SA agency unclear on pedophile's risk

Families SA staff were not shown how to properly interpret psychometric tests that deemed pedophile childcare worker Shannon McCoole as "high risk", a royal commission has heard.

McCoole was classed as "very unsuitable" based on his test results in early 2012 but he was offered work anyway and went on to abuse multiple children.

South Australia's royal commission into child protection heard evidence on Wednesday from an employee responsible for hiring residential care workers, including McCoole, at the time.

The employee, who cannot be named, said he received limited training about the psychometric tests given to applicants and did not understand aspects of the criteria.

"The high risk for Shannon probably came down to the number of emotional problems he'd had in the past," he said.

"I still today cannot really identify what makes him high risk and what that risk is."

The employee said he was never under the impression McCoole was at greater risk of abusing children.

He was not trained as a psychologist and said he found it difficult to view the tests as a credible and fair assessment of applicants.

McCoole also tested above average for aggression and impulsivity and claimed to have "seriously considered" committing serious bodily harm against another adult.

The tests, published by the Australian Institute of Forensic Psychology, warned that "extreme caution" should be used when advancing high risk applicants.

Families SA has since changed its recruitment process for care workers.

McCoole was jailed for 35 years in August last year for 18 state and two federal offences, including persistent sexual exploitation of children, sexual intercourse with children, and the production and dissemination of child pornography.

Commissioner Margaret Nyland is examining how McCoole, who was also an administrator of a global child pornography website, was able to offend against children in state care between 2011 and 2014.

McCoole's offending began almost immediately after he started work with at risk children in residential care and he continued working with children until the day before his arrest in June, 2014.

The investigation has previously been told of complaints by fellow workers against McCoole, including one incident that was reported to police.