Cost of police vetting should not have fallen on schools

The money spent on police vetting would be better devoted to resources to help educate children rather than simply transferring money from one government agency to another.PHOTO/FILE

It's hardly surprising that schools are asking potential volunteers to register early so they can be vetted by police before a new charge comes into force later this year.

No doubt the police will be inundated with requests in coming months, but who can blame schools for trying to avoid such an expense while they can?

A law change last year cleared the way for police to recover costs for certain "demand" services. The charge will equate to almost $10 per person.

It might not sound much but, if as one school pointed out, they have to vet 40 parents for a school camp, the school is facing a cost of $400.

The Government says the application fee is much lower than overseas charging, which is more than $50 in Australia.

That might be true but schools, already under budget pressures, don't need to be lumped with additional charges.

The fee will be waived for agencies, including schools, which make 20 or fewer vetting requests a year. The good news is that charities will be exempt.

But so should schools.

The money spent on police vetting would be better devoted to resources to help educate children rather than simply transferring money from one government agency to another.

Police vetting is essential for schools and provides parents with the comfort of knowing the people entrusted with caring for their children have been checked.

Such measures are necessary, but the Government should have picked up the tab on this one.