CHILD EMPLOYMENT ACT 2003 - SECT 19 Supervision of children in employment

CHILD EMPLOYMENT ACT 2003 - SECT 19

S. 19(1) amended by No. 27/2022 s. 17(2).

    (1)     An employer of a child must ensure that the child is—

S. 19(1)(a) amended by Nos 34/2020 s. 165(1), 27/2022 s. 17(1).

        (a)     supervised at all times by an adult who has a current WWC clearance or is exempt from the requirement to have a current WWC clearance under section 19B; and

S. 19(1)(b) amended by No. 27/2022 s. 17(1).

        (b)     directly and adequately supervised by an adult referred to in paragraph (a) at all times in the employment, having regard to the following—

              (i)     the nature and environment of the workplace, including the number of children employed at any one time in the workplace; and

              (ii)     the nature of the work performed by the child; and

              (iii)     the child's age, sex and physical and emotional development and maturity.

Penalty:     1200 penalty units in the case of a body corporate;

    240 penalty units in any other case.

Note to s. 19(1) substituted by No. 34/2020 s. 165(2), substituted as Notes by No. 27/2022 s. 17(3).

Notes

1     Section 19A of this Act extends and applies the Worker Screening Act 2020 (with modifications) to the supervision of children in employment under this Act.

2     The supervisor of a child is required to hold a current WWC clearance—see section 121 of the Worker Screening Act 2020 , as applied and modified by section 19A(1) and (2)(f) and (g) of this Act.

3     It is an offence for a person to engage another person to supervise a child in employment without a current WWC clearance—see section 123 of the Worker Screening Act 2020 , as applied and modified by section 19A(1) and (2)(j) and (k) of this Act.

4     Exemptions from the requirement for supervisors of child employees to hold a current WWC clearance are set out in section 19B of this Act. The exemptions in Chapter 5 of the Worker Screening Act 2020 from a requirement to hold a current WWC clearance do not apply to the supervisors of child employees—see section 19A(1) and (2)(f) of this Act.

S. 19(2) amended by No. 34/2020 s. 165(3), repealed by No. 27/2022 s. 17(4).

    *     *     *     *     *

S. 19(3) repealed by No. 27/2022 s. 17(4).

    *     *     *     *     *

S. 19(4) amended by Nos 34/2020 s. 165(3), 27/2022 s. 17(5)(6).

    (4)     A prospective employer or employer of a child must, on request by the parent or guardian of a child or an authorised officer, provide to the parent or guardian or the authorised officer the name of any person who supervises, or that the employer knows will supervise or has supervised, the child in the course of the child's employment and the number of the person's current WWC clearance.

Penalty:     240 penalty units in the case of a body corporate;

    120 penalty units in any other case.

S. 19(5) amended by No. 27/2022 s. 17(7).

    (5)     Subsection (4) does not apply to an employer who does not have a written record of the information requested because of the expiry of the period set out in section 18B(5).

    (6)     Nothing in this section applies to the employment of a child in a family business.

S. 19AA inserted by No. 27/2022 s. 18.