What is the Process to Submit a Police Check Online?

Posted on: August 3rd, 2021

Before decision-makers can appoint any serious appointments or services, they are going to ask for a police check. From full-time jobs to ad hoc tasks, the police check certificate has become the key to making more well-informed decisions about any specific individual.,

A police check is critical because it contains all of the details about that individual’s relationship with the law, including any Disclosable Court Outcomes (DCOs). So if someone has ever been charged by a court or convicted of any kind of offence, that will show up on a police check.

With such importance now attached to a police check, it’s vital that you understand the process. Here’s how to submit a police check online, and what to expect from the process.

Step 1: Start Check

The first step to getting your police check will usually take around five minutes. Use our application page to start your police check online, and make sure that you have all of the necessary identity documents close to hand when you begin. If you have those ready, then all you need to do is type in and add:

Name, contact details, and some basic info about the purpose of your police check (ie, for an employer) and the type of police check you need.
Payment of the necessary fee using the payment type of your choice.
All of the necessary information about your date of birth, your gender, and a list of all of your addresses from the last five years.
An uploaded colour photo of yourself using our easy-to-use interface. You can take a selfie if you currently have no appropriate photos of yourself, but the photo must include you holding a relevant form of photo ID.

Once done, your last task is to provide your consent, and then hit the submit button on the application form.

Because a police check is an official criminal background check, it’s essential that you provide accurate information about your identity. If you give the wrong information, you will need to be contacted to confirm some of the details you have given.

Don’t forget to add your email address and your phone number. This is how we will contact you with any details of your police check.

Note: If you provide us with any of the wrong information about yourself, we will have to contact you. Your application may need to be adjusted, and if we’re not satisfied with some of your details then your application may be cancelled.

Uploading Your ID

Before you pay using your chosen payment method, you need to make sure that you have provided the necessary ID documents. In 2018, the Australian Federal Government implemented changes in terms of the police check ID requirements. It was all part of the National Identity Security Strategy and replaced the previous 100-points ID system that used to exist.

What that means for you is that you now need to provide us with a biometric link and four ID documents. So to get your criminal background check you need to provide the following:

One commencement document (your passport)
One primary document (your driver’s license)
Two secondary documents (this could include a student card or your Medicare card)

The biometric link is simply a selfie that you can take with your phone. This can then be uploaded using our simple application form. We have designed this to be as straightforward as possible, so submitting your documents and your selfie is as easy as it can be.

If you don’t currently have the necessary documents, you can contact your local government to either obtain or update the ID that’s needed to get your national police check.

Why do I need to upload a selfie?

If you were applying for a national police check in person, it would be possible to check that your identity matches who you are by simply looking at your photo ID and making sure it matches what you look like. When you apply online, that’s not possible. That’s why submitting a photo of yourself is so important.

To take your photo, you need to be holding some form of photo ID, such as your passport. We will then check that your photo matches the photo ID that you have submitted as proof of identity. To do this, we use automated facial recognition tools to ensure that your face matches and that the image has not been altered in any way.

This makes it easier to protect you from fraud and makes it much more difficult for scammers to use your details to apply for a police check.

Step Two: Submit

It used to be that if you wanted an official criminal background check you would need to post your application and your documents or use the post office to verify your identity. It’s much easier now, and we can provide you with our 100% online police check.

Not only is this significantly faster, but we have also ensured that our service is 256-bit SSL encrypted and secure so that you are protected while online.

Once we have received your application, the next step is to ensure that all of the information you have submitted is accurate. That means checking over your documents and making sure that they are consistent and that they verify who you are.

Once we are satisfied with your identity and received your consent, we will then submit an official police check request. This will be submitted to the National police checking Service. From there, your details will be searched for on the national database, which analyses the information about the Persons of Interest that are currently known to the police.

Step Three: Track Progress

Once you have submitted your details and your ID documents, you can then track the progress of your application. In most cases (70%), you will receive your police check details within one business day. In some cases, it will only take a few minutes or hours to receive your certification.

However, some applications do get delayed. The National police checking System may require further review, and that can delay getting your official documentation back. If that does happen, then processing your application can take between two and 15 business days. It’s very rare, but some cases may take even longer than this, but that’s extremely exceptional.

We cannot guarantee that your police check will not be chosen for a more in-depth review. That’s why we always recommend that you make your application at least 10 days before you need it. If your application does result in a manual review by the National police checking System, it doesn’t mean that a conviction has been found.

Applications can be flagged for a manual review for many different reasons. One of the most common is that the applicant has an extremely common name, or has a name that is the same as someone who does appear on the national police database.

If you want to track the progress of your application, simply click here and log in using your Check ID details and your email address. If you need any further advice or have any questions to ask about the progress of your application you can always contact us here.

In the majority of cases, you will get your results back within 24-hours by email. We understand that police checks are often carried out with a sense of urgency and are often employment-related. That’s why we aim to get your results back to you as quickly as the system allows.

In many cases, you will receive your results back within 15-minutes of submitting your details.

Step Four: Get Your Result

During the application review, the Police agency will check to see if the details that you have provided currently match a person of interest record. If such a match is made, the police will then vet Police History Information to evaluate what info will be released. That vetting will include determining the category and purpose of the check.

Once this is done, we will then get your results. Once we have them, they will immediately be made available to you. You will get your results as well as a branded police check results. You will also receive extra info about how to verify the results of your certificate and any further details you may need.

What Information Is On a police check?

A criminal history check will contain a lot of information. This will include any info about any charges that you have and any convictions, good behaviour bonds, offences, or court sentences. It will also include any additional findings of any Australian court that are considered to be releasable, These are known as Disclosable Court Outcomes (DCOs), and includes offences such as:

Sexually related offences
Charges of fraud
Common assault
Murder/manslaughter charges
Traffic charges (that have resulted in a court appearance)

It will also contain any and all of your convictions and sentences, any pending court charges or offences, and any other offences that are not yet spent under the Spent Convictions Scheme.

What Won’t Be On A police check?

If you have been charged with an offence, it won’t always show up on your police check if it meets the necessary criteria. Often, this will be due to the Spent Convictions Scheme. This can cover a range of eligibility criteria, including:

Convictions that took place more than 10 consecutive years ago (only for charges committed by an adult and therefore not convicted by a juvenile court)
Convictions that came from a juvenile court more than five years ago will be considered elapsed (in NSW this is three years)
Non-punishable offences within that period
More than the designated period has elapsed since being released from a jail term
Court-ordered stipulations that require specific criteria

It’s not just offences that have been classified as spent that won’t show up on your police check. This can cover a wide range of reasons, but the following will not appear on your police check:

Court cases where the finding was not-guilty
Any convictions that took place outside of Australia or outside the jurisdiction of Australian courts and police agencies
Diversion programs
Any punitive measures that were implemented by third parties such as professional unions and bodies

There are some convictions that will show up on your national criminal history check even if they occurred more than ten (or five if a juvenile offence) years ago. That means no matter how much time has passed, your police check will show those offences. These include convictions that:

Are sexually related
Are against any corporate organizations and/or organisations
Were stated as permanent by court sentencing or by regulations
Result in a prison sentence of six months and longer

The more serious the offence, the more likely it is that it will never be considered as ‘spent’.

How Long Does a police check Remain Valid?

A police check is considered to be a ‘point in time’ check. That means that it has no expiry date. Your police check results will stay valid from the moment it is issued right up to the point where you need an updated check.

However, if you’re submitting a police check application for employment reasons, it’s worth noting that many companies will not accept a national police check if it is older than three months (or 12-months for existing employees).

Disputing Results

If you receive your Police check certificate and you believe that there are incorrect details on it, please contact us immediately. We will then act on your behalf, liaising with the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission (ACIC). We can also help you to deal with any relevant police agencies.

Submitting an application for a criminal record check is quick and extremely simple. At Crime Check Australia, we make sure that the process is as simple as possible and that you get your results quickly. Simply make sure that you have the relevant proof of identity, and have included a photograph of yourself holding one of them (such as your passport or driver’s license).

While there are no guarantees that your application won’t be flagged for manual review, the fact is that the majority of applicants get their results and the police check results within minutes of application.