STAFF-IN-CONFIDENCE (WHEN COMPLETED)
NATIONAL POLICE CHECKING SERVICE (NPCS)
APPLICATION/CONSENT FORM
(ACCREDITED ORGANISATION - CUSTOMERS)
GENERAL INFORMATION
GENERAL INFORMATION
This Form is used as part of the assessment process to determine whether a person
is suitable for employment or other engagement for work or other entitlements.
Unless statutory obligations require otherwise, the information provided on this Form
will not be used without your prior consent for any purpose other than in relation to
the assessment of your suitability. You may be required to complete another consent
form in the future in relation to employment in other positions.
NATIONAL POLICE HISTORY CHECK
A national police history check is an integral part of the assessment of your
suitability.
You should note that the existence of a record does not mean that you will be
assessed automatically as being unsuitable. Each case will be assessed on its merit,
so it is in your interest to provide full and frank details in the Form.
Information extracted from this Form will be forwarded to the Australian Criminal
Intelligence Commission (ACIC) and other Australian police agencies
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for checking
action. By signing this Form you are consenting to these agencies accessing their
records to obtain and disclose police history information that relates to you to:
a) the Accredited Agency named in Section 3 above; and
b) where applicable the employer/organisation named in Section 4 above.
Police history information may include outstanding charges, and criminal
convictions/findings of guilt recorded against you that may be disclosed according to
the laws of the relevant jurisdiction and, in the absence of any laws governing the
release of that information, according to the relevant jurisdiction's information
release policy.
SPENT CONVICTIONS SCHEMES
The following information is provided as general guidance and is not exhaustive.
The aim of Spent Convictions legislation
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is to prevent discrimination on the basis of
certain previous convictions. Spent convictions legislation limits the use and
disclosure of older, less serious convictions and findings of guilt.
Spent convictions of specific offences will be released where the check is required
for certain purposes regardless of how old the convictions are. Each Australian
police agency will apply the relevant Spent Convictions legislation/information
release policy prior to disclosure.
If further information or clarification is required please contact the individual police
agencies directly for further information about their release policies and any
legislation that affects them.
Commonwealth
Part VIIC of the Crimes Act 1914 (Cth) deals with aspects of the collection, use and
disclosure of old conviction information. The main element of this law is a “Spent
Convictions Scheme”. The aim of the Scheme is to prevent discrimination on the
basis of certain previous convictions, once a waiting period (usually 10 years) has
passed and provided the individual has not re-offended during this period. The
Scheme also covers situations where an individual has had a conviction “quashed”
or has been “pardoned”.
A “spent conviction” is a conviction of a Commonwealth, Territory, State or foreign
offence that satisfies all of the following conditions:
i). it is 10 years since the date of the conviction (or 5 years for juvenile offenders);
AND
ii). the individual was not sentenced to imprisonment or was not sentenced to
imprisonment for more than 30 months; AND
iii). the individual has not re-offended during the 10 years (5 years for juvenile
offenders) waiting period; AND
iv). a statutory or prescribed exclusion does not apply. (A full list of exclusions is
available from the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner).
The law affects Commonwealth authorities in the following ways:
i). a person with a conviction protected by Part VIIC does not have to disclose that
conviction to any person, including a Commonwealth authority, unless an exclusion
applies;
ii). Commonwealth authorities are prohibited from accessing, disclosing or taking into
account spent convictions of Commonwealth offences.
Part VIIC and Crimes Regulations 1990 provide for “statutory” or “regulatory”
exclusions that will prevent certain Commonwealth convictions from being spent in
certain circumstances.
Queensland
Under Queensland’s Criminal Law (Rehabilitation of Offenders) Act 1986 a conviction
automatically becomes spent upon completion of the prescribed (rehabilitation) period.
This period is:
(i) 10 years for indictable offences where the offender was an adult at the time of
conviction; and
(ii) 5 years for other (summary offences or where the offender was a juvenile).
Where a person is convicted of a subsequent offence (an offence other than a simple
or regulatory offence) during the rehabilitation period, the period runs from the date of
the subsequent conviction.
Convictions where the offender is sentenced to more than 30 months imprisonment
(whether or not that sentence is suspended) are excluded from the regime.
Once the rehabilitation period has expired, it is lawful for a person to deny (including
under oath) that the person has been convicted of the offence, and the conviction
must be disregarded for occupational licensing purposes (subject to certain
exceptions, see below). It is unlawful for any person to disclose the conviction unless:
(i) the convicted person consents;
(ii) the Minister has granted a permit authorising disclosure (where there is a legitimate
and sufficient purpose for disclosing);
(iii) the disclosure is subject to an exemption.
Victoria Police
For the purposes of employment, voluntary work or occupational licensing/registration,
police may restrict the release of a person’s police record according to the Victoria
Police “Information Release Policy”. If you have a police record the “Information
Release Policy” may take into account the age of the police record and the purpose for
which the information is being released. If 10 years have elapsed since you were last
found guilty of an offence, police will, in most instances, advise that you have no
disclosable court outcomes. However, a record over 10 years may be released if:
(i) it includes a term of imprisonment longer than 30 months;
(ii) it includes a serious, violent or sexual offence and the check is for the purpose of
working with children, elderly people or disabled people;
(iii) it is in the interests of crime prevention or public safety.
Findings of guilt without conviction and good behaviour bonds may be released.
Recent charges or outstanding matters under investigation that have not yet gone to
court may also be released.
New South Wales
In New South Wales the Criminal Records Act 1991 (NSW) governs the effect of a
person’s conviction for a relatively minor offence if the person completes a period of
crime-free behaviour, and makes provision with respect to quashed convictions and
pardons.
A “quashed” conviction is a conviction that has been set aside by the Court. A
“pardon” means a free and absolute pardon that has been granted to a person
because he/she was wrongly convicted of a Commonwealth, Territory, State or foreign
offence.
In relation to NSW convictions, a conviction generally becomes a “spent conviction” if
a person has had a 10 year crime-free period from the date of the conviction.
However, certain convictions may not become spent. These include:
(i) where a prison sentence of more than 6 months has been imposed (periodic or
home detention is not considered a prison sentence);
(ii) convictions against companies and other corporate bodies; (iii) sexual offences
pursuant to the Criminal Records Act 1991; and
(iv) convictions prescribed by the Regulations
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Australian Federal Police, The New South Wales Police Force, Victoria Police,
Queensland Police Service, South Australia Police, Western Australia Police,
Tasmania Police Service, Northern Territory Police Force.
2
Applicable spent conviction legislation, as amended from time to time.
