On this page

  • Eligible spent convictions
  • Convictions spent immediately
  • Convictions spent after a five- or ten-year conviction period
  • Reoffending during the conviction period
  • Convictions spent on application to the Magistrates’ Court
  • How a prison sentence affects spent convictions
  • What counts as a prison sentence?
  • Unique approaches for different types of convictions
  • Convictions which can never be spent
  • How to know if your conviction is spent
  • Telling someone about your spent conviction
  • More information

Eligible spent convictions

Lots of different convictions can become spent, but it depends on many factors including:

  • your age at the time of offending
  • whether the court sentenced you ‘with’ or ‘without conviction’
  • whether the conviction was for a serious violence or sexual offence
  • if the court gave you a prison sentence – how long it was
  • if the court ordered you to pay a fine – how much it was
  • how long ago you were convicted
  • what has happened since you were convicted, such as whether you have been convicted of another offence.

A conviction can be spent in different ways:

  • Immediately – from the date you are convicted (or if any conditions are attached, once they are completed)
  • After you have completed a conviction period of 10 years (adults) or five years (children and young people)
  • By application to the Magistrates’ Court – for serious convictions after you have completed the relevant conviction period.

See the following flow charts for a quick guide to how different convictions can be spent:

If you are not sure of the sentence length for each conviction, you can contact the court that sentenced you and ask for a court extract. This could be the: 

Convictions spent immediately

The following convictions are spent immediately, and no application is required if:

  • you were under the age of 15 when you committed the offence, regardless of the offence or the outcome
  • a court found you guilty of an offence but made the order ‘without conviction’
  • a court decided you were unfit to plead, but that you had committed the offence (a qualified finding of guilt) under the Crimes (Mental Impairment and Unfitness to be Tried) Act 1997 (External link)
  • the Children’s Court gave you a fine and no other penalty was imposed
  • you got an infringement (fine) for drink or drug driving, excessive speeding or drink driving while operating a boat.
 

Completing any attached conditions before your conviction is immediately spent

For convictions that can be immediately spent, if the court imposed a penalty with a condition attached, you need to complete this condition before your conviction is spent.

For example, before your conviction is spent:

  • you must complete any period of good behaviour ordered by the court
  • you must complete any community-based order or community corrections order, or any conditions made by the court relating to these orders
  • you must complete any order for detention in a youth residential centre (if you are under 15 years old).

A payment of a fine or the suspension or disqualification of your driver licence or learner permit will not affect when your conviction is spent.

Compensation or restitution orders – such as if a court has ordered you to make a payment to a victim in compensation for damage caused – will not ordinarily affect when your conviction is spent unless they are explicitly identified as being conditions of an order.

Other than completing any relevant conditions, you do not need to do anything for these convictions to be spent. They will not show up on your police check unless an exemption applies.

 

Examples of convictions spent immediately

Nhung is 17 and appeared in the Children’s Court for a charge of shop-theft. The court found Nhung guilty and ordered her to pay a fine. Because the only penalty was a fine from the Children’s Court, Nhung’s conviction is immediately spent from the time the court found her guilty.

Daniel was caught drink-driving and has to pay a fine. It will not show up on his police check when he applies for a job with the local café because it is an infringement conviction and it is therefore spent immediately. The demerit points from the offence are still put on his licence.

Many years ago when she was 14, Mary-Anne was found guilty of assault and resisting arrest. Because she was under 15, both these convictions are spent immediately. Mary-Anne has no other convictions. When she applies for a tenancy, the real estate agent cannot ask Mary-Anne if she has any spent convictions or about their existence and Mary-Anne does not have to answer this question.

Naseem was charged with possession of 40 grams of cannabis when he was 23 years old. The Magistrate found him guilty and ordered an adjourned undertaking, meaning Naseem had to be of good behaviour for 12 months. It was his first offence, so the Magistrate made the order ‘without conviction’.

Naseem does not reoffend again during the 12-month good behaviour bond and so, on the date which the matter had been adjourned to, a Magistrate makes an order dismissing the charge because they were satisfied that Naseem has been of good behaviour. Naseem’s conviction becomes spent immediately from the time the Magistrate dismisses the charge because he has completed the condition to be of good behaviour.

Convictions spent after a five- or ten-year conviction period

Some convictions are spent once you have completed the relevant conviction period. The conviction period determines either:

  • how long you have to wait before an eligible conviction can be spent, or
  • how long you have to wait before you can apply to the Magistrates’ Court for a serious conviction to be spent.

What is a conviction period?

The length of time you will need to wait after you are convicted, before your conviction can be spent. This is:

  • 10 years for adults (21 or older when sentenced)
  • 5 years for children and young people (who were between 15 and 20 years of age).

The conviction period starts from the date the court finds you guilty. It might restart if you reoffend during that time.

The law applies to any convictions. They can be recorded before or after the Spent Convictions Act 2021 (External link) commenced. So, for some historical convictions, the conviction period will have already been completed.

 

Children under 15 years

If you were under 15 years at the time of offending, you do not have to complete a conviction period.

Your conviction will be immediately spent. Or, it will be spent from the date you complete any conditions attached to the penalty ordered by the court (such as completing a period of good behaviour).

 

Children and young people (between 15 years and 20 years)

If you were aged between 15 and 20 years at the time you were sentenced, your conviction period is five years from the date you were found guilty. This is unless your conviction was immediately spent (such as when the court makes the order ‘without conviction’).

If your conviction is for an offence that is not spent immediately and is not a 'serious conviction', it will be spent automatically once you complete the conviction period without reoffending (apart from some minor offences).

If your conviction is a 'serious conviction', you will be eligible to make an application to the Magistrates' Court once you complete the conviction period. 

 

Adults (21 years or older)

If you were 21 years or older at the time of sentencing, unless your conviction is immediately spent (such as when the court makes the order ‘without conviction’) your conviction period is 10 years.

If your conviction is for an offence that is not spent immediately and is not a 'serious conviction', it will be spent automatically once you complete the conviction period without reoffending (apart from some minor offences).

If your conviction is a 'serious conviction', you will be eligible to make an application to the Magistrates' Court once you complete the conviction period. 

 

Examples

Tyler was convicted of armed robbery when he was 16. The court ordered him to spend 3 months in a youth detention centre. Once he completes a five-year conviction period without reoffending, (apart from some minor offences), his conviction will be automatically spent.

Skye was 30 when she received a conviction for shop theft. Because of her circumstances, the court did not send her to prison. But the court ordered her to pay a fine and undergo counselling. This finding was made ‘with conviction’. Skye is now 41. She has not reoffended during her conviction period (10 years), so her conviction is now automatically spent.

Reoffending during the conviction period

If you reoffend during the conviction period, depending on the type of offending, it may re-start the conviction period.

Minor convictions will not re-start the conviction period. The following outcomes of a conviction are considered minor:

  • no penalty is ordered
  • the court finds you guilty but makes the order ‘without conviction’
  • the only penalty is a fine of up to 10 penalty units
  • the only penalty is an order to pay a victim compensation (such as for pain and suffering) or restitution (such as to return stolen property).

In any other circumstances, if you get another conviction, your conviction period will restart from the new conviction date.

For the current value of a penalty unit please see Penalties and values.

 

Examples of ‘minor’ offending that will not restart the conviction period

  • A conviction where the only penalty is a fine of $500. As of January 2023, this is less than 10 penalty units which is the threshold for minor offending, so this does not affect the  conviction period.
  • The Magistrate finds you guilty of unlicensed driving, but in the circumstances, decides not to record a conviction.
  • A Court finds you guilty of an offence but does not order a penalty. The court makes a separate order for you to pay compensation to a victim.
 

Re-offending that will restart the conviction period

  • A conviction where the Court orders you to pay a fine of $5000. As of January 2023, this is more than 10 penalty units, so the conviction period will restart from the date of that later conviction.
  • You are convicted of an offence and the court orders a prison sentence, even if you get ‘time served’.
 

Re-offending after you have completed the conviction period

Once your conviction is spent, it cannot be unspent. This means a spent conviction will be protected from disclosure on your police check despite any future offences after the conviction period is finished.

Convictions spent on application to the Magistrates’ Court

You can apply to the Magistrates' Court to spend some more serious convictions (in limited circumstances). This includes convictions received when you were 21 or over for:

  • sexual offences without a prison sentence
  • serious violence offences without a prison sentence
  • other offences where the court sentenced you to prison or detention in a youth justice facility for more than 30 months but less than five years.

You can also apply to the court to spend all serious convictions that you received when you were 21 or under.

You can only apply after you have completed the relevant conviction period.

Find out more about serious convictions and how to apply for a spent conviction order for serious convictions.

How a prison sentence affects spent convictions

A prison sentence determines whether convictions can be spent automatically after the conviction period, or if you need to apply to the court to have your conviction spent.

Some convictions are not able to be spent at all if you received a prison sentence.

 

Children and young people (between 15 years and 20 years)

If you were aged between 15 and 20 years at the time you were sentenced, unless your conviction is immediately spent: 

Type of offence Prison sentence Can be spent by
Sexual or serious violence offence Any length Applying to the court
Any other offence More than 30 months Applying to the court
Any other offence 30 months or less Automatically spent after conviction period
 

Adults

If you were 21 years or older at the time of sentencing, unless your conviction is immediately spent: 

Type of offence Prison sentence Can be spent by
Sexual or serious violence offence Any length Can never be spent
Any other offence Over 5 years Can never be spent
Any other offence More than 30 months up to 5 years Apply to the court
Any other offence 30 months or less Automatically spent after conviction period

What counts as a prison sentence?

A prison sentence includes physical imprisonment or detention. The Act uses the term 'custodial term' to refer to a term of imprisonment or detention.

The legnth of a prison sentence includes any time spent on parole and time spent on a court secure treatment order.

The following types of sentences do not count when calculating the length of a prison sentence:

  • a suspended sentence
  • intensive correction order
  • residential treatment order
  • a drug and alcohol treatment order
  • home detention.

If you have multiple convictions from the same court date

If you are sentenced to prison or detention for multiple charges at the same court hearing, refer to the court outcome for each individual offence to work out the length of your prison sentence for each conviction. 

This is different from your 'total effective sentence', which covers more than one offence.

For example, even if your total effective sentence is more than 30 months in prison or detention, if any of the individual offences had a sentencing outcome of 30 months or less, they will be spent after completion of the relevant conviction period.

In the same way, an order by the court to serve your prison or detention sentence concurrently (at the same time) or cumulatively (one after the other) will not affect whether your conviction for each offence is able to be spent.

If you were given an aggregate sentence that applies to more than one charge and the length of the prison sentence or detention for each separate charge is not specified, then the whole aggregate sentence applies to each individual charge.

If you are not sure of the sentence ordered for each individual charge, you can contact the court that you were sentenced in to ask for a court extract.

Example

Fifteen years ago, when she was 25, Lucia received a sentence for two drug charges. The first charge, trafficking in a drug of dependence, received a sentence of 35 months imprisonment. For the second charge of possessing amphetamine, she received a sentence of 1 month imprisonment, to be served concurrently with the first sentence. Lucia was released on parole after serving 24 months in prison and she has not reoffended since.

After a conviction period of 10 years, Lucia can apply to the Magistrates’ Court to have the trafficking conviction spent. It will not be automatically spent, because she received a sentence of more than 30 months. It is not relevant to this calculation that she served less than 30 months due to her time on parole. Lucia’s possession conviction will be automatically spent after 10 years because she only received 1 month imprisonment for that conviction.

Unique approaches for different types of convictions

 

Findings of not guilty by reason of mental impairment

Findings of not guilty by reason of mental impairment are not treated as a conviction, so will not show up on a police check.

You should be aware there may be other laws that specifically authorise their disclosure, such as for Working with Children Checks (External link) or National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) worker screening (External link). They may also be given to a law enforcement agency or court or tribunal in certain circumstances.

 

Qualified findings of guilt and a supervision order

If you have been found unfit to stand trial and the court decides that you committed the offence (a qualified finding of guilt), the court may place you on a custodial supervision order or a non-custodial supervision order. A qualified finding of guilt is immediately spent.

If you are put on a supervision order this will not affect when your conviction is spent.

 

Commonwealth offences

If you have a conviction for a Commonwealth offence it might be able to be spent, depending on the Commonwealth spent convictions law (External link).

If your conviction is spent under the Commonwealth law, then it will be protected from disclosure on your police check the same as a Victorian spent conviction (unless an exemption applies).

 

Interstate and overseas convictions

If you have an interstate conviction, it might be able to be spent, depending on the spent conviction laws of the other state or territory. If the conviction is spent in the other state or territory, then Victoria Police will not disclose it on your police check (unless an exemption applies).

If part-way through your five or 10-year conviction period for a Victorian conviction, you reoffend interstate, that later interstate conviction might restart the conviction period. This will only occur if an equivalent Victorian conviction would also restart the conviction period.

Overseas convictions are capable of being spent immediately or after a conviction period. They are treated in the same way as the corresponding offence under Victoria’s laws if one exists.

Overseas convictions cannot be spent by application to the Magistrates’ Court.

 

Pending charges and ongoing police investigations

Pending charges and ongoing police investigations are not findings of guilt. They do not meet the definition of a conviction. They may show up on a criminal record in some circumstances.

Note: There may be other laws that specifically authorise their disclosure, such as for Working with Children Checks. They may also be given to a law enforcement agency or court or tribunal in certain circumstances.

 

If a court found you guilty, but sentenced you 'without conviction'

Regardless of the offence you were charged with, a sentence 'without conviction' is spent immediately once you complete any conditions (such as completing a period of good behaviour). So it will not show up on a police check, unless an exemption applies.

 

Driving offences

Some driving-related offences are capable of being spent, such as drink or drug-driving offences, or where a court has made a finding of guilt. If your driving-related conviction is spent, it cannot be disclosed on a police check (unless an exemption applies).

Find out more about driving and police checks on the National Police Check page. 

For more information on driver accreditation, see ' Exemptions for accreditation or registration to work in a particular industry', found on Exemptions for when a spent conviction can be disclosed. 

Demerit points and other relicensing conditions

A driving-related conviction may result in penalties or sanctions applied to your licence by VicRoads. These will remain even if the conviction is spent.

This means that offences and related demerit points, licence sanctions and any relicensing conditions resulting from drink-driving, drug-driving and excessive speed convictions, including where they result from infringement notices, will show up on a driver history report, even if the relevant conviction is spent.

Examples of relicensing conditions include:

  • installation of an alcohol interlock
  • completion of a behaviour change program
  • completion of a safe driving program.

Examples

Malcolm was caught driving 50km per hour over the speed limit in an 80km/hr zone. He was issued with an excessive speeding infringement notice so his license was automatically suspended for 3 months. The resulting conviction for excessive speeding is immediately spent.

Malcolm has no other convictions. Two years later when he applies for a job with the local supermarket, his police check comes up clear. Yet when his boss asks Malcom to do deliveries and asks for his driver history report produced by VicRoads, the conviction for excessive speeding (including the demerit points and license suspension) will appear.

Elaine was 18 when she was caught drink-driving and issued with a drink-driving infringement notice. The resulting conviction is immediately spent. Elaine has no other convictions. When she is 20 and applies for a job at a post office, her police check comes up clear.

Convictions which can never be spent

Some convictions for serious offending by adults (21 years or older at the time of sentencing) can never be spent. This includes convictions where:

  • you were given a prison sentence or detention of over five years for an individual charge
  • you were convicted of a sexual or serious violence offence and the court gave you a prison sentence or detention of any length.

How to know if your conviction is spent

You will not be notified by police if your conviction is spent immediately or after a conviction period. You can contact a lawyer for advice about which of your convictions are spent or might be able to be spent.

You can apply for a police check (also known as a ‘national police check’ or a ‘national name check’) for ‘general employment’. Any spent convictions will not appear on this check. To receive this check, you will have to pay a fee.   

You have the right to see all your convictions, including spent convictions.

To do so, you must make a Freedom of Information application to request a copy of your Victorian criminal history records held by Victoria Police. This is sometimes called a ‘personal use check’. It will show all your Victorian convictions, including any spent convictions. Your spent convictions may not be marked as spent on the document you receive. To receive this information, you will have to pay a fee.

You can find out more about Freedom of Information on the Victoria Police website (External link).

If your conviction is spent after applying to the court (External link) for a spent conviction order, the Magistrates’ Court will send you a copy of the order it makes.

Telling someone about your spent conviction

Once a conviction is spent, you are not required to tell anyone about it (except in a small number of circumstances). You also cannot be asked to disclose anything about your spent conviction, or even that your spent conviction exists, except in some circumstances.

If an agency or employer has an exemption, they might still be able to receive information about your spent conviction through a police check and ask you about it.

There may also be other laws that require you to disclose your convictions, including any that are spent.

For example, you may be required to disclose your convictions, including any spent convictions, if:

Some exempt agencies may receive information about your spent conviction directly from a law enforcement agency. They may then ask you whether you would like to respond (comment) to them about your spent conviction.

You can also get advice from a lawyer about what to do if you are not sure.

Find out more information about exemptions for when a spent conviction can be disclosed.

Examples

Susan works at a clothing store. Her boss asks her about her criminal history, but she can only ask for information about Susan’s convictions which have not been spent. Like most employers, the clothing store does not have an exemption. When Susan applies for a police check, her spent convictions will not appear.

Amit is applying to join a club and the manager asks if him if he has any convictions. Amit’s only convictions are ones that are spent, so he does not have to tell his manager about them. If Amit had some convictions that were not spent, Amit may have to tell his manager, but only about the convictions that were not spent.

Rafael is applying for a new rental. He is able to tell the real estate agent he has no convictions, because his only conviction is spent. He applies for a police check to support his rental application, and his conviction does not show up.

More information

This information is a general guide only and you should seek legal advice about how the law applies to your circumstances.

For more information about making an application you can contact a lawyer through:

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What is a spent conviction?

A spent conviction is a conviction that (unless an exemption applies):

  • will not appear on your police check,
  • you do not have to disclose to anyone,
  • no one is allowed to ask you about.