Online applications for volunteers, jobseekers and employees requiring background checks to work with children will be introduced from July, as the Weatherill Government seeks to cope with a screening unit backlog.

Communities Minister Zoe Bettison told parliament she hoped the measure would be introduced within two months, “and we feel that this will cut down the amount of applications we have to send back that are filled in incorrectly”.

However, the minister was not able to answer Opposition questions about how applicants will be able to provide the requisite 100 points of identification online.

“I will need to understand some more details about the 100 points,” she said.

“What I do know now is that, when people put forward their applications at post offices, then there are authorised officers able to view the 100 points of ID and authorise that.”

She resolved to bring further information back to parliament about how the plan would work. It’s understood a recent push by the Government’s screening unit has seen the backlog halved from around 13,000 outstanding applications last month.

The fallout from recent child protection scandals, and recommendations of the Debelle Royal Commission, has seen an explosion of applications to the unit in recent months.