All adults who work with children or vulnerable adults have a responsibility to safeguard and promote their welfare.

The NZF Police Vetting System is a centralised police vetting service developed and managed by NZF to support clubs and football service providers to undertake safety checks on anyone who may be required to work with children or vulnerable adults. As part of our commitment to safety, NZF will cover the vetting costs of providing this service to clubs and other football service providers.

Individuals being vetted will need to complete a secure online vetting form, view a short training video and then provide their identification documents to their club or football service provider Safeguarding Officer, who will verify that they have viewed the individual's ID within the NZF Police Vetting System.

Once verification of ID is complete, the Safeguarding Officer will upload the individual’s details to the NZ Police Vetting System, after which the NZF Police Vetting System will display “Submitted” alongside each individual’s name.

Results will then be available to NZF within 20 working days after upload.

New Zealand Football’s aim is to ensure a safe environment for children and vulnerable adults, rather than to disqualify volunteers for minor criminal offences. The existence of a conviction or other adverse information will not necessarily mean that the individual shouldn’t be involved in football.

If the police vet is released with “No Result” the NZF Safeguarding Manager will update the NZF Police Vetting System to show the individual’s status as “Confirmed”.  If the police vet is released “with results” it will be reviewed by a Review Panel, which will consider whether the results could impact upon the individual’s interactions with children or vulnerable adults.

If the Review Panel considers that the results would not impact upon the individual’s role, then the individual’s status will be updated within the system to “Confirmed”.  ​If the Review Panel considers that the individual should not be allowed to continue in their role, the NZF Safeguarding Manager will contact the individual and ask them to step down. The Club Chair or other football service provider representative will also be advised that the person has been asked to step down, although they would not be provided with details of the offence. 

If an individual believes their vetting result is factually incorrect, they need to follow the process outlined by NZ Police.here.

If an individual does not agree with a decision that has been made by the Review Panel as to their suitability to be employed/volunteer within football, they can raise an objection with the NZF Safeguarding Manager within 7 days, providing reasons and details as to why they should be allowed to continue in their role and providing any relevant documentation.

An Appeals Panel will consider the appeal during which the safety of vulnerable persons will be the paramount consideration. If the appeal is successful, the individual will be able to return to their role. If the appeal is unsuccessful, the individual will be contacted by the NZF Safeguarding Manager and asked to stand down indefinitely. 

Refer to the Safeguarding Children and Vulnerable Adults Policy for more information about appeals.

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