The Community and Public Sector Union (CPSU) has warned children could be at risk due to understaffing and a lack of resources at the WA Department for Child Protection and Family Support’s Working With Children Unit.

The Department conducts background checks for people wishing to work with children, to find if they have a criminal history that indicates they could be a risk.

But the union says increasing workloads on staff and no recent improvement in resources is making the vital work harder for staff.

WA CPSU branch assistant secretary Rikki Hendon says there will always be people who preyed on the vulnerability of children, and workers should be supported in their efforts to stop them.

“These checks and ongoing compliance work play a vital role in protecting children,” Ms Hendon said.

“Workload continues to be a major issue for those who assess Working With Children Applications and deal with ongoing statewide compliance.”

The union says that in 2013–14, over 106,000 Working With Children Cards were issued, with 69 people banned from engaging in child-related work.

Ms Hendon said estimates suggested about 105,000 applications were processed in the 2014–15 Financial Year, an another 100,000 were expected in 2015–16.

She said it was a heavy and ongoing workload, which has led some frontline staff to worry that it could lead to people with a history of abusive behaviour slip through the net.

“Our members on the front line know more needs to be done to increase efficiency and response times to applications, but they are stretched to the limit,” Ms Hendon said.

A report by Auditor-General Colin Murphy last year said staffing levels within the Unit should be reviewed to make sure management of application processing and compliance monitoring were as efficient as possible.

But recent budget papers included no increase in staff or resources in 2015–16, leaving full-time equivalent staff numbers at 49.

“Our members acknowledge the Department’s response to the Auditor-General that improvements are planned but they are yet to see any real change and wonder if anything will be done at all, especially in the absence of additional resources being committed by the Government,” Ms Hendon said.