Construction worker Nationally Coordinated Criminal History Checks in Australia

The results provided on a Nationally Coordinated Criminal History Check (including those for construction workers) 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 Nationally Coordinated Criminal History Check, and the application of relevant spent convictions legislations and/or information release policies.
• DCO means there is:
• police information that can be released.

You can obtain a Nationally Coordinated Criminal History Check by applying online through the Australian National Character Check (ANCC) website.

Therefore, you can apply online through an accredited agency like ANCC.

A Nationally Coordinated Criminal History Check is a "point in time" check that becomes valid from the point of the issue without a stated expiry date.

When a Nationally Coordinated Criminal History Check becomes obsolete is at the discretion of the requesting party. While specific construction organisations will not accept a Nationally Coordinated Criminal History Check older than three to six months, the standard period in the industry tends to be three months.

Applicants should know that a Nationally Coordinated Criminal History Check result comes in the form of a certificate, not a pass/fail metric. The Nationally Coordinated Criminal History Check certificate contains details about the candidate's convictions records that are considered releasable by the State or authorities.

A Nationally Coordinated Criminal History Check is a compilation of a person's Disclosable Court Outcomes (DCO). Some examples of Disclosable Court Outcomes include;

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.

You can apply online through organisations like Australian National Character Check (ANCC). The ANCC portal has a "Start a New Check" button that allows applicants to begin a check.

Applicants must provide four forms of identification documents to verify their identity.

• One Primary Document
• One Commencement Document
• One secondary Documents

70 percent of Nationally Coordinated Criminal History Checks are returned to applicants within 24 hours. Results are emailed on the same day they are received. Approximately 30 percent of checks may be referred to one or more police agencies and can take longer than 10 business days to be returned, due to the manual nature of this process.

A 'potential match' may be found if the applicant shares similar details with other individuals recorded in police systems, particularly if they have a common name. Processing of a check in these instances can take longer to progress.

Australian National Character Check (ANCC) has options for approved organisations to manage the process centrally. This is managed via the ANCC business portal. All organisations undergo a process of approval prior to being granted access.

Nationally Coordinated Criminal History Checks can only be undertaken with the informed consent of the individual who is the subject of the background check.

Nationally Coordinated Criminal History Checks are point-in-time checks. They should be updated within reasonable timeframes. A sound policy for a new worker is to request a check not older than three months. For current workers, annual Nationally Coordinated Criminal History Checks may be suitable. These policies will vary from organisations and will depend on their internal risk mitigation requirements and their legislative requirements.