Frequently asked questions

A police check is formally known as a Nationally Coordinated Criminal History Check (NCCHC). The NCCHC process involves identifying and releasing any relevant Criminal History Information (CHI) subject to relevant spent convictions/non-disclosure legislation and/or information release policies. This information is sourced from the databases of all Australian police jurisdictions. The information is held centrally by the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission (ACIC). WorkPro’s online police check service offers secure integrated access to the ACIC, to retrieve relevant data and results almost instantly.

An Australian national police check can also be referred to as:

• Police check
• Police history check
• Police clearance check
• Police criminal check
• Police record check
• Criminal history check

A Police Check report contains:

• A date of issue;
• All names you have been known by;
• Date of Birth;
• Your primary residential address.

An Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission (ACIC) accredited organisation is an organisation that ACIC have assessed and approved to administer the police checking service on behalf of individuals and customers. ACIC accredited organisations are entrusted with direct access to the National Police Checking Service Support System (NSS) to submit applications and retrieve police check results for consenting applicants.

Accredited organisations include Australian federal, state and local government agencies, private sector businesses, not-for-profit organisations and screening units for working with children or vulnerable people.

The Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission (ACIC) has accredited a number of organisations to assist individual’s and company’s apply for and submit a Nationally Coordinated Criminal History Check. These organisations are entrusted with direct access to the National Police Checking Service and play a vital role to help safeguard the Australian community.

The accreditation process means demonstrating adherence to strict guidelines that are stipulated by ACIC that must be followed by every accredited company.

Accreditation obligations include following identity requirements, an agreed verification process, and abiding by stringent security and data privacy requirements.

Accredited companies are regularly audited by ACIC to ensure adherence to the agreed guidelines.

Risk Solutions Australia Pty Ltd t/a WorkPro has been accredited by the ACIC since 2012 and therefore able to offer Australian police check online service to companies and individuals.

WorkPro’s online police check process includes results from every State Australia wide.

Using WorkPro as your police check partner, you can expect most checks to be processed within 30 minutes (subject to business hours).

The outcome of the processed check will be ‘No Disclosable Court Outcome’ (NDCO) or ‘Referred’. Referred can occur in approximately 30% of all national police checks ordered. If this occurs, your result may take from 1 – 15 business days to be finalised. A Referred status means that the check will be manually reviewed before it is finalised as a NDCO or Disclosable Court Outcome (DCO).

WorkPro has no control or influence over the manual review and we cannot predict if any check will be delayed.

WorkPro partners with ACIC to work together aiming to process 95% of police checks within 10 business days, noting that:

• 70% of all checks are processed within 30 minutes.
• 25% are completed within 10 business days as they’ve been referred to one or more police agencies because an individual’s name is similar to a person of interest.
• 5% may take 15 business days or more (depending on the complexity of the check). For further information on ACIC delivery times click here.

Processing a police check can take longer if the applicant shares similar details with other individuals recorded in police systems, particularly if they have a common name.

A Nationally Coordinated Criminal History Check is a ‘point in time’ check, meaning results reflect police records at the date and time the result is released. Information disclosed includes:

• Court convictions
• Findings of guilt with no conviction – this means that even if no conviction was recorded for an offence, it will appear on a police check
• Good behaviour bonds or other court orders
• Charges
• Matters awaiting a court hearing
• Driving offences where the candidate has been found guilty by a court – note that otherwise traffic offences are not criminal offences and will not be disclosed in a police check

• Traffic offences are not criminal offences and are not disclosed unless the individual has been found guilty by a court
• A Nationally Coordinated Criminal History Check does not contain information about spent convictions.

The Australian Commonwealth Spent Convictions Scheme means that certain criminal convictions are not disclosed after a period of good behaviour. The Scheme applies to convictions for less serious Commonwealth, State, Territory and Foreign offences, and also covers pardons and quashed convictions. A conviction for a State or Territory offence may also be covered by a spent conviction scheme in the relevant state or territory. Importantly, any unauthorised disclosure and use of this information is also prohibited. Generally speaking, a spent finding is:

• A criminal offence older than five years, if convicted as a child
• An offence older than ten years in any other case

The above waiting periods are intended to demonstrate that the individual has been of good behaviour and has not re-offended during the five year or ten year period.

The Commonwealth Spent Convictions Scheme generally does not apply to more serious convictions, where the individual has been sentenced to imprisonment for more than 30 months.

NDCO is defined as ‘no disclosable court outcomes’. This result indicates that there is no police history information is stored against the individual, or no information that may be released (for example, information regarding spent convictions).

Once a check is submitted using WorkPro online police check application service, the information is verified by a specialist WorkPro team member before it is submitted to the ACIC online police check service. Once the police check is submitted, the result can be returned within 30 minutes.

Referred means that when your police check application has been submitted online, it has been ‘flagged’ for further review prior to finalising the police check.

This might mean that your information may be a match against somebody on the database with a similar name, gender and/or date of birth. When this occurs, there is a manual process of review into the application, in consultation with each of Australia’s police agencies, to resolve the match.

It can take 15 business days to be finalised. Once the Nationally Coordinated Criminal History Check has been finalised, you will be notified by email.

WorkPro is an organisation accredited by the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission (ACIC) as a third-party nNationally Coordinated Criminal History Check partner.

Accredited in 2012, WorkPro is highly experienced in managing background checks across a broad range of industries.

WorkPro offers a simple, secure process, available on any device, and the ability to return results within minutes! Here is how our process works:

STEP 1: CANDIDATE REQUEST

A registered WorkPro customer sends an electronic request from the WorkPro platform to complete the police check application.

STEP 2: APPLICATION PROCESS

The candidate receives the email request and completes the application online, providing relevant personal information, supporting identity documentation and consent.

STEP 3: IDENTITY AND CONSENT

Prior to 1 July 2018, the police check process required an applicant to provide what was previously known as 100 points of identification. Today, following the implementation of the National Identity Security Strategy, the police check process now incorporates the requirement for an applicant to provide four forms of identification against strict categories and provide express informed consent. Identity document categories are as follows:

• One commencement of identity document
• One primary use in the community document
• Two secondary use in the community documents

A full list is available here.

Whilst a commencement document may be relatively easy for an Australian Citizen to provide, for non-Australian citizens, it may be more difficult to meet the criteria for this category.

• Australian citizens may supply a current Australian birth certificate or passport.
• Non-Australian citizens need to provide an alternative Commencement of Identity document such as an ImmiCard, certificate of identity issued by the Department of Foreign Affairs, certificate of evidence of residency status, or Australian visa document.

It may be necessary for non-Australian citizens to provide their work rights visa. To do this, applicants can utilise WorkPro’s free, integrated Department of Home Affairs VEVO database to complete a work rights check, instantly able to upload the result as their commencement of identity document. WorkPro is one of only a handful of companies integrated with the VEVO database, meaning the work rights check can be completed without the need to leave the WorkPro platform!

STEP 4: VETTING AND SUBMISSION

Once the applicant provides evidence of their identity and informed consent, a WorkPro customer is expected to review the application, compare, confirm and accept the authenticity of the identity documents, and submit the application via a secure on-line portal.

In keeping with our commitment to privacy, security and robust compliance, WorkPro additionally reviews every application and identity document to confirm the application and documentation is accurate, correct and the identity is compared for authenticity. Once confirmed, the application is submitted to the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission’s (ACIC) National Police Checking Service Support System database. Here, a database search uses the applicant’s name, sex and date of birth to seek matches against persons of interest (POI) known to police.

STEP 5: THE OUTCOME

NDCO

If no potential matches are found, an instant result or initial clear is returned, known as a ‘NDCO’ (no disclosable court outcome). This means there is no police history information recorded for the individual’s details as submitted and the result is returned to WorkPro’s secure portal. The customer is alerted via email that the result is finalised.

Referred and matching for persons of interest

An initial check may return as ‘referred’ when a potential match against a person of interest (POI) is returned. In this case, the check is referred to the police agency where the relevant information is held, and the agency determines whether the applicant is the same person as the POI – this is known as ‘matching’.

In some circumstances, the police agency may need additional information to assist with making a matching decision. If this is the case, the agency will raise a request for further information, generally in the form of additional personal details, such as previous addresses, photo ID or asking an applicant attend a police station to submit a fingerprint sample.

If the police agency determines that the applicant is not a match with the person of interest, the referral result is NDCO.

Confirmed match and vetting of disclosable information

If the police agency determines that the applicant is a match with the person of interest, the check moves into the vetting stage. Here, relevant legislation and information release policies are applied to determine the type and amount of information about the candidate that can be released. The check then goes into the final vetting stage.

The police agency in the state or territory in which the accredited organisation (that is, WorkPro) has its registered business reviews vetted results and applies its own legislation and policies to determine what information may be released to the accredited organisation.

DCO

This information is returned as a ‘DCO’ (disclosable court outcome) result. This means there is police history information recorded for the individual’s details as submitted. Specifically, a record of court convictions and findings of guilt, subject to the application of relevant spent conviction legislation in the relevant jurisdiction.

STEP 6: DELIVERY OF RESULTS

At the end of the process, a National Police Certificate (NPC) is issued, outlining the results of the check:

• NDCO No police information held against the applicant or no information that can be released according to the purpose and category of the police check
• DCO Police information is available that can be released

Individuals can apply for and pay for their own Nationally Coordinated Criminal History Check through our pay-as-you-go portal Australian Police Check here. 

Using WorkPro’s police check online service, the process is as follows:

• Create an account online
• Pay for the check
• Complete the online application form
• Upload the required ID and self captured photo
• Provide consent online
• You will receive an email confirming your order is being progressed and when your check is completed.

WorkPro provides results electronically so that you have instant access to your information, and to allow you the option of printing hard copies or passing on the information electronically.

To comply with National Identity Security Strategy and Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission (ACIC) requirements, WorkPro’s online system enables applicants to provide the following documents in order to successfully complete the police check process:

• One ‘commencement of identity’ document, for example a valid Australian passport
• One ‘primary use in the community’ document, for example a valid Australian driver’s licence
• Two ‘secondary use in the community’ documents, for example an Australian Medicare card
• A linkage of identity photo, that is, a photo including both the applicant and the relevant document
• A signed informed consent document (electronic or physical signature)

A list of the documents can be reviewed here.

At least one of the documents must include a photo of the applicant. In addition, the documents must show the same name as the claim, or evidence of a change of name is also required. The following are not acceptable:

• Copies or certified copies
• Expired documents
• Australia Post Keypass identity card
• The same document twice

When individuals and organisations seek to conduct an online Nationally Coordinated Criminal History check, a key concern should be the security of the system and processes given the sensitive nature of the information.

If you are wanting to process police checks online, you need to ask the provider how they secure information an on-line and to prove their accreditation with the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission (ACIC).

WorkPro has been accredited by the ACIC since 2012 and its online Nationally Coordinated Criminal History check service is secured in line with the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission’s stringent security and audit terms. WorkPro regularly undertakes internal and external audits to ensure it remains in line with the Australian Government’s legislated requirements.

WorkPro manages compliance standards on your behalf, ensuring data is properly and securely stored, archived and destroyed in accordance with national laws.

There are many reasons as to why some checks may take longer than others to process, including:

• The individual has a common name, or a name that matches with many potential persons of interest
• Transferring information between various state and territory police agencies before the information can be vetted and/or released
• The relevant police agency has inaccurate or incomplete records which need to be investigated before the check can be finalised
• Old police history associated with a possible match requires manual collection and processing of hardcopy records
• Workloads within each police agency

The check result is a point in time check and only represents the applicant’s offence history as of the date of release.

The application and results certificate are stored for 12 months within WorkPro. The certificate is then permanently destroyed and the record automatically archived in line with the Privacy Act.

The outcome of the check is available for viewing permanently as a reliable audit trail.

The applicant does have the right to request their results certificate to be destroyed at any time. The process that needs to be followed by an applicant to request their check is destroyed is formal, and managed directly between the applicant and WorkPro.

A candidate must be at least 16 in order for a Nationally Coordinated Criminal History Check to be completed. In addition, anyone under the age of 18 must have the informed consent of a parent, guardian or legal representative.

It is not possible to process a police check without the candidate express informed consent. WorkPro checks the signature provided during the application process as part of the verification process prior to submitting the check to ACIC.

The applicant must provide signed and informed consent in order for a Nationally Coordinated Criminal History Check to be completed. By doing so, they are consenting to the specific purpose of a police check. If another national police check is required for a different purpose, they must consent again. Consent can be provided in the form of a digital signature, and is collected as a part of WorkPro’s application process.

Using WorkPro, the applicant will receive a copy of their Nationally Coordinated Criminal History Check results certificate. In addition, it is an Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission requirement that the applicant is automatically and immediately advised if there is a disclosable court outcome and provided with clear instructions on how to dispute the outcome if it contains an error. The WorkPro platform automatically ensures this requirement is addressed.

A Nationally Coordinated Criminal History Check result will display all releasable court outcomes from all states and territories of Australia, based on respective policies/legislation and spent conviction schemes.

There is no difference in the Nationally Coordinated Criminal History Check result you would receive from WorkPro, another broker, or state or federal police, as we all use the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission system to obtain the same information.

There are however differences in the speed, efficiency, and security of the service you receive and the way your police check is delivered to you.