I am a registered teacher in Western Australia and I have a Working with Children's card, as is mandatory for all who work with children in most Australian States, i.e. Victoria, New South Wales, Queensland, and Western Australia.
The WWC is more strict than the National Criminal History Check which many employers in Australia now insist on. The WWC considers not just convictions for child-related crimes, but also allegations, acquittals and spent convictions (where one is found guilty but no penalty is imposed). A worker with children who has had an allegation made against him/her is not necessarily denied a WWC card. But if there is a pattern of allegations, or "not guilty" verdicts, then the accused would almost certainly be denied a WWC and then could not work with children who are not their own in that State. The rationale is that the protection of children is paramount, and overrides the normal "innocent until proven guilty" principle.
The problem for the Watchtower is that Victoria (like Western Australia and presumably those other WWC States) has legislation that makes it mandatory for doctors, nurses, teachers and police officers to report to the relevant Department for Child Protection any instances of abuse (especially sexual, but also physical and emotional) against children that they become aware of, or have grounds to suspect, even when off-duty. Failure to do so carries major penalties.
So any doctor, nurse, teacher or police officer in an Australian State with WWC laws, who becomes aware that a JW child may have been abused, will have to report it, and then there must be an investigation of the allegations. A JW body of elders which then tries to cover that up, is going to find itself facing criminal charges and if found guilty, even if they escape a fine or prison term, will probably not be able to come in contact with children again who are not their own.
If child-beatings, emotional bullying, and sexual abuse are features of life behind the Australian "Watchtower curtain," then it is difficult to see how this `time-bomb' will not eventually explode into public knowledge. It will be very interesting to see how this plays out in the future!
Stephen E. Jones