Pursuant to Section 22(2)(a) of the Act an applicant for registration must consent to the conduct of a Nationally Coordinated Criminal History Check (NCCHC) undertaken by the Teachers Registration Board when applying for:
- registration as a teacher in any category
- renewal of their registration
- a Special Authority to Teach.
A NCCHC is one criterion used by the Board to assess fitness and propriety.
The Board has been granted accredited third-party status with Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission (ACIC). ACIC provides a NCCHC service to accredited third-party agencies primarily for the purpose of ensuring persons in positions of trust are adequately screened for criminal records.
Information relating to an applicant's NCCHC, including criminal charges (regardless of the outcome, i.e. even if the matter is withdrawn or does not proceed to court) and/or convictions, is obtained from ACIC and forms part of the fitness and probity checks required by the Board. NCCHCs are valid at the time the information is released by police and lists offences from a person’s criminal history that can be disclosed. The NCCHC helps the Board ensure that only fit and proper persons are, or continue to be, registered as teachers. ACIC and other Australian police agencies will disclose to the Board, police history information that pertains to the applicant from their own records, including some spent convictions. Some offences cannot be disclosed, depending on when they were committed.
All matters arising from a NCCHC are considered on an individual basis and are assessed taking into account all relevant circumstances. If further information or clarification is required, an applicant will be contacted and either requested to provide a written statement or explanation or invited to attend an interview to discuss the matter. Procedural fairness and the principles of natural justice are adhered to at all times.
The NCCHC is undertaken electronically and no documentation is produced. Therefore, the Board cannot provide a copy of the outcome to you. The NCCHC is valid until the expiry date of your registration.
The NCCHC incurs a fee at the points of registration and renewal.
All disclosed offences are assessed using the following general guidelines:
- Child protection implications, age and vulnerability
- Relevance in a school teaching environment
- The gravity and nature of convictions
- Circumstances surrounding the offence(s), whether alcohol, drugs or a weapon was involved
- The harm to any victim including injury or loss
- Adverse impact on the teaching profession
- Total criminal history
- Severity of sentence imposed
- Length of time since offence, any rehabilitation
- Age at time of offence(s) e.g. adult or juvenile
- Evidence of the applicant's good character since offence committed
- Whether offence has been decriminalised
- Whether found guilty 'without conviction'
- Whether penalty restricted only to a fine
- Personal circumstances at the time of offending
The timeframe for the Board to receive the NCCHC results from ACIC is up to 20 working days.
Identification disputes
Where an applicant disputes the accuracy of the information provided from police records, either in part or in full, the Board will escalate this matter to ACIC Client Services through ACIC’s dispute process. Please note that even after this information has been provided, it may still be necessary to obtain fingerprints for comparative purposes (where appropriate).
