Earlier this year the Victorian Parliament passed the Spent Convictions Act 2021, with a commencement date of 1 December 2021.
Link to the "Victoria Police Spent Convictions Disclosure Fact Sheet"
From this date there will be changes to the Victoria Police Information Release Policy and therefore changes to the way a person’s criminal history information can be used and disclosed, including what can and cannot be released on a police record check. Please note, these changes are to the release of police records held within Victoria only.
POLICE CHECK VICTORIA (VIC)An example of some of the changes that will be implemented are:
- Victorian convictions that are spent will no longer show up on a police record check, unless an exemption applies.
- Generally speaking, convictions with a sentencing outcome of 30 months imprisonment or less will be spent automatically after a 10-year crime-free period for adults and five years for young people.
- In some circumstances, a conviction will be spent immediately, including when a person was under the age of 15 when they committed the offence.
- Criminal charges where a court has not yet made a decision (pending charges) or information relating to an ongoing investigation by police, or a finding of not guilty by reason of mental impairment will in most circumstances not be released.
- The Spent Conviction Act will only apply to disclosure for standard employment checks.
- Where there is other Victorian legislation or existing national agreements (e.g. ECHIPWC/NDIS) or national laws (e.g. AHPRA) disclosure for those checks will not be affected.
A spent conviction means that under certain circumstances (including the severity of the conviction, the time since the conviction and whether or not any other crimes have been committed) a conviction may not be released on a check. This also gives the Applicant the right not to tell another person or authority about their conviction (a right of non-disclosure). All Australian police agencies have legislation or information release policies governing how information about a person's criminal convictions may be used and disclosed.
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