ASSESSING A POLICE CERTIFICATE 5.1 Police certificate format Police certificates may have different formats, including printed certificates or electronic reports. Every police certificate or report must record: the full name and date of birth; person’s the date of issue; and a reference number or similar. An approved provider must be satisfied that a certificate is genuine and has been prepared by an Australian Police service or a CrimTrac accredited agency. The Department does not provide advice on whether a police certificate meets the requirements under the Act. It is up to the approved provider to be satisfied that a certificate meets the requirements, and enables them to assess a criminal person’s history. Any police certificate decision should be documented by the approved provider. For more information on record keeping, and the sighting and storing of police certificates, please see section 6 . 5.2 Purpose of a police certificate A police certificate that best satisfies requirements under the Act is one obtained for the purposes of aged care. However, a national criminal history record check undertaken for another purpose will generally also satisfy the requirements. It is best practice to specify the purpose of the police check to the police service or CrimTrac agency issuing the certificate. 5.3 Police certificate disclosure A police certificate discloses whether a person: has been convicted of an offence; has been charged with and found guilty of an offence but discharged without conviction; or is the subject of any criminal charge still pending before a Court. The information on the certificate is drawn from all Australian jurisdictions and is subject to relevant state and territory spent conviction schemes. For more information about spent convictions, please see section 5.8 . 5.4 Assessing precluding offences The offences that preclude a person from working in aged care are: a conviction for murder or sexual assault; or a conviction of, and sentence to imprisonment for, any other form of assault.
ASSESSING A POLICE CERTIFICATE 5.1 Police certificate format Police certificates may have different formats, including printed certificates or electronic reports. Every police certificate or report must record: the person’s full name and date of birth; the date of issue; and a reference number or similar. An approved provider must be satisfied that a certificate is genuine and has been prepared by an Australian Police service or a CrimTrac accredited agency. The Department does not provide advice on whether a police certificate meets the requirements under the Act. It is up to the approved provider to be satisfied that a certificate meets the requirements, and enables them to assess a person’s criminal history. Any police certificate decision should be documented by the approved provider. For more information on record keeping, and the sighting and storing of police certificates, please see section 6 . 5.2 Purpose of a police certificate A police certificate that best satisfies requirements under the Act is one obtained for the purposes of aged care. However, a national criminal history record check undertaken for another purpose will generally also satisfy the requirements. It is best practice to specify the purpose of the police check to the police service or CrimTrac agency issuing the certificate. 5.3 Police certificate disclosure A police certificate discloses whether a person: has been convicted of an offence; has been charged with and found guilty of an offence but discharged without conviction; or is the subject of any criminal charge still pending before a Court. The information on the certificate is drawn from all Australian jurisdictions and is subject to relevant state and territory spent conviction schemes. For more information about spent convictions, please see section 5.8 . 5.4 Assessing precluding offences The offences that preclude a person from working in aged care are: a conviction for murder or sexual assault; or a conviction of, and sentence to imprisonment for, any other form of assault.
police_check_guidelines_23_september_2014.docx