Ngā Hihira Haumaru Kaimahi Tamariki | Children’s Worker Safety Checks
Under the Health Practitioners Competence Assurance Act 2003 (the HPCAA), the purpose of Te Tatau o te Whare Kahu | Midwifery Council (the Council) is to protect the health and safety of members of the public by ensuring midwives are competent and fit to practise. The Code of Midwifery Professional Conduct issued by the Council sets the minimum expectations of every professional midwife around conduct as they engage in their professional activities. Expectations include working under the laws of Aotearoa New Zealand and, through their conduct, ensuring they are fit and able to carry out the practice of midwifery. Holding a practising certificate enables a midwife to practise however in doing so they are required to also adhere to other legislative requirements.
Midwives are categorised as core children’s workers and need to be safety checked every three years under the Children’s Act 2014. These safety checks are separate from your registration and practising certificate processes with the Council.
If you are a Lead Maternity Carer, so that you can continue to claim for primary maternity services, you need to submit evidence that you have completed a safety check to Manatū Hauora | Ministry of Health. You cannot provide, or claim for, primary maternity services unless you hold a valid safety check. An organisation called CVCheck, or your employer if you work as both a LMC and employed midwife, can complete the safety check for you. The CVCheck process includes a fee and takes at least 5 weeks from when they are provided with all the required information. A safety check completed by an employer needs to be appropriate for a core children’s worker and have been completed within the preceding three years. Police vetting is just one part of the safety check.
Once the safety check is complete, you will need to inform the Ministry of Health so that it can be recorded against your authorisation to claim. To avoid delays in claiming for primary maternity services, you should act promptly to renew your safety check. The Council does not hold any information about your safety check.
If you are an employed midwife your employer has an obligation to complete this check for you.
Detailed information on the safety check process can be found on the Ministry of Health’s website. Any communication about this process should be directed by the individual midwife to the Ministry of Health and CVCheck.