Police Clearance

A police clearance certificate is a collation of police and conviction history information about an individual that has been determined releasable by Australian government agencies.

A police record check contains the results of your Nationally Coordinated Criminal History Check application and disclosable court outcomes (if any).

Employers that wish to verify the contents of a police clearance check can do so through the verify a check feature. Simply enter the certificate verification code that will be found on the top right hand corner of the national police check.

For many industries, conducting police clearance checks is a mandatory requirement, however, in recent years there has been a significant increase in the number of criminal clearance checks conducted as more organisations conduct police clearance checks as a proactive measure as part of their risk management process. The benefits include promoting a safe working environment, mitigating risks to the organisation and protecting the people, property and reputation of an organisation.

Local Australian police stations and Australian National Character Check access the same central government database to issue criminal record check results.

There is no difference in the legitimacy of a national police clearance issued by a local police station and a police check online by Australian National Character Check. You may notice small differences in the formatting of the certificate, however both are equally valid.

Applicants that apply through Australian National Character Check do however experience the substantial difference in speed and efficiency when obtaining their police check online. Majority of police clearance checks are returned to applicants within one to three business days. Results are emailed on the same business day they are received and instant sms notifications are also sent. Overall, applicants save time and cost when applying for their police clearance certificate online.

The police clearance certificate is valid Australia wide, in all Australian states and territories. When you apply for a nationally coordinated criminal history check, in essence you are also applying for the following:

Police Check Victoria
Police Check Queensland
Police Check New South Wales
Police Check WA
Police Check SA
Police Check Tasmania
Police Check NT
Police Check ACT

The base price for a police clearance application is $52.90 + GST. Applicants have the option to pay via credit card, debit card or PayPal. Business customers can pay for multiple checks via credit card, debit card, PayPal or bank deposit.

Employers can register with Australian National Character Check to create a business customer portal account.

The portal sends the police clearance request directly to the applicant. National police clearances can easily be sorted and results are available directly to the employer with the applicant’s consent.

The organisation can decide whether they will be paying for the police clearance certificate, or if the applicant will pay.