At the time a now convicted pedophile got the job of running a foster care service for Aboriginal children, child protection agencies relied totally on what the applicant said and submitted as to his suitability.
On the third day of public hearings by the Royal Commission into Child Sexual Abuse, Children's Guardian Kerryn Boland said that because the organisation for which Steve Larkins worked was a designated agency there was no statutory requirement for Department of Community Services (DOCs) to check him out.
The Ombudsman has since been critical of DOCS for failing to do so.
Larkins is is jail for child pornography and related offences.
He was the principal officer at the Hunter Aboriginal Children Services (HACS) in the early 2000s.
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He was interviewed in 2003 when he submitted a working with children check (WWCC) and was asked then why, when he had said originally, he was not working directly with children, he had submitted it.
Larkins told the officer that it was just part of a batch submission for people working with HACS and "everyone was getting it done".
It has since emerged that Larkins had forged that check.
Ms Gail Furness SC for the commission asked if it was Ms Boland's analysis "that all processes of checking was with Larkins himself".
Ms Boland said it was not unusual at the time.
"There was not a highly developed system for checking small agencies at the time," she said.
When pressed by Ms Furness as to whether it would have been common sense to check, Ms Boland who took on the role of Children's Guardian in 2005, said "My understanding of the arrangements was that supervisor structures at the time were minimal".
She said the checking system was now far more rigorous.
It has since emerged that Larkins had forged that check. Over the last two days the commission has heard from people who as children were sexually assaulted by Larkins when he was a Scout leader in the 1990s.
There were also police inquires about Larkins when he was with the Scouts the commission heard on Monday.
The hearing in Sydney is continuing.
