Australian National Character Check © 2021
All convictions, charges, and offences that lead to sentences that an individual is convicted of in Australia will appear in their national police clearance certificate. The certificate is a record of all the Disclosable Court Outcomes (DCOs) of an individual. It is issued by the Police Authorities, according to the State legislation on Spent offences and charges. It can be referred to as your Nationally Coordinated Criminal History Check application.
A National Police Certificate is an official document that contains Disclosable Court Outcomes (DCOs); where the applicant has convictions deemed releasable. These include and are not limited to:
In addition to spent charges/convictions, some other offences will not appear on your criminal background check certificate. Most of them either lack merit by the law or are deemed outside the State’s legislation. Some of them include;
An individual can request for a National Police Check through two means available to them;
The Local Police Authorities
Applicants must visit any of the Police branch offices near them, and request the paper-based application form. The applicant fills the form, and returns it to the police branch for further verification and processing. The applicant is contacted when their Police Clearance certificate is ready.
However, this method becomes more stressful and time-consuming, especially when the check is needed urgently. Accredited agencies (Online application)
Australian National Character Check offers a simple, and stress-free method of obtaining a National Criminal History Check certificate. All applications, verification and submission are done online, and your Clearance certificate is returned to you within 24 hours of application.
Furthermore, application data are transmitted over a secure server, and both soft and hard copies of your Police Clearance certificate are mailed back to the applicant.
If an employee has presented your organisation with their Police Clearance Certificate, and you are in doubt of its authenticity, there is a way to verify it. All employers can verify a Police Check through our Verify a Check feature.
For many industries and organisations, it is mandatory to request an updated Australian police check from their employees. We can provide employers with Police Clearance certificates for their employees or volunteers as long as they get informed consent from the individual.
Employers can register with Australian National Character Check, and create a business customer portal account to include the process as part of their hiring activities.
The informed consent documents guide the use, handling and accessibility of the individual's check.
The Australian local police stations and Australian National Character Check access the Police Clearance certificate from the same central government database. There is no difference in the clearance issued by your local police authority and Australian National Character Check. Both are authentic and valid though with a slight difference in certificate format.
The standard price of a police clearance certificate is $48.90.
However, applicants must specify the “purpose” before paying the application fees. Employers might not accept a criminal record check that comes with the “wrong” purpose.
Furthermore, you must double-check and ensure that you are applying for the correct police Clearance certificate depending on the agency that requests it. For example, Police Clearance for immigration purposes is different from Checks for Employment or Volunteer purposes.
A Police Clearance is a point in time check. It is valid from the point of issue till the employer requests an updated copy.
Employers should request regular updated Checks from their staff, especially when they have a conviction during the “waiting period”
The Police Clearance Certificate is an official certificate recognized by the Australian government. It is valid in all States in Australia and is the same as;
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