Question: I am concerned about the recent case in Victoria of a well-known takeaway franchisee facing heavy fines for alleged breaches of the Child Employment Act. What can we do to ensure compliance with the relevant regulations?
This question was recently answered by our workplace advice line.
Answer: Each state has its own legislation for the purpose of ensuring any work children do will not have a negative impact on the child’s schoolwork or their mental and physical wellbeing. Here is a summary of the relevant regulations which apply to both paid and unpaid work.
Legislation
The Industrial Relations (Child Employment) Act 2006 No96 (NSW)
Children and Young Persons (Care and Protection) Act 1998 (NSW)
Children and Young Persons (Care and Protection) (Child Employment) Regulation 2015
Children and Young People (Employment) Standards 2011 (No1)
Restrictions
Age
No minimum age for employment
Hours
Maximum of 4 hours work on a school day
Minimum 1-hour break every 4 hours plus any other breaks as appropriate.
Maximum 1 shift per day
Minimum 12-hour break between shifts
Maximum 5 consecutive days of work
Maximum of 50 hours combined work and school time per week.
No work after 9pm on a night before school
For hours of work in the Entertainment and performance industries see Office of the Children’s Guardian
Work
Employers in the industries of entertainment, exhibition, still photography and door-to-door sales must comply with the Code of Practice from the NSW Office of the Children’s Guardian.
Supervision
Children employed in modelling or acting must be supervised at all times by their parent/guardian or someone nominated by them, or when not available a supervisor appointed by the employer who meets certain minimum qualifications.
Parental/guardian consent
Written permission known as an ‘employer’s authority’ given by the parent/guardian for children aged under 15 working in entertainment, exhibition, or door-to-door sales or under 16 and modelling.
Ensuring compliance
Employers of children under 15 in the industries of entertainment and exhibition, photography, door-to-door sales (or 16 for the modelling industry) must follow these steps to become an authorised employer and provide a copy of the Code of Practice to the parent/guardian and ensure it is complied with as well as preparing an appropriate Code of Conduct for the business.
More Information: Office of the Children’s Guardian NSW
Legislation
The Child Employment Act 2003 (Victoria)
The Child Employment (Amendment) Act 2022 (Commences 1 July 2023)
Restrictions
Age
The minimum age for employment is 13 years in most industries with the exception of:
- Certain delivery work where the minimum age is 11 years.
- Work in the entertainment industry or the family business/farm where there is no minimum.
Hours
For all industries apart from entertainment:
No work during school hours
A maximum of 3 hours per day and 12 per week during school term
A maximum of 6 hours per day and 30 hours per week outside of school term
Minimum breaks of 30 minutes every 3 hours and 12 hours between shifts
Hours of work restricted to 6am – 9pm (except for street trading which is sunrise to sunset whenever that is shorter)
No explicit limits for children working in their family business or farm
For the entertainment industry see the hours of work summarised here
Work
Only light work allowed i.e. work that does not have a negative impact on the child’s wellbeing or school work.
The Act does not apply tutoring work outside of a residence, nor to working on religious projects, or sports events other than certain ‘high risk’ sports.
Supervision
Children under 15 must be supervised at all times by an adult employee who holds a valid Victorian Working with Children Clearance.
Children working in their family business/farm must be supervised by their parent/guardian otherwise their exemptions to other child employment regulations will not apply
Parental/guardian consent
Written consent required for children under 15
Ensuring compliance
From 1 July 2023 employers will require a new type of child employment license to employ children under 15
The employment of several children under one license will last for 12 or 24 months.
A public register of license holders will be published on the Victorian Wage Inspectorate’s website.
Employers must nominate an officer to undergo and ‘fit and proper person’ test who will be responsible for ensuring compliance with 2022 Act.
Not-for-profit organisations will come under these restrictions too, but family business and farms will not require licenses or permits to employ their own children.
The Wage Inspectorate will have increased powers from 1 July 2023 to enforce compliance.
For more information see Changes to the Child Employment Act
Keep accurate details on the employee and their work.
More Information: Business Victoria
Legislation
Child Employment Regulation 2016
Restrictions
Age
Children under 18 especially those under 16 who are required to be enrolled in school and those below school age.
Minimum age of employment is 13, except for:
- Delivery work (minimum age 11)
- Voluntary work (no minimum)
- Professional Entertainment industry (no minimum)
Hours for school-aged children:
Maximum 4 hours per day on school days and 8 hours on non-school days (with a break after 4 hours).
Maximum 12 hours per week on school weeks and 38 hours on non-school weeks.
Maximum 40 hours per week combined work and school time.
Minimum 12 hour break between shifts (exemptions in The Professional Entertainment Industry and for a business run by a close family member).
A break is required every 4 hours.
No work allowed between 10pm (9pm in entertainment) and 6am
No delivery work allowed between 6pm and 6am for children under 13 years
For children below school age the maximums are 4 hours per day and 12 hours per week.
Work
Covers all types of work except domestic chores and collections work
Supervision
Children of school age or younger whose work involves the handling of money or deliveries must be supervised by an adult.
Parental/guardian consent
Written consent is required before employing a school-aged child
Ensuring compliance
Keep accurate information on the employee and their work.
More Information: Business Queensland
Legislation
Restrictions
Age
Applies to children attending school
Hours
No work allowed during school hours
Work
No legislation
Supervision
None specified but best practice would be to ensure children are adequately supervised at all times.
Parental/guardian consent
No legislation
Ensuring compliance
Keep accurate information on the employee and their work.
More information: Safework SA
Legislation
Children and Community Services Act 2004
Restrictions
Age
Minimum age of employment is 15 years for most industries.
13 years in delivery work, restaurants, retail between 6am-10pm on non-school days, with written permission from parent guardian.
No minimum age working in the entertainment or advertising industries or in the family business or in an approved school program.
Hours
No work during school hours, in addition:
Ages
10-12 years no work between 6am – 7pm
13-14 years no work between 10pm-6am
Work
For employees aged under 15 the work is restricted to delivery of newspapers/pamphlets, retail industry (including trolley collection), restaurant industry, entertainment/advertising industries.
Supervision
Children under 13 years delivering newspapers/pamphlets must be supervised at all times by a parent/guardian or an adult nominated by them in writing.
Parental/guardian consent
Written consent required for children under 15
Ensuring compliance
Keep accurate details on the employee and their work.
More information: Commerce WA
Legislation
Care and Protection of Children Act 2007
Restrictions
Age
No minimum age of employment
Hours
Restricted to 6am -10pm for children under 15.
No work during school hours.
Work
Must not be harmful to a child’s wellbeing
Supervision
No legislation
Parental/guardian consent
No legislation
Ensuring compliance
Keep accurate information on the details of the employee and their work
More information: NT Dept of Education
Legislation
Restrictions
Age
School children aged 6-16 years or still to complete their compulsory schooling
Hours
No work allowed during school hours
5am- 9pm for children aged 12-13 selling items in a public place (no such work allowed for those under 12).
Work
No legislation
Supervision
No legislation
Parental/guardian consent
No legislation
Ensuring compliance
Keep accurate information on the employee and their work.
More information: Worksafe Tasmania
Legislation
Children and Young People Act 2008
Children and Young People Regulation 2009
Children and Young People (Work Experience) Standards 2009 (No 1)
Restrictions
Age
The Act applies to children under 18
Employees under the age of 15 are limited to ‘light work’ only (i.e. suitable for the physical and emotional development of the employee and adequately supervised) or to working within their family business.
Hours
Maximum 3 hours per day for children up to 3 years of age
Maximum 4 hours per day for children aged 4 to 11
Maximum 6 hours per day for children aged 12 to 14
Maximum 10 hours per week for children under 15. (Longer hours require permission from Child and Youth Protection Services)
Maximum 1 shift per day with a minimum of 12 hours between shifts
No work allowed between 10pm-6am (or dawn, whichever is the later)
Work restrictions cover all types of work (paid and unpaid) including apprenticeships, traineeships, and most work experience.
Children under 15 may only be employed in ‘light work’ i.e. work that does not have a negative impact on their wellbeing of school work.
Supervision
Aged under 4 years should be supervised by a parental or guardian.
Age 4 – 11 supervised by a parent/guardian or a responsible adult they have approved of.
Age 12-14 supervised by a responsible adult.
Parental/guardian consent
Written consent required for children under 15
Ensuring compliance
Employers must give parents/guardians all the information they need to give informed consent and then keep that written consent on file.
More information: Community Services A.C.T.
The bottom line: The regulations around employing school aged children, or younger, vary greatly between the states. Some are too detailed to fully capture in a summary like this, while others are rather broad. Businesses should be familiar with the rules for their state or territory, and industry, as well as the type of work the child will do, the penalties for non-compliance in some states can be high.
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Disclaimer: While all due care has been taken in the preparation of this information, it is believed to be accurate but no warranty of accuracy or reliability is given and no liability is accepted for errors or omissions or loss or damage suffered as a result of a person acting in reliance thereon. This information is not legal advice. If a legal opinion is sought please contact your legal advisor.
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