Exemptions for disclosure - community information - Spent Convictions | Department of Justice and Community Safety Victoria

where you request information about your own criminal history
broad exemption for law enforcement agencies such as Victoria Police and Corrections
broad exemptions for courts and tribunals
Working with Children Checks
certain types of licenses and registration
certain occupational accreditations and regulations, such as for health professionals, teachers and lawyers
child protection
immigration decision making.

Driver history reports issued by VicRoads will also continue to show driving convictions which are spent.

To find out more about these exemptions, you can view them in the Act (External link) and the Regulations (External link).

How an exempt agency can use or disclose a spent conviction

If an exempt agency receives your spent conviction information, there are still laws about how they use and disclose that information.

The agency can use the information for the specific purpose in the exemption, but generally, they can only disclose your spent conviction to other agencies in the following ways:

to a court or tribunal as part of a legal case
because it was ordered by a court or tribunal
if required for investigation or enforcement of a law
to the Chief Commissioner of Police (or their equivalent) in another state or territory
to a lawyer in order to get legal advice
if you give your consent in writing, or
where the agency has the authority under another law.

Courts, tribunals and law enforcement agencies like Victoria Police and Corrections, however, have broader powers. VicRoads will also continue to release spent convictions on a driver history report, which may be given to an employer, prospective employer or a vehicle insurer with your written consent.

An employer or agency that has an exemption to receive spent conviction information, must:

tell you about the information they received, and
give you the opportunity to respond to the information.

If an exempt agency treats you unfairly or less favourably because of your spent conviction, it may not amount to unlawful discrimination if they are using your spent conviction in the way the exemption specifies.

If the agency does not have your written permission or some other lawful authority, then it may be committing an offence by disclosing your spent conviction.

How law enforcement agencies can use or disclose a spent conviction

Law enforcement agencies have a broad exemption to collect, use and disclose spent conviction information so they can perform their functions. Law enforcement agencies can:

receive spent conviction information from police or another law enforcement agency
disclose spent conviction information to each other
disclose spent conviction information to courts and tribunals
use spent conviction information to investigate and impose penalties or perform other law enforcement functions.

In addition, they can receive all your criminal history information, including pending charges and ongoing police investigations if they need to.

Law enforcement agencies can also disclose your spent conviction information to you if you request it.

Law enforcement agencies

The list of law enforcement agencies includes:

Victoria Police and police forces in other states, territories
The Australian Federal Police
The Sheriff
Independent Broad-based Anti-Corruption Commission
Agencies with Corrections functions, such as the Commissioner of Corrections, Adult and Youth Parole Boards
Director of Fines Victoria
Government departments that play a role in regulating parts of the justice system, specifically the Secretary to Department of Justice and Community Safety and the Secretary to the Department of Transport (which operates VicRoads)
Australian Crime Commission
Chief Examiner and Examiners appointed under the Major Crime (Investigative Powers) Act 2004
Victorian Inspectorate
Post Sentence Authority
VicRoads – VicRoads also has separate broad exemptions to release records with spent convictions information in certain circumstances under the Road Safety Act 1986.

Other agencies with law enforcement functions will also meet this definition. This means agencies that:

prevent, detect, investigate, prosecute or punish criminal offences or breaches of laws that impose a penalty
manage property that has been seized under laws relating to the proceeds of crime, or
execute or implement an order or decision made by a court or tribunal.

Example

If you have a conviction for a driving-related offence, even if it is spent this does not affect any demerit points, sanctions or relicensing conditions that VicRoads might apply to your driver’s licence because of the conviction.

Even if your driving conviction is spent, it may still appear on a driver history report.

Use and disclosure of a spent conviction by courts and tribunals

There is no change to the way courts and tribunals collect, use or disclose your criminal history information, including spent conviction information.

Courts and tribunals have a broad exemption. Similar to law enforcement agencies, a court or tribunal can:

receive spent conviction information from police, or another law enforcement agency
disclose spent conviction information to another Court or Tribunal
disclose spent conviction information to a law enforcement agency
use spent conviction information to investigate and impose penalties or perform other law enforcement functions
collect or use spent conviction information for legal proceedings and for publishing their decisions
disclose spent conviction information as part of the disclosure of a criminal record for legal proceedings and for publishing their decisions.

Examples

If your conviction is spent this does not prevent a police prosecutor from telling the magistrate about the conviction. The court can still use your prior convictions, including a spent conviction, when deciding what penalty to give you.

If a journalist applies to the Supreme Court to get copies of orders made by the court for your criminal offences, the court can still release the orders even if they relate to a spent conviction. However, if the journalist wants to publish information about your spent conviction in the newspaper, they may be committing an offence and have to pay a penalty if they knew or ought to know the conviction was spent.

More information

The information is a general guide only and you should seek legal advice about how the law applies to your circumstances. You can contact a lawyer through Victorian Aboriginal Legal Service (External link), a community legal centre or a private law firm for more information about making an application.