Hong Kong to allow employers to check self-employed tutors, coaches for record of sexual offences before hiring

Hong Kong employers will be able to check whether self-employed tutors and coaches have been convicted of any sexual offences before they are hired, under a voluntary government scheme in the fourth quarter of this year.

Secretary for Security Chris Tang Ping-keung said on Tuesday the change to the Sexual Conviction Record Check Scheme will enhance the protection of children and the mentally disabled.

Tang also said the Sexual Conviction Record Check Scheme would be expanded to cover volunteers who have regular contact with children and mentally disabled people by the end of 2025.

The expansion would mean individuals such as parents and guardians are also eligible as employers under the scheme, he said.

“Self-employed persons, for example, private tutors, tend to have more opportunities of having unsupervised individual contact with children ... so a relatively higher risk may be involved,” Tang said on the panel on security at the Legislative Council.

“Thus, we will expand the scheme to prospective self-employed persons in the first phase in the fourth quarter of 2024,” he added.