Dentist and Dental worker police checks in Australia

Australian National Character Check (ANCC) provides nationally coordinated criminal history checks to dentists and dental workers seeking employment in Australia.

Do you work in HR in an Australian dental practice 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. dentist companies) seeking bulk background checks can apply for access to the ANCC Business Portal.

Australia's dental healthcare system ensures that Australians can access preventive oral healthcare and timely treatment of oral diseases. Given that more than half of Australians aged 15 or over generally visit dentists once a year, Australians take oral care seriously.

Being a dentist or dental work is a rigorous process. Aside from the long and formal training process, dentists and dental workers must undergo background checks to ensure they pose no significant risk to patients.

This web page examines things to know about police checks for dentists and dental workers in Australia.

Formally referred to as a nationally coordinated criminal history check (NCCHC), a police check uncovers an applicant's criminal history, including arrests, convictions, criminal proceedings, serious traffic offences and more.

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.

Hiring managers in dental clinics use police checks during the hiring process for the following reasons.

Dental clinics are a collaborative environment where professionals work with other professionals to deliver oral care services. One of the primary responsibilities of the employer is to provide a safe working environment. With a police check, HR managers can filter out applicants with a criminal history of violence or sexual harassment, thereby minimising the risk of any adverse outcome.

Patients visit the dental clinic to receive appropriate care. Therefore, dental workers mustn't threaten the safety of visitors in any shape or form. Applicants with a criminal history, violence or sexual related offences can pose significant risks to patients, particularly vulnerable groups like children and the elderly. A police check helps employers weed out applicants that may threaten patient safety, exposing the clinic to severe litigations, fines and even loss of licence.

The Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission (ACIC) works with accredited bodies and police agencies across the country to make the police checking service accessible.

Here's how the process works for obtaining a police check:

You can apply for a police check through an accredited ACIC body or police agency. Applications are usually online and involve filling out an online form with info on your name, date of birth, address, and purpose of the check. You must also upload four ID documents for identity verification. 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.

After applying, the accredited body or police agency first confirms your identity. They then sent your application to the National Police Checking Service Support System. This is ACIC's national IT system that runs a name-matching algorithm to find a potential match from its robust database.

The system immediately returns a 'No Disclosable Court Outcome (NDCO)' if it finds no potential match. However, if it generates a possible match, it sends it to the relevant police agency(s) for further assessment. In this assessment process, the police agency verifies the validity of the match. If it's an error, they return an NDCO to the police agency or accredited body that submitted the check. Conversely, a right match passes through the vetting process. The relevant spent convictions scheme is applied to determine which criminal records are disclosable before sending it to the body that requested the check on the applicant's behalf.

Once the police agency or accredited ACIC body receives the check, they notify the applicant.

About 70% of applications return an NDCO; hence the result is available immediately. Conversely, about 30% of applications may return a potential match and need to be referred for manual processing, which can take longer than 10 business days.

Yes, informed consent must be collected and is collected as part of each application.

Police checks are point-in-time checks; hence they do not technically expire. However, HR managers in dental clinics set a validity period for police checks based on their own risk and operational requirements.

As one of Australia's leading ACIC-accredited police check providers, ANCC offers quick and cheap police checking services through its:

If you're looking to gain employment in the dental industry? Why not conduct a police check on yourself so you can assess any significant risk you pose and be better prepared for the hiring process? ANCC's portal makes it easy for everyday Australians to order a police check on themselves and track the process in real time.

ANCC's business portal is ideal for HR managers in small to large dental practices looking to manage bulk police checks on applicants seamlessly. This service allows you to order and track police check applications for multiple applicants in real-time. To benefit from this service, open a business account today with ANCC. All new business applicants undergo a process of approval.