Information for the community – Spent Convictions Act | Department of Justice and Community Safety Victoria

Spent convictions laws control how a person's criminal history is disclosed
Convictions that are eligible to be spent
When a serious conviction can be spent
Exemptions for when a spent conviction can be disclosed
Spent convictions and work
Spent convictions and housing
Spent convictions and licences
If your spent conviction has been disclosed unlawfully
If you have experienced discrimination because of a spent conviction

Spent convictions laws control how a person's criminal history is disclosed

If your conviction is spent, it will generally not appear on your police record check and you do not have to tell anyone about that conviction, except in a small number of circumstances.

For example, you may be required to disclose your spent conviction if you are a health practitioner and need to give written notice of a conviction to the National Boardunder the Health Practitioners National Law (Victoria) Act 2009.

If a conviction is spent this does not change the sentence or penalty for that conviction.

It will also not be erased completely from your criminal history kept by police or erased from the records of other agencies.

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

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Spent Convictions Factsheet (PDF, 195.07 KB)

Convictions that are eligible to be spent

Lots of different convictions can become spent including historical convictions.

There are three ways a conviction can be spent.

1. Some convictions are spent immediately

In some circumstances, a conviction will be spent immediately. This includes if you were under the age of 15 when you committed the offence, or if the court made its order ‘without conviction’ (including for a sexual offence or a serious violence offence).

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 record check, unless a specific exemption applies.

2. Some convictions are spent after a period of time

Some convictions will be spent automatically, after you have completed a conviction period. This applies to convictions for:

an offence that was not a serious violence offence or a sexual offence, so long as
any term of imprisonment, or detention in a youth justice facility, imposed by the court was 30 months or less.

For an eligible spent conviction to be spent automatically:

adults must complete a conviction period of 10 years
children and young people must complete a conviction period of five years

The ‘conviction period’ is a five or 10 year period without any further offending. If the person reoffends during this time, apart from certain minor offences, the conviction period restarts.

3. Some convictions may be spent on application to the Magistrates’ Court

Some more serious convictions can be spent by application to the Magistrates’ Court in limited circumstances. This includes convictions for:

sexual offences
serious violence offences
other offences where the court sentenced you to prison or detention in a youth justice facility for more than 30 months .

You must have completed the relevant crime-free period before making an application.

For more information see applying for a spent conviction order (External link).

When a serious conviction can be spent

Serious convictions are usually treated differently to other convictions, including if and when they can be spent.

Serious convictions include a conviction for:

a sexual offence
a serious violence offence (such as murder, manslaughter, some serious injury offences and kidnapping)
any other offence, where the court sentenced you to prison or detention in a youth justice facility for more than 30 months.

These convictions can only be spent in limited circumstances.

In certain circumstances, your conviction for a sexual offence or serious violence offence will be spent immediately, subject to completion of any conditions, including if:

you were under 15 when you committed the offence
the court sentence was a ‘without conviction’ finding
the only penalty was a Children’s Court fine
you were found unfit to be tried and at a special hearing the court found you committed the offence.

Applying to the court for a serious conviction to be spent

In some other cases, you may be able to apply to the Magistrates’ Court for your conviction to be spent once you have completed the relevant crime-free period.

Some serious convictions can never be spent, for example, if you were 21 years or older at the time of sentencing and:

the court ordered a prison sentence (of any length) for a serious violence or sexual offence, or
for any other offence, the court ordered a prison sentence of more than 5 years.

Exemptions for when a spent conviction can be disclosed

Generally, a spent conviction will not show up on a police record check and is protected from disclosure.

In some circumstances however, courts, police and certain specific agencies have an exemption to collect, use and disclose spent conviction information for a particular purpose.

Full criminal histories will continue to be disclosed to police, courts and other law enforcement agencies for the administration of the justice system and to protect community safety. Driver history reports issued by VicRoads will also continue to show driving-related convictions which are spent.

Convictions that are spent will also show up on a police record check in certain circumstances where the check is conducted for specific types of

employment such as with Victoria Police or Corrections
licensing such as a firearms licence
registration and accreditation for certain occupations like teaching, health workers and lawyers
screening such as Working with Children Checks or child protection.

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 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 have broader powers.

Agencies that have an exemption will not be committing an offence if they disclose your spent conviction in accordance with that exemption.

Most of the exemptions are found in the Act (External link), and some are found in the Spent Convictions Regulations 2021 (External link).

Spent convictions and work

Most employers will not get access to your spent conviction because, generally it will not be disclosed on a police record check. If your conviction is spent, in most ordinary situations you are not required to disclose it to anyone, including your employer (unless an exemption applies).

The only agencies that have an exemption to receive spent conviction information on a police record check when they are employing people are:

the Commissioner for Corrections
Court Services Victoria
Independent Broad-based Anti-Corruption Commission
Office of the Victorian Information Commissioner
Secretary to the Department of Justice and Community Safety when appointing Honorary Justice volunteers like Justices of the Peace and Bail Justices, and when appointing Judicial Officers and Tribunal members
Victoria Police.

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

In some circumstances when you apply for an accreditation or registration to work in a particular industry, the government department or agency that processes your application may still be able to receive a spent conviction as part of a police record check for that purpose.

In some circumstances, another law may require you to disclose your spent conviction. For example, you may have to disclose your spent conviction if you are a health practitioner and need to give written notice of a conviction to the National Board under the Health Practitioners National Law (Victoria) Act 2009.

Spent convictions and housing

Real estate agents and housing or other accommodation providers do not have an exemption to receive spent conviction information. If they get your police record check, it will not include your spent convictions.

An accommodation provider or real estate agent cannot ask you about a spent conviction.

Spent convictions and licences

If you are applying for a licence, the agency processing your application will not get access to your spent conviction on a police record check unless they have an exemption. You also do not have to disclose it in your application.

Only certain agencies have an exemption to receive a spent conviction as part of a police record check for licensing.

This includes:

Firearms licensing by Victoria Police.
Private Security licensing by Victoria Police.
Professional Boxing and Combat Sports Board.
Poppy cultivation licences and poppy processing licenses by the Secretary to the Department of Jobs, Precincts and Regions.
Licensing under the Commonwealth Narcotic Drugs Act 1967 by the Secretary within the meaning of the Narcotic Drugs Act 1967 (Cth).
Issuing permissions by the Director, Transport Safety under the Marine Safety Act 2010.
Gambling and casino licences issued by the Victorian Commission for Gambling and Liquor Regulation.
Liquor licensing and regulation of liquor licensees and associates by the Victorian Commission for Gambling and Liquor Regulation.

If an agency is authorised to automatically disqualify or make an applicant ineligible for a licence on the basis of a particular conviction which can be spent, that agency may also receive a spent conviction as part of a police record check for licensing.

If you are also required to have a driver history report as part of your licence application, your driver history report issued by VicRoads will contain spent driving convictions.

Most of the exemptions are found in the Act, and some are found in the Spent Convictions Regulations 2021 (External link)

If your spent conviction has been disclosed unlawfully

If anyone discloses your spent conviction unlawfully or without your written consent, they could be committing an offence and may have to pay a penalty.

If you have experienced discrimination because of a spent conviction

Discrimination on the basis of a conviction which has become spent is prohibited.

If you are concerned that someone has treated you unfairly or unlawfully discriminated against you because of your spent conviction, you can contact the Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission .

Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission

Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission has developed a Spent Conviction Discrimination Guideline (External link), which provides further information about rights and obligations relating to discrimination because of spent convictions.

Contact the Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission to make an enquiry or complaint, or to find more information about your rights regarding discrimination.