Screening Unit
Informed Consent Form Guidelines
The Screening Unit encourages applicants to refrain from printing this document. These
guidelines do not need to be forwarded to the Screening Unit with the Informed Consent
Form.
General Information
If you are an employee, volunteer, agent or contractor engaged in a prescribed position within
a South Australian organisation (or are about to be engaged in one of these roles) and if that
role brings you into regular contact with children or into close proximity to children on a regular
basis, the organisation may be required by the Children’s Protection Act 1993 (SA) to obtain a
national criminal history record check (NCHRC) and conduct an assessment of any disclosed
information. The organisation must also conduct a NCHRC if you manage or supervise
persons regularly in contact with children or working close to children, or if you have access to
children’s records.
Under the Aged Care Act 1997 (Cth), organisations (“approved providers”) which have staff or
volunteers who work in aged care services subsidised under the Act and who are “reasonably
likely to have unsupervised access to care recipients”, are required to conduct a NCHRC.
The Australian Government Police Certificate Guidelines for Aged Care Providers (2006,
Department of Health and Ageing) provide more information about this requirement and are
available on the Commonwealth department’s website at: www.health.gov.au/OACQC.
The Screening Unit will conduct NCHRCs for employees and volunteers in the organisation
and may, by agreement, provide this service to other Government agencies or nonGovernment organisations. In some cases, even though not obliged by legislation, an
organisation may request that you undergo a NCHRC as part of its general duty of care to its
staff or clients, where it believes that such a check is an inherent requirement of the job or that
the nature of the position requires this in order to minimise a reasonably foreseeable risk to
persons.
With the informed consent of the applicant the Screening Unit will conduct a full screening
assessment which includes the assessment of disclosed criminal history information, other
relevant information which is lawfully available within the Department or other government
agencies, including relevant child protection information, and publicly available information
relating to persons disciplined or precluded from working with children or vulnerable people.
Information may also be obtained from police, courts, prosecuting authorities and professional
registration bodies. Each case will be assessed on its individual merits and with consideration
to the inherent requirements of the applicant’s position.
Assessment of criminal history and background information will be made in line with the
relevant guidelines, with all assessments conducted in accordance with the principles of
natural justice and procedural fairness. Assessment procedures will be transparent,
documented and consistently applied.
In the case where criminal history information or other relevant information obtained through
the assessment process raises matters which may indicate that a person is unsuitable to
perform the inherent requirements of the job or there is an unacceptable risk in the person
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continuing with particular duties, the Screening Unit may recommend that the applicant is
precluded from undertaking those duties. In the case of applications submitted pursuant to
the Aged Care Act 1997 (Cth) (Schedule 2, Part 4), a person must be precluded from
providing aged care if the person has been convicted of murder or sexual assault; or if the
person has been convicted of, and sentenced to imprisonment for any other form of assault.
Legislation and guidelines dictate that NCHRCs are to be conducted every three years for
people working with children and vulnerable adults. However, individual organisations may
have their own policies which define the timeframes that checks remain valid.
The information provided on the Informed Consent Form and any further information received
by the Screening Unit will be treated confidentially and with regard to individual privacy and
will not be used without your prior consent for any purpose other than to confirm your
suitability for particular work or unless required by law. Information received through these
processes will be securely stored in the Screening Unit. Under agreed standards, all criminal
history information provided by CrimTrac must be destroyed within three months of receipt
from CrimTrac.
Consent to Obtain Personal Information
You are requested to provide your informed consent to the Screening Unit conducting a
NCHRC and obtaining any other relevant information about you. By signing the Informed
Consent Form you are providing your “informed consent”, that is you are aware of what you
are agreeing to when submitting your application.
Information extracted from the Informed Consent Form will be forwarded to the CrimTrac
Agency and other Australian police services 1 for checking action. By signing the Form you
are providing your consent to these agencies:
a) disclosing criminal history information that pertains to you from their own records to the
Department; and/or
b) accessing their records to obtain criminal history information that in turn will be disclosed
to the Department.
It is usual practice for an applicant’s personal information to be disclosed to Australian police
services for them to use for their respective law enforcement purposes including the
investigation of any outstanding criminal offences.
Where the law requires the organisation to obtain a NCHRC because you work with children
or vulnerable adults, a refusal to consent to a NCHRC (or provide a statutory declaration
where applicable) can result in your application not being processed and you being unable to
continue in that role.
When providing your informed consent you are certifying that the personal information you
have provided on the Informed Consent Form relates to you and is correct. If it is
subsequently discovered that you have provided false or misleading information, you may be
assessed as unsuitable for the position or role in question.
100 Point Identification Check
You must provide current and original identification documents to prove your identity sufficient
to satisfy the ‘100 Point Check’ referred to in the Financial Transaction Reports Act 1988
(Cth). The Informed Consent Form provides a list of documents which can be produced to
1
Australian Federal Police, New South Wales Police Force, Victoria Police, Queensland Police Service, South Australia Police, Western
Australia Police, Tasmania Police, Northern Territory Police Force
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satisfy the ‘100 Point Check’. In addition, the following documents can be accepted and are
worth 25 points each:
• Council rates notice
• Motor vehicle registration or insurance papers
• Foreign Driver’s Licence
• Property lease agreement
• Home insurance papers
• Records of a primary, secondary or tertiary educational institution attended within the last
10 years
• Records from a current employer or previous employer within the last 2 years
• Records of a professional or trade association
It is important to note that only one category A document will be accepted and counted
towards your ‘100 points’ (ie if you provide your birth certificate and passport, only one of them
will be accepted). If you need to produce more than one category B document, the first
document is valued at 40 points, but subsequent category B documents are only valued at 25
points each.
Each of the documents provided to satisfy the ‘100 Point Check’ should display the same
name (ie name on birth certificate must be the same as the name on the drivers licence). If
the documents display a different name (ie maiden name on birth certificate and married
name on drivers licence) then proof of the change of name must be evidenced by the
provision of a marriage certificate, deed poll or decree nisi. These documents do not
contribute towards the ‘100 points’, but are compulsory in order to satisfy the ‘100 Point
Check’. If you have ever been known by a different name but all of your current documents
are in the same name (ie married name on passport and married name on drivers licence) you
do not need to provide change of name documentation.
Applications failing to meet the ‘100 Point Check’ will not be accepted.
Verification of Identity
The requesting organisation, a Justice of the Peace or Commissioner for taking Affidavits
(Solicitor, Barrister or Proclaimed Police Officer) must verify that they have sighted the current
and original documentation provided by you and verify that you are the person referred to in
the documents.
Photocopies of identification documents do not need to be provided with the Informed
Consent Form. The onus is on the verifying officers to ensure that you meet the requirements
of the ‘100 Point Check’ and to ensure that all personal details provided on the Form are
accurate, legible and correspond with the original documentation provided.
Spent Convictions Schemes
The information which can be made available about a person’s criminal history may vary
between Australian jurisdictions and will depend on any laws or policies relating to “spent
convictions” schemes. The purpose of these schemes, where they exist, is to provide some
protection for persons from unreasonable discrimination based on minor or old convictions
once a waiting period has passed without the person re-offending during this period.
Convictions considered “spent” will not be included in a criminal history report unless the
category of employment or purpose of the application is considered exempt from the workings
of the scheme.
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South Australia
SAPOL is bound by the South Australian Spent Convictions Act 2009 when determining what
information to release to the Screening Unit. Under the Spent Convictions Act, it is an offence
to release information regarding the convictions of a person if those convictions are deemed
to be ‘spent’ under the Act.
A spent conviction is one that cannot be disclosed or taken into consideration for any purpose.
Eligible convictions become spent following a ten year conviction and proven offence-free
period for adults, and a five year conviction and proven offence-free period for juveniles.
The Spent Convictions Act defines a conviction as:
•
•
A formal finding of guilt by a Court
A finding by a Court that an offence has been proved.
This means that court hearings with the outcome 'without conviction' will be released as they
are a formal finding of guilt.
There are certain convictions which can never be spent. These include but are not limited to:
•
•
Convictions for sex offences
Convictions where a sentence is imposed of more than 12 months imprisonment for an
adult, or 24 months imprisonment for a juvenile.
Schedule 1 of the Spent Convictions Act sets out a number of exceptions to the rule where
spent convictions can be released. Some examples of this include:
•
•
•
The care of children
The care of vulnerable people (including the aged and persons with a disability, illness
or impairment)
Activities associated with statutory character tests for licensing
Intelligence-type information is not released.
The Spent Convictions Act can be viewed on the Internet at:
http://www.legislation.sa.gov.au
Expanded Offender History Information Release Practices
The following organisations are authorised / legislated to receive all convictions and nonconvictions (i.e. including but not limited to withdrawn, acquitted and dismissed court
outcomes):
Authorised Screening Units under the Exchange of Criminal History Information for
Persons Working with Children
Intergovernmental Agreement
The Australian Health Practitioners Regulation Agency for the screening of health
practitioners under the Health Practitioner Regulation National Law (South Australia)
Act 2010
SA Teachers Registration Board for the screening of teachers under the Teachers
Registration and Standards Act 2004
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Department for Communities and Social Inclusion for screening of persons applying to
work with / care for children and vulnerable groups under the Information Privacy
Principles Instruction (1992) for the protection of the government as an employer
Other Australian police services
Where a criminal history record with another Australian police service has been obtained, any
relevant legislation (and/or release policy) affecting that police service will be applied before
that record is released. Under various pieces of Commonwealth, State and Territory
legislation a person has the right, in particular circumstances or for a particular purpose, to not
disclose certain convictions/findings of guilt over a certain age. Such convictions (widely
referred to as “spent” or “rehabilitated” convictions) will be released in accordance with
relevant legislation (and/or release policy). Please contact individual police services directly
for further information about their release policies and any legislation that affects them.
Other Information
Further information in relation to the Screening Unit can be obtained at our website
www.dfc.sa.gov.au/pub/screening.
If you have any queries please do not hesitate to contact the Screening Unit on 1300 321 592
or email screening@dfc.sa.gov.au.
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