Child Link Terms of Use

The State of Victoria (as represented by the Department of Education) (‘Us’ or ‘We’) owns and operates Child Link. Access to and use of Child Link by You is subject to the following terms, conditions, and notices (‘Terms of Use’).

By using Child Link, You are agreeing to all of these Terms of Use, as amended or replaced by Us from time to time.

These Terms of Use are governed by the laws of Victoria. We and You submit to the non-exclusive jurisdiction of the Courts exercising jurisdiction in connection with these Terms of Use.

In these Terms of Use unless expressed or implied to the contrary:
CWS Act means the Child Wellbeing and Safety Act 2005 (Vic).
Child Link Training means mandatory training provided by Us for the purpose of training Child Link Users on the use of Child Link.
Child Information Sharing Training means the training provided by Victorian Government Departments and Agencies (irrespective of where the training is housed) for the purpose of the Child Information Sharing Scheme, this includes the associated training in the Family Violence Information Sharing Scheme and Multi-Agency Risk Assessment and Management Framework.
Child Link Authoriser means a person, as specified by their role, who may authorise a Child Link User to access Child Link under section 46K of the CWS Act, or any other person who under section 46L of the CWS Act is delegated the power from section 46K to authorise a Child Link User.
Child Link means the Child Link Register established and maintained under section 46B of the CWS Act.
Child Link User means a person who is appropriately authorised to use and access Child Link under section 46K of the CWS Act; and as such, holds a prescribed role and purpose for a Child Link User as set out in section 46K and Schedule 6 of the CWS Act.
Confidential Information means any confidential information contained in Child Link and has the same meaning as in section 3 of the CWS Act.
Data means any data or information (including Confidential Information) that is contained in Child Link.
Guidelines means the guidelines issued by the Secretary under Part 7A of the CWS Act and are available via this link https://www.vic.gov.au/child-link.
HR Act means the Health Records Act 2001 (Vic).
Practice Guidance means the Practice Guidance developed for Child Link Users and available via the Child Link Help.
PDP Act means the Privacy and Data Protection Act 2014 (Vic).
Personal Information has the same meaning as in section 3 of the PDP Act.
Reportable Conduct Scheme has the same meaning as in section 3 of the CWS Act.
Secretary means the Secretary of the Department of Education or their delegate.
Working with Children Clearance (WWCC) means WWCC under the Worker Screening Act 2020 (Vic).
VIT Registration means the Victorian Institute of Teaching has registered an applicant as a teacher or early childhood teacher or granted registration or permission to teach under Part 2.6 of the Education and Training Reform Act 2006.
1. Access to Child Link is only permitted on the basis that You satisfy all of the following conditions:
  1. You are a Child Link User;
  2. You have been authorised to access Child Link by the relevant Child Link Authoriser;
  3. You have a current and valid employee WWCC or VIT Registration and have provided Us with the identification number for the WWCC or VIT Registration;
  4. You will notify Us of any WWCC exclusion, interim exclusion, suspension, revocation or expiry, or an equivalent finding under an equivalent framework in another jurisdiction;
  5. You will notify Us of any VIT Registration cancellation, suspension or expiry in Victoria, or an equivalent finding under an equivalent framework in another jurisdiction
  6. You have listed the Victorian Child Information Sharing Division of the Department of Education (VCIS) on your WWCC or the application for a WWCC so that the VCIS will be notified directly by Working with Children Check Victoria if there is an exclusion, interim exclusion, suspension, revocation or expiry of your WWCC;
  7. You give your consent to VCIS providing your name, role, organisation and WWCC or VIT Registration number to any applicable third party agency, such as the Commission for Children and Young People (CCYP), so that third party agency can notify VCIS if an event occurs which may require Your authorisation to access Child Link to be suspended or revoked, such as a finding of reportable conduct by the CCYP under Part 5A of the CWS Act;
  8. You will notify Us if you are the subject of a reportable allegation under the Reportable Conduct Scheme, which has been investigated and findings have been made against you substantiating the allegation;
  9. You will notify Us if you are charged with, or have been convicted or found guilty of an offence involving the following: physical or sexual harm or threats of physical or sexual harm, violence or threats of violence, dishonesty and neglect in Victoria or an equivalent offence in another jurisdiction;
  10. You will notify Us if you are charged with, or have been convicted or found guilty of an offence under the CWS Act;
  11. You will notify Us if you become aware of any circumstance that could make Your access to Child Link inappropriate in the circumstances, for example a conflict of interest;
  12. You have completed mandatory Child Link Training;
  13. You have completed Child Information Sharing Training;
  14. You will only access, use and disclose information contained in Child Link for an authorised purpose specified in Schedule 6 of the CWS Act and in accordance with the Guidelines and Practice Guidance;
  15. You will notify your Child Link Authoriser and no longer access Child Link if you no longer meet the access requirements for Child Link as outlined in the CWS Act, Guidelines and Practice Guidance. For example, Your role changes within the organisation or if You are no longer employed or working for that organisation or service;
  16. Your access to Child Link is not currently revoked;
  17. You will not share or disclose Your Child Link login or password with anyone; and
  18. You will complete a Multi Factor Authentication process each time you log into Child Link in accordance with the Guidelines.
2. You will not disclose or use the content of any information You have received or accessed from Child Link including unauthorised copying (such as through printing, photographs or screen shots), unless that disclosure is authorised under Part 7A or 6A of the CWS Act or required for the purposes of:
  1. An investigation by Us;
  2. a police investigation; or
  3. for other legal, investigative, audit or compliance reasons.
3. We will not be liable if for any reason Child Link is unavailable at any time or for any period.
4. The Secretary or Child Link Authoriser may at any time restrict or remove access to some or all of Child Link in accordance with the CWS Act, Guidelines and Practice Guidance.
5. You authorise and consent to Us requesting information regarding the status of Your WWCC from Service Victoria and the Worker Screening Unit of the Department of Government Services, and Service Victoria and the Worker Screening Unit providing Us with the requested information, each time You access Child Link for the purposes of ensuring You continue to be suitable to access the Child Link.
6. You authorise and consent to Us requesting information regarding the status of Your VIT Registration from Victorian Institute of Teaching, and Victorian Institute of Teaching providing Us with the requested information, each time You access Child Link for the purposes of ensuring You continue to be suitable to access Child Link.
7. We may inspect the validity of your VIT Registration and WWCC at any time in accordance with the Guidelines and Practice Guidance.
8. You must notify your Child Link Authoriser if any of the items listed in subclauses 3.1 (d), (e), (h), (i) (j) and (k) were to occur.
9. We may notify the Child Link Authoriser of any of the items listed in subclauses 3.1 (d), (e), (h), (i) (j) and (k).
1. If You are required to notify Us in accordance with clause 3.1 or for any other reason, notification or communication will be made by sending an email to childlink@education.vic.gov.au.
1. You must not misuse Child Link. By using Child Link You agree that You will not:
  1. commit or encourage a criminal offence;
  2. transmit or distribute a virus, trojan, worm, logic bomb or any other material which is malicious, technologically harmful, in breach of confidence or in any way offensive or obscene;
  3. attempt unauthorised access into any aspect of Child Link; corrupt Data; or cause annoyance to other users;
  4. infringe upon any other person's proprietary rights;
  5. attempt to affect the performance or functionality of any technical facilities of or accessed through Child Link; or
  6. engage in activity that violates the privacy or data protection rights of others.
  If you breach any of the above, We may report any such breach to the relevant law enforcement authorities and disclose Your identity to them.
2. We will not be liable for any loss or damage caused by a distributed denial-of-service attack, viruses or other technologically harmful material that may infect Your computer equipment, computer programs, data or other proprietary material due to Your use of Child Link.
3. If You breach these Terms, We may, in Our sole discretion, suspend or remove access to Child Link. When investigating alleged violations of these Terms, We reserve the right to review content and data in order to resolve the issue, and You hereby authorise such review.
1. The intellectual property rights in all software and content made available to You on or through accessing Child Link remain Our property or the property of Our licensors and are protected by copyright laws and treaties around the world. All intellectual property rights are reserved by Us and Our licensors.
2. You are not permitted to publish, manipulate, distribute or otherwise reproduce, in any format, any of the content or copies of the content supplied to You or which appears on Child Link, nor may You use any such content in connection with any business or commercial enterprise.
1. We have used Our best endeavours to ensure that the Data and Confidential Information contained on Child Link is correct and current at the time of publication, but We take no responsibility for any error, omission or defect therein. To the extent permitted by law, We and Our employees, agents and consultants exclude all liability for any loss or damage (including indirect, special or consequential loss or damage) arising from the use of, or reliance on, the Information whether or not caused by any negligent act or omission.
2. If any law prohibits the exclusion of such liability, We limit Our liability to the fullest extent permitted by law, to the resupply of the Information.
3. To the fullest extent permitted by law, We expressly exclude all warranties and other terms which might otherwise be implied by statute, common law or the law of equity and must not be liable for any damages whatsoever, including but without limitation to any direct, indirect, special, consequential, punitive or incidental damages, or damages for loss of use, profits, data or other intangibles, damage to goodwill or reputation, or the cost of procurement of substitute goods and services, arising out of or related to the use, inability to use, performance or failures of Child Link irrespective of whether such damages were foreseeable or arise in contract, tort, equity, restitution, by statute, at common law or otherwise.
4. This disclaimer does not affect Our liability for death or personal injury arising from Our negligence, fraudulent misrepresentation, misrepresentation as to a fundamental matter or any other liability which cannot be excluded or limited under applicable law.
Except where expressly stated to the contrary all persons (including their names and images), third party trademarks and content, services and/or locations featured on Child Link are in no way associated, linked or affiliated with Us and You should not rely on the existence of such a connection or affiliation. Any trade marks/names featured on Child Link are owned by the respective trade mark owners. Where a trade mark or brand name is referred to it is used solely to describe or identify the products and services and is in no way an assertion that such products or services are endorsed by or connected to Us.
If any part of the Terms of Use is unenforceable (including any provision in which We exclude Our liability to You) the enforceability of any other part of the Terms of Use will not be affected and all other clauses remain in full force and effect. So far as possible where any clause/sub-clause or part of a clause/sub-clause can be severed to render the remaining part valid, the clause must be interpreted accordingly. Alternatively, You agree that the clause must be rectified and interpreted in such a way that closely resembles the original meaning of the clause/sub-clause as is permitted by law.

Updated 22 February 2025