Ultimately, it is not feasible to set out in regulation all of the potentially relevant offences for the purpose of the disqualifying offences check. There are thousands of potentially relevant offences across all Australian and foreign jurisdictions. Whether a particular offence (which is not a disqualifying offence) is relevant for a particular service is a determination that must be made by a taxi service provider or booking service provider based on their assessment of how best to meet their primary duty of care. The to Point Transport Commissioner is developing a Driver Vehicle Dashboard located on the new Industry Portal to assist authorised service providers with managing their obligations in relation to drivers and vehicles. While there is no obligation to use the portal, the tool will be available for all authorised service providers. Spent convictions Stakeholders also questioned how the disqualifying offences regime will work in relation to the spent convictions regime. In its submission, the Australian Taxi Drivers Association stated that a reasonable and proportionate time limit is placed on each disqualifying “unless offence, this clause is unacceptable in terms of natural justice”. The Regulation does not alter or effect the operation of the NSW Spent Convictions Scheme. The Criminal Records Act 1991 (Criminal Records Act) sets out the offences which are capable of becoming spent. Under the Criminal Records Act, all convictions for individuals are capable of becoming spent, except: convictions for which a prison sentence of more than 6 months has been imposed; and convictions for sexual offences. If a conviction of a person is considered to be then the person is not required to disclose the offence and the person’s criminal history is taken to include only those convictions which are not spent. This means that spent convictions will not appear on a person’s criminal history and will not be relevant for the purpose of determining whether a person has been convicted of a disqualifying offence under the Regulation. 5.2 Driver of wheelchair accessible vehicle to be competent in loading and unloading wheelchair passengers
Ultimately, it is not feasible to set out in regulation all of the potentially relevant offences for the purpose of the disqualifying offences check. There are thousands of potentially relevant offences across all Australian and foreign jurisdictions. Whether a particular offence (which is not a disqualifying offence) is relevant for a particular service is a determination that must be made by a taxi service provider or booking service provider based on their assessment of how best to meet their primary duty of care. The to Point Transport Commissioner is developing a Driver Vehicle Dashboard located on the new Industry Portal to assist authorised service providers with managing their obligations in relation to drivers and vehicles. While there is no obligation to use the portal, the tool will be available for all authorised service providers. Spent convictions Stakeholders also questioned how the disqualifying offences regime will work in relation to the spent convictions regime. In its submission, the Australian Taxi Drivers Association stated that “unless a reasonable and proportionate time limit is placed on each disqualifying offence, this clause is unacceptable in terms of natural justice”. The Regulation does not alter or effect the operation of the NSW Spent Convictions Scheme. The Criminal Records Act 1991 (Criminal Records Act) sets out the offences which are capable of becoming spent. Under the Criminal Records Act, all convictions for individuals are capable of becoming spent, except: convictions for which a prison sentence of more than 6 months has been imposed; and convictions for sexual offences. If a conviction of a person is considered to be then the person is not required to disclose the offence and the person’s criminal history is taken to include only those convictions which are not spent. This means that spent convictions will not appear on a person’s criminal history and will not be relevant for the purpose of determining whether a person has been convicted of a disqualifying offence under the Regulation. 5.2 Driver of wheelchair accessible vehicle to be competent in loading and unloading wheelchair passengers