Gardening and landscape worker police checks

Australian National Character Check (ANCC) provides nationally coordinated criminal history checks (police checks) to persons seeking employment or engagement as a gardener or landscape worker in Australia.

Do you work in HR in an Australian gardening or landscaping organistion and need police checks for your workers? Australian National Character Check (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. landscaping companies) seeking bulk background checks can apply for access to the ANCC Business Portal.

Australia's gardening industry currently employs over 42,000 people, which will continue to increase. The high demand for gardening and landscape professionals is due to several reasons. For one, growing populations in major cities and sustained economic development will require gardeners to polish homes' exteriors. Due to environmental concerns like climate change, more people are switching their lawns to low-water, eco-friendly landscapes.

With a 4.3% growth in gardening services from 2021 to 2022, experts anticipate continued growth in demand over the next decade. Given the close connection of the construction industry to gardening, gardening professionals will immensely benefit from the projected boom in the construction industry, one of Australia's fastest-growing industries.

Although you do not need a formal qualification to become a gardener in Australia, a VET qualification will help you develop essential knowledge and skills. Completing a year 10 education, a Certificate III course in Horticulture, and an Advanced Certificate IV in Permaculture may help. You also need a valid White Card to practise work on a construction site. Some job roles require a driver's licence.

In recent years, many employers in this industry have required police checks for several reasons. This web page explores the role police checks play for gardening and landscape professionals.

A police check reveals an applicant's criminal history, including charges, court convictions (fines and penalties), court hearings, traffic offences, finding of guilt, good behaviour bonds and other court orders. A police check is officially called a nationally coordinated criminal history check (NCCHC) in Australia.

Since a police check reveals an applicant's criminal history, employers can assess this history to determine if the applicant poses any significant risks to co-workers and members of the public.

Landscape workers and gardeners work in public spaces and private homes daily. Hence, aside from their technical competence, they must have the suited character to ensure clients' safety. For example, a gardener with a criminal history of violent offences poses a risk to clients. An applicant with a history of sexual assault poses a substantial threat to others, especially vulnerable groups like kids and the elderly. Hence, they may be unsuited for working in private gardening.

The Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission (ACIC) works with accredited bodies and police agencies across the country to make police checking accessible. Australian National Character Check (ANCC) is one of Australia's ACIC-accredited bodies.

Here are the steps involved in getting a police check:

You can apply for a police check through an accredited body like ANCC or a police agency. Applications are typically online and involve filling out your name, address, date of birth, purpose of the check and other information. You must also upload four identification documents. They are:

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

ACIC-accredited bodies set different rates. For example, ANCC charges a base fee of $52.90 + GST per police check.

After applying, the police agency or accredited body verifies your identity through the documents that you've submitted. After that, they send your application details to the National Police Checking Service Support System (NSS), ACIC's nationally owned IT system.

This system runs a complex name-matching algorithm to pull out potential matches from its databases. If it finds no match, the system instantly returns a 'no disclosable court outcome (NDCO)' to the body requesting the check. If it does find a match, it sends the details to the relevant police agency for further assessment. If the police agency determines it isn't an accurate match, they return an NDCO to the body that requested the check. However, if it's an actual match, it passes through a vetting process.

In the vetting stage, the police agency applies the relevant spent convictions scheme and information release policies to determine releasable offences. Only these offences will be included in the 'disclosable court outcome sent to the body that requested the check on the applicant's behalf.

Once the police agency or accredited body receives the result, they notify you. If you apply through a police agency, you will receive your check result on a National Police Certificate (NPC). Conversely, accredited ACIC bodies can customise their police check certificate upon approval from ACIC.

About 70% of police check applications are processed instantly because the system returns an NDCO. However, for the remaining 30%, where there's a potential match, the result is sent for manual processing at the relevant police agency. This process can take longer than 10 business days.

As point-in-time checks, police checks do not expire. However, they only reveal criminal information up until the date of issue. Hence, organisations typically set an acceptable time frame based on their organisational requirement and risk assessment.

As Australia's leading police check provider, ANCC provides efficient police checking service for:

Are you looking to get into the gardening or landscaping business? Do you need a police check to pursue new opportunities? ANCC's portal makes it easy for individuals to apply for a police check. Our portal allows you to complete your application online and get the result.

HR managers in gardening and landscaping companies can order bulk police checks through ANCC's Business Portal. This innovative platform makes it easy for hiring managers to conduct multiple police check applications for applicants while tracking and comparing the results in real-time. Set up a business account today to get started. All businesses undergo a process of approval prior to being granted access.