Department of Health Nationally Coordinated Criminal History Checks in Australia

Australian National Character Check (ANCC) provides nationally coordinated criminal history checks to workers seeking employment or licensing with the Department of Health in Australia.

Check timeframes: 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.

Do you work in HR in an Australian government or health organisation and need Nationally Coordinated Criminal History Checks for workers? Australian National Character Check (ANCC) provides a streamlined solution for national Nationally Coordinated Criminal History Checks via our business portal.

Please apply for your nationally coordinated criminal history check via the individual portal here. If the purpose of the Nationally Coordinated Criminal History Check is for employment, individual applicants should select the “Employment” check category on their application form. If the purpose of the check is for licensing, please select the “Licensing” check category on the application form. If you are being engaged by a commonwealth government agency, please select 'Commonwealth' on the Nationally Coordinated Criminal History Check application form.

Businesses (e.g. government or healthcare organisations) seeking bulk background checks can apply for access to the ANCC Business Portal.

Australia's Department of Health is responsible for health research, funding, promotion, and regulation to foster better health and well-being for Australians, now and for future generations.

As part of their regulatory framework, they provide guidelines on ensuring patient safety across Australia. Nationally Coordinated Criminal History Checks are a crucial component of this framework. By requiring Nationally Coordinated Criminal History Checks from healthcare staff, administration staff and contractors, the Department of Health ensures the safety of hospitals, care homes, and other health-related facilities.

A Nationally Coordinated Criminal History Check reveals the applicant's criminal record. This record may include charges, court hearings and convictions, traffic offences, good bond behaviour, findings of guilt, and other court orders. In Australia, a Nationally Coordinated Criminal History Check is officially referred to as a nationally coordinated criminal history check (NCCHC).

Nationally Coordinated Criminal History Checks are essential in the health sector because they ensure the safety of patients, staff, and other key personnel. Hiring managers in the healthcare sector assess the applicant's criminal record to determine the risk they pose before making any hiring decision.

The Department of Health precludes individuals with the following offences from working in the health and aged care sector:

• - A conviction for sexual assault or murder
• - A conviction of, and imprisonment sentence for, any other form of assault.

Other types of offences are assessed on a case-by-case basis. Some factors employers in the health sector consider before making a final decision include the relevance of the crime, timing, offence pattern, employment history, and the degree of access to the care recipient in the role.

The Department of Health requires the following personnel to undergo a Nationally Coordinated Criminal History Check before working in a healthcare facility:

• ✔ Staff and volunteers
• ✔ Approved key personnel
• ✔ Contractors and independent contractors
• ✔ New staff
• ✔ Staff and volunteers who have resided overseas
• ✔ Community visitors scheme (CSV) volunteers.

Also, the Department of Health requires all healthcare employees to renew their Nationally Coordinated Criminal History Check every three years. A routine Nationally Coordinated Criminal History Check helps employers stay up-to-date with the suitability of their staff to provide care to patients.

Moreover, health-related establishments must have a policy that requires employees to disclose any criminal history during the three-year gap, so employers can consistently meet their operational requirements.

Although the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission (ACIC) is officially responsible for Nationally Coordinated Criminal History Checks in Australia, they work with other accredited bodies and police agencies to make police checking accessible.

Here are the steps for getting a Nationally Coordinated Criminal History Check in Australia:

You can apply through an ACIC-accredited body or a police agency. Applications are usually online, and you will fill out your name, address, and date of birth. Make sure to accurately indicate the purpose of the check, so the results are relevant for employment in the health sector.

You'll have to submit three identification documents. They include:

• ✔ One commencement identity document;
• ✔ One primary use in the community document;
• ✔ One secondary use in community documents;
• ✔ A biometric link to confirm your identity.

Finally, you must pay the application fee. ACIC-accredited bodies charge differently. For instance, Australian National Character Check (ANCC) charges a base fee of $52.90 + GST per Nationally Coordinated Criminal History Check.

The police agency or accredited body first verifies your identity. They then forward your details to the National Police Checking Service Support System (NSS), ACIC's IT system.

NSS runs a name-matching algorithm to pull out a potential match based on the submitted details. If it doesn't find one, it returns a 'no disclosable court outcome (NDCO)' to the requesting body. However, if it does find one, the system sends the details to the relevant police agency for further processing. The appropriate police agency(s) confirms the validity of the potential match. They return an NDCO for an invalid match. A valid match goes through the vetting stage, where they apply the spent convictions scheme to determine which criminal records are releasable.

The police agency or accredited ACIC body notifies you once you receive your check result.

About 70% of Nationally Coordinated Criminal History Checks are returned on the same day because there are no matches on the national database. However, the other 30% must be manually processed due to a potential match. This process can take longer than 10 business days.

Every nationally coordinated criminal history check report contains the following:

• ✔ The applicant's full name and date of birth
• ✔ The date of issue
• ✔ The reference number.

Also, the Nationally Coordinated Criminal History Check result discloses whether a person:

• ✔ Has been convicted of a disclosable offence
• ✔ Is the subject of a pending criminal charge in an Australian court

While Nationally Coordinated Criminal History Checks do not expire, they only contain criminal records until the issue date. That's why the Department of Health generally requires employees to undergo Nationally Coordinated Criminal History Checks every three years. New applicants must submit a check no longer than 6 months old however this policy may vary from each department depending on their risk mitigation policies or legislative requirements.

ANCC provides affordable police checking services for individuals and hiring managers. Check out our portals today to get started.

Are you seeking employment in the sector? Or are you health-related employment looking for an efficient Nationally Coordinated Criminal History Check? With ANCC, you can order, track, and get efficient Nationally Coordinated Criminal History Check results.

Hiring managers in the healthcare sector can now use ANCC's business portal to manage bulk Nationally Coordinated Criminal History Checks. You can now track and order multiple Nationally Coordinated Criminal History Checks in real-time, helping you to seamlessly comply with the Department of Health's Nationally Coordinated Criminal History Check requirements.