Police Checks in Australia, Explained: What Shows Up and What Doesn't

Police checks come up in almost every conversation we have with job seekers who have a record, and with the employers who might hire them. There's a lot of half-knowledge around them. Some people think a check is a pass or a fail. Some employers think a slow check means something is wrong. Neither is true.

Here's how they actually work.

What a police check is

In Australia the formal name is a Nationally Coordinated Criminal History Check. It's run through the National Police Checking Service, which the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission (ACIC) operates with every police force in the country and a group of accredited organisations. (ACIC)

You can get one in a few ways:

• From the Australian Federal Police (AFP). You need the AFP if the check is for Commonwealth or ACT purposes. (AFP)
• From your state or territory police. These are national checks too. Victoria Police, for example, says its certificate covers releasable court outcomes from every state and territory. (Victoria Police)
• Through an ACIC-accredited organisation, often online, which an employer may ask you to use.

Whichever way you apply, it's the same national system underneath.

What shows up on a check

A check comes back one of two ways.

"No Disclosable Court Outcomes" means either police hold nothing on you, or nothing can be released for that check's purpose once the spent convictions laws and release rules are applied. (ACIC)

"Disclosable Court Outcomes" means something can be released. According to the ACIC, that can include:

• charges, and convictions with their penalties
• findings of guilt where no conviction was recorded
• court appearances, bonds and other court orders
• matters still waiting to be heard in court
• warrants and warnings
• traffic offences

Two things often surprise people. First, pending charges can appear, not just finalised ones. Second, what's released depends on why you're being checked. The same person can get different results for different purposes, because some kinds of work (working with children, aged care, disability support, teaching and others) can see more. (AFP, spent convictions)

Spent convictions, in brief

Older, less serious convictions can become spent, which usually means they no longer show on a standard check and, in most situations, you don't have to disclose them.

Under the Commonwealth scheme, a conviction is generally spent if it's been 10 years since the conviction (5 years if you were a child), the sentence was no more than 30 months in prison, you haven't reoffended in that time, and no exclusion applies. Some kinds of work can still see spent convictions, including work with children, NDIS worker screening and aged care. (AFP)

Each state and territory has its own scheme, with different waiting periods and limits. In Western Australia, for example, an adult's conviction doesn't become spent automatically: you have to apply. If you're unsure whether something of yours is spent, get free advice from Legal Aid or a community legal centre in your state before you answer a question about it.

How long it takes, and what it costs

The AFP charges $57 for a National Police Certificate, or $114 if you need to supply fingerprints, and says it completes and posts most certificates within 48 hours. Checks that need fingerprints take at least 15 working days. (Fees checked 15 October 2026 on the AFP website.)

Across the whole national system, about 70% of checks are finished within minutes. The other 30% go to police for a closer look, and the ACIC's target is 95% within 10 business days. The ACIC is clear that a delayed check is not a sign that someone has a record, and it asks employers not to rule out applicants who are still waiting on one. (ACIC)

If you're with a Workforce Australia provider, ask whether they can pay for your check. The program's Employment Fund can cover police checks for participants. (DEWR, Workforce Australia guidelines)

How long a check "lasts"

There's no official expiry date. A check shows what was on record on the day it was done, so it's a snapshot, and each organisation decides how recent a check it will accept. A check is also tied to the purpose you gave consent for, so it can't simply be reused for a different one. (ACIC)

Consent, and who sees the result

A police check needs your informed consent, for that specific purpose. For a job, nobody can get one about you without it. (ACIC)

If you apply to the police yourself, the certificate comes to you, and you decide whether to share it. If you go through an accredited organisation, the result goes to that organisation, and it has to give you the result if anything is disclosed or if you ask for it.

If the result is wrong

Mistakes happen, especially with common names. You can dispute a result through the organisation or police force you applied through, which passes it to the police agency that holds the record to investigate. (ACIC, appeals and disputes) The AFP has its own Disputed Record form, and may ask for fingerprints to compare.

What a police check isn't

A police check is not the same as a Working With Children Check, which each state runs separately and which looks at more information. (ACIC) It's also not NDIS Worker Screening, which risk-assessed roles in disability support need; a standard police check isn't a substitute. (NDIS Commission)

For employers: what you can do with a result

Under federal law, treating someone differently because of their record isn't unlawful in itself. But the Australian Human Rights Commission can investigate complaints about it in employment, and the test it applies is whether the record actually stops the person doing the inherent requirements of the job, looked at case by case. (AHRC)

Some states and territories go further:

• Tasmania, the ACT and the Northern Territory protect people against discrimination on the basis of an irrelevant record (the NT has an exception for work caring for vulnerable people).
• Victoria and Western Australia protect people with spent convictions.

The practical question for any employer is the same one the AHRC asks: does this record relate to this job? A conviction from years ago with nothing to do with the work in front of you usually doesn't. Our employer's field guide goes into how to handle it well.

How Reboot handles it

When we put a candidate forward, the police check is organised as part of getting them work-ready. If you're looking for work, here's how we help. If you're hiring, talk to us.

And if you're about to have the conversation yourself, read how to talk about your record in a job interview.

This article is general information, not legal advice. Fees, processing times and laws change, so check the current details with the AFP, your state police or a legal service.