GP and medical practitioner police checks in Australia

Australian National Character Check (ANCC) provides nationally coordinated criminal history checks to GP and medical practitioners seeking employment in Australia.

Do you work in HR in an Australian medical or healthcare organistion and need police checks for your workers? ANCC provides a streamlined solution for national police checks.

Please apply for your nationally coordinated criminal history check via the individual portal here.

Businesses (e.g. GP clinics or medical centres) seeking bulk background checks can apply for access to the ANCC Business Portal.

It only takes falling ill to appreciate the importance of good health. General practitioners (GPs) manage patients' physical and mental health. A considerable part of their job involves caring for patients with long-term conditions. Other medical practitioners - like anaesthetists, oncologists, and ophthalmologists - provide specialised care to patients.

Australia has thousands of medical practitioners. Due to the sensitivity of their work, these individuals must undergo background checks before they begin practising and continually as their career progresses. Police checks are an important component of the background checking process. This web page further examines police checks for GPs and medical practitioners in Australia.

A police check details an applicant’s disclosable criminal history. The results provided on a check will outline whether the applicant has No Disclosable Court Outcomes (NDCO) or Disclosable Court Outcomes (DCO):

• NDCO means there is:
• no police information held against the applicant
• no police information that can be released according to the purpose and category of the police check, and the application of relevant spent convictions legislations and/or information release policies.
• DCO means there is:
• police information that can be released.

A check result with a DCO may list the following police information:

• charges
• court convictions, including penalties and sentences
• findings of guilt with no conviction
• court appearances
• good behaviour bonds or other court orders
• matters awaiting court hearing
• warrants and/or warnings
• traffic offences.

As noted early, medical practitioners undergo police checks at the beginning of their practice and at regular intervals throughout their careers. The benefits of these checks far outweigh the cost implications and downtime waiting for the result for the following reasons.

Medical professionals constantly work with vulnerable people, from kids to the sick to the elderly. Hence, medical practitioners need to be honest and cool-headed. They mustn't pose any significant risk to their patients. That's why individuals with a criminal history of murder, any other kind of assault or sexual-related offences cannot practise as a medical practitioner. With a police check, employers can determine if the applicant has any of these offences and make an informed decision.

Patients aren't the only ones at risk when you have unsuitable practitioners. Other practitioners are also at risk. Since it is the employer's responsibility to create a safe working environment, they must ensure that all medical practitioners in their organisation do not pose any significant risk to other employees. A police check provides insight into an individual's past. And with that information, the employer can make the right hiring decision.

The Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission (ACIC) is the government organisation responsible for conducting police checks in Australia. ACIC works with accredited bodies and police agencies across the country to make the police checking service accessible.

Regardless of your profession, the steps for obtaining a police check are similar. They are:

You can apply for a police check through an accredited ACIC body or any police agency in Australia. All you need to do is fill out their online application form, supplying details on your name, DOB, address and purpose of the check. After that, you will upload four ID documents to establish your identity. These documents include the following:

• ✔ One commencement of ID document
• ✔ One primary use in community document
• ✔ Two secondary use in community documents
• ✔ A biometric link to confirm your identity

Finally, you must pay the application fee. Australian National Character Check (ANCC), an accredited ACIC agency, offers one of the most affordable fees at a base price of $52.90 + GST per police check.

After applying, the accredited body or police agency processes your application. They first confirm your identity. Then they forward your application to the National Police Checking Service Support System (NSS). NSS is an IT system operated by ACIC, and it runs a name-matching algorithm to find a potential match.

The system returns a 'No Disclosable Court Outcomes' if it doesn't find a match. However, if the system generates a potential match, it forwards the details to the relevant police agency(s) for verification. The police agency(s) assesses the match to ensure it belongs to the applicant. If it doesn't, the police agency returns an NDCO result. However, if there is a DCO, the police agency(s) apply the spent conviction scheme and information release policies to determine which criminal offences are relevant before sending the final result back to the body that requested the check.

The body you submitted your application with will notify you once the check result is available.

The result of about 70% of police check applications are available within a day. Conversely, about 30% of applications need to be manually reviewed due to a potential match, which can take longer than 10 business days.

Police checks are a point in time check and do not have a set expiry date. Healthcare organisations set a validity time frame based on their risk assessment and operational requirements. Most healthcare organisations do not accept police checks that are older than three months.

Are you in the medical profession and seeking a quick police check? ANCC offers excellent police checking service through our:

This option is suited for individuals seeking an efficient police check. Complete the online application process within minutes to get your NCCHC promptly.

HR managers and employers in the healthcare industry can order bulk police checks for applicants and employees. Our state-of-the-art business portal allows you to track multiple applications in real-time, helping you to make the right hiring decision and maintain the integrity of your organisation. Set up a business account today to get started.