Fieldwork statements
General fieldwork requirements
If your studies include clinical practice, it is a condition of enrolment that you are screened for and vaccinated against contracting many infectious conditions, including:
- Hepatitis B
- Measles, Mumps and Rubella (German Measles)
- Varicella (Chicken Pox)
- Diphtheria, Polio, Tetanus and Pertussis (Whooping Cough)
- Influenza
- Tuberculosis
Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus Aureus (MRSA) clearance is also required if you have been a patient, student or have worked in any hospital or residential care facility outside Western Australia in the 12 months before beginning a placement. Exposure to the infection may also occur in other types of facilities such as
schools or child care facilities in other countries.
As well as offering protection to patients and clients, these requirements support our commitment to take all reasonable steps for the protection of students from dangerous communicable diseases during the period of their enrolment at Curtin.
If you are a carrier of a communicable disease such as Hepatitis B or C, HIV or Tuberculosis and your desired course includes clinical placements you are strongly advised to seek advice from the relevant course coordinator before applying for the course.
We are required to advise a health facility if you refuse, on the basis of conscientious objection, to be screened and/or vaccinated against the above conditions. If there is a risk that patient safety may be compromised, you may be refused access to the facility, hindering the completion of your course of study. View Curtin’s Conscientious Objection Procedures.
This course and/or some fieldwork host organisations require students to undertake criminal record screening prior to commencing fieldwork. The type of clearance you require varies between government and non-government fieldwork host organisations. The recency of the clearance will also vary depending on the fieldwork host organisation and you may at times be asked to update your clearance as stipulated by the fieldwork host. During fieldwork you will be required to carry, and produce on request, documented proof of criminal screening.
Processing times of applications can take several months depending on the type of clearance. Please check with the relevant organisation (as below) for current costs. You will be responsible for all costs associated with mandatory screening requirements for fieldwork.
Fieldwork in a setting outside of Western Australia may require additional clearance checks. The onus is on you to obtain this information from your placement provider.
Details and further information on criminal record screening and clearance requirements will be provided by your school prior to commencing fieldwork.
Note: If the criminal screening process identifies that you have a criminal record, it may preclude you from undertaking the essential fieldwork placements required for course completion.
Department of Health
WA Health requires a Nationally Coordinated Criminal History Check before attending fieldwork at any of their sites. The Criminal Record Screening (CRS) Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) document provides further information on applying for and obtaining a WA Health criminal record screening. Curtin has been advised by WA Health that when applying for a Nationally Coordinated Criminal Record Check they will accept a valid National Police Clearance provided it has been issued within the past 12 months.
Department of Education
The Department of Education requires a Nationally Coordinated Criminal History Check for students undertaking fieldwork in an educational facility in Western Australia. To ensure compliance with the Department’s strict criminal screening criteria, police clearances or criminal record checks obtained through any other agency or organisation will not be accepted by the Department of Education. Curtin has been advised that student applications will be processed at the same cost as volunteer applications
A valid National Police Certificate (NPC) may be required to undertake fieldwork in some fieldwork hosting organisations. If you are not from Western Australia you must apply through your respective state or territory authority.
Note: Some fieldwork host organisations do not accept police checks obtained through Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission (ACIC) accredited bodies using the National Police Checking Service. While you can request a police check from an ACIC accredited organisation, a police-issued NPC (referred to above) is on secure paper and includes eligible spent convictions. You are therefore strongly advised to obtain an NPC from a police agency in the first instance to reduce the cost of potentially having to reapply for a NPC to meet host organisation requirements.
The Working with Children Check (WWC Check) is a national criminal record check that is compulsory for people who carry out child related work (or work where contact with children is likely) for five days or more in a calendar year in Western Australia and the Indian Ocean Territories.