Spent Conviction Scheme
Commonwealth legislation relating to the collection, use and disclosure of information concerning previous convictions came into effect on 30 June 1990. This is commonly known as the Spent Conviction Scheme.
The aim of the scheme is to prevent discrimination on the basis of certain previous convictions. Commonwealth authorities are prohibited from taking into account or disclosing any prior convictions, without the consent of the individual.
Convictions covered
The scheme applies to spent convictions where a waiting period has passed and the individual in question has not re-offended.
The following conditions apply to convictions for a Commonwealth, Territory, State or foreign offence:
- it has been 10 years from the date of the conviction (or 5 years for child offenders);
- the individual was not sentenced to imprisonment for more than 30 months;
- the individual has not re-offended during the 10 year (5 years for child offenders) waiting period; and
- a statutory or regulatory exclusion does not apply.
The scheme also covers convictions that have been set aside or pardoned under Part VIIC of the Crimes Act 1914. An individual whose conviction is protected by does not have to disclose that conviction to any person, including a Commonwealth authority.
Exclusions
There are some exceptions to the scheme, where you may need to declare spent or protected convictions.
The Act includes some specific exclusions for particular positions of employment. In addition, the Attorney-General has granted some exclusions from the Scheme for several categories of employment.
This means that people applying for these positions must declare all convictions, or any convictions for specific offences, as required for the specific position.
Details of exclusions should be provided to you by the employing organisation before your consent is sought to obtain a criminal history check.
Privacy standards
A copy of the National Principles for the Fair Handling of Personal Information is available online from the Office of the Privacy Commissioner.
If you believe that the privacy standards dealing with disclosure and use of previous convictions have been breached, you may apply to the Privacy Commissioner to investigate the matter.