all Club members need to be vetted, just those members involved with youth. It is up to members to decide whether they wish to be vetted or not and those who choose not to be vetted will need to appreciate that they may not be able to participate in some youth activities e.g. even driving a student home from a Rotary meeting. This requirement is no different from that applying to many people who are, even indirectly, related to young people e.g. plumbers servicing schools. Clubs’ leadership teams will need to ensure their clubs comply with youth protection requirements.
Each Rotary District has a Youth Protection Officer. The Youth Protection Officer for D9940 is John O’Connell - (email john.oconnell@advicefirst.co.nz ) who is the point of contact if your club has queries relating to the necessity or otherwise for your members to be vetted.
My primary function is to receive and process the applications, liaise with the police and answer queries relating to process.
Most clubs have become at least aware of the new requirements. Some (but not many) have embarked on a process of ensuring all members (and associated others) involved in club youth activities are vetted but many clubs are still coming up to speed. This does not mean that all Club members need to be vetted, just those members involved with youth. It is up to members to decide whether they wish to be vetted or not and those who choose not to be vetted will need to appreciate that they may not be able to participate in some youth activities e.g. even driving a student home from a Rotary meeting. This requirement is no different from that applying to many people who are, even indirectly, related to young people e.g. plumbers servicing schools. Clubs’ leadership teams will need to ensure their clubs comply with youth protection requirements.
Each Rotary District has a Youth Protection Officer. The Youth Protection Officer for D9940 is John O’Connell - (email john.oconnell@advicefirst.co.nz ) who is the point of contact if your club has queries relating to the necessity or otherwise for your members to be vetted.
My primary function is to receive and process the applications, liaise with the police and answer queries relating to process.
The Police revised their forms at the end of last year so I am accordingly now sending each club this email which attaches the current police forms and District vetting forms so that each club will have the up to date forms for their use.
RI recommends that every club appoint a Club Youth Protection Officer and if your club has done so this email should be forwarded to that person. If not your club should be looking at appointing someone to that role who can ensure that the statutory and RI obligations of the clubs are being complied with. The contact details including email address of that person should then be forwarded to John O’Connell and me.
All the forms required are here:
The first two forms are the forms which I need completed in accordance with RI process so that I am able to upload the requests to the Police website.
The third is a user guide to the new police forms which has been produced by the police
The fourth (named “pvs- vetting request etc” ) is the form which will be needed in most cases except where the applicant has resided for a period in Australia
The fifth is for those few cases where the applicant has resided for a period in Australia.
The police forms are also readily available on the forms section of the police website (police.govt.nz)
The police sometimes will ask me to provide copies of the two forms of photo ID used by the Trusted Referee to confirm the identity of an Applicant. Please ensure that in addition to the above forms the applications forwarded to me have photocopies of these two forms of identification attached with the Trusted Referee having written on one copy of the Applicant’s photograph that it is a true likeness of the person identified.
DG Martin is conscious of the administrative burden of filling in these forms, but at the same time is aware of the huge risk to Rotary, Rotarians and young people if we do not comply with these requirements. It is a relatively small inconvenience. DG Martin notes that his wife Denise, as a midwife, and he, as a senior public servant for more than 40 years,have both experienced in depth checking for security purposes. Despite previous checking they don’t have a problem with filling in the vetting forms and have both done so. As well, one of their sons, as a plumber, regularly fills out police vetting forms for each different school and youth facility he has to service. It doesn’t take too long and the outcomes we achieve in enriching the lives of young people are well worth it.
Please get back to me with any queries.
RI recommends that every club appoint a Club Youth Protection Officer and if your club has done so this email should be forwarded to that person. If not your club should be looking at appointing someone to that role who can ensure that the statutory and RI obligations of the clubs are being complied with. The contact details including email address of that person should then be forwarded to John O’Connell and me.
All the forms required are here:
The first two forms are the forms which I need completed in accordance with RI process so that I am able to upload the requests to the Police website.
The third is a user guide to the new police forms which has been produced by the police
The fourth (named “pvs- vetting request etc” ) is the form which will be needed in most cases except where the applicant has resided for a period in Australia
The fifth is for those few cases where the applicant has resided for a period in Australia.
The police forms are also readily available on the forms section of the police website (police.govt.nz)
The police sometimes will ask me to provide copies of the two forms of photo ID used by the Trusted Referee to confirm the identity of an Applicant. Please ensure that in addition to the above forms the applications forwarded to me have photocopies of these two forms of identification attached with the Trusted Referee having written on one copy of the Applicant’s photograph that it is a true likeness of the person identified.
DG Martin is conscious of the administrative burden of filling in these forms, but at the same time is aware of the huge risk to Rotary, Rotarians and young people if we do not comply with these requirements. It is a relatively small inconvenience. DG Martin notes that his wife Denise, as a midwife, and he, as a senior public servant for more than 40 years,have both experienced in depth checking for security purposes. Despite previous checking they don’t have a problem with filling in the vetting forms and have both done so. As well, one of their sons, as a plumber, regularly fills out police vetting forms for each different school and youth facility he has to service. It doesn’t take too long and the outcomes we achieve in enriching the lives of young people are well worth it.
Please get back to me with any queries.
Kind regards
John Grigg
D9940 Police Liaison Officer
Phone: (04) 5628475
Postal address: 109 Oroua Street, Eastbourne, Lower Hutt 5013
Email: grigglehome@gmail.com