Insurance worker police checks in Australia

Insurance helps Australians protect themselves, family, and their property/assets from financial risks/losses. Hence, insurance is an essential component of the Australian financial sector, worth over $80 billion and employing over 60,000 people.

Before becoming an insurance worker in Australia, a candidate generally undergoes a background check to assess whether they pose a hiring risk. One crucial piece decision makers use to determine suitability is a police check.

This web page explores all you need to know about police checks for insurance workers in Australia: why they are important and how you can get one.

A police check uncovers the applicant’s criminal history, including arrests, convictions, and court proceedings, among many other offences. A police check may also be referred to as a nationally coordinated criminal history check (NCCHC) or, more broadly, a background check.

A check result with a Disclosable Court Outcome (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.

Insurance companies can access clients’ sensitive information, like bank accounts and social security. That’s why insurance companies may be a prime target for fraud and other crimes. Consequently, insurance workers must handle data safely and responsibly. With a police check, employers can hire dependable and trustworthy applicants.

Insurance companies thrive on trust. Just one bad incident is enough to break public trust, which can be disastrous for the company. It only takes one ill-intentioned employee to damage a company’s reputation. Police checks help employers determine which applicants will most likely uphold the company’s values based on their records. This can help to prevent unnecessary lawsuits, fines, and other legal troubles.

The employer is responsible for creating a safe work environment for employees. Unfortunately, employees with a criminal record of violence, substance abuse, and even sexual-related offences can threaten workplace safety. A background check helps the hiring manager to identify individuals that pose the most significant risk to workplace safety and filter them out of the application process.

Are you an aspiring insurance worker? Read on to find out how the police checking process works in Australia.

First, the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission (ACIC) is the body responsible for conducting police checks across Australia. They work with accredited bodies (like the Australian National Character Check - ANCC) and police agencies across Australia to make police checks accessible to Australians.

Here are the steps involved in getting a police check:

You can submit a police check application via an ACIC-accredited body like ANCC or through a police agency. All you need to do is fill out the appropriate online form indicating your name, address, the purpose of the check, and other relevant information.

You must also submit four proof of identity documents to complete your application. They include:

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

Finally, you must pay the associated application fee to submit your application, which will depend on the platform you’re using. ANCC, for instance, charges a base fee of $52.90 + GST for police check.

After you submit your application, the accredited body or police agency first verifies your identity. Afterwards, they forward your application to the National Police Checking System (NSS).

These matches my be sent to the relevant police agency for confirmation. If those records are confirmed not to match the applicant, the police agency returns a ‘No Disclosable Outcome’ to the accredited body or police agency. Conversely, if the criminal record matches the applicant, the police agency returns a “Disclosable Court Outcome’. However, the police agency conducts its vetting process before returning the result. In the vetting stage, the relevant police agency applies the spent conviction legislation to determine which criminal records are disclosable in the police check certificate.

Once that process is complete, the final result is sent to the ACIC-accredited agency or police agency that submitted the check on the applicant’s behalf.

Once the police check result is available, the accredited body or police agency notifies the applicant. If you submit your application through a police agency, you will receive the result as a National Police Certificate (NPC). ANCC will send a nationally coordinated criminal history check certificate

If no potential matches are found, a ‘No Disclosable Court Outcome” is returned in real-time, and the organisation that requested the check gets the result in minutes. This is true of about 70% of applications.

Conversely, about 30% of applications are referred to one or more police agencies because a ‘potential match is found. In such instances, the entire process can take longer than 10 business days.

A police check is a point-in-time check that reveals an applicant’s criminal history up until the point the check is conducted. Hence, organisations set different acceptable time frames for a check result to be valid, depending on their risk assessment and operational requirements.

Insurance workers can obtain a police check with ANCC as:

Our platform makes it easy for aspiring insurance workers to get a police check quickly. All you need to do is fill out our online form, upload the necessary documents and pay the application fee.

HR managers in insurance companies can open a business account with ANCC to manage police checks for applicants. This service allows you to order/track multiple checks in real-time. Open an account today - it only takes minutes.