About the RCRC Project
The Rethinking Criminal Record Checks (RCRC) project is working to make employment fairer for Aboriginal people in Victoria, by changing how police checks are used, understood, and talked about.
About the RCRC Project
The Rethinking Criminal Record Checks project came out of research into how criminal record checks are affecting Aboriginal people’s ability to find and keep work in Victoria. It brought together Community members, Aboriginal organisations, legal experts, and employers to understand the real barriers and to find better ways forward.
The project has developed practical tools and resources for both job seekers and employers, grounded in Community voices and lived experience.
Research based on collaboration
The Rethinking Criminal Record Checks research project was undertaken as a close and sustained joint endeavour between researchers and First Nations people, whose leadership, cultural authority, lived experience and knowledge shaped this work at every level, including research design, interviewing, analysis and the creation of resources.
The RCRC project was led by RMIT University in partnership with Woor-Dungin, Victorian Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation (VACCHO) and Winda-Mara Aboriginal Corporation. The project was funded by the Victorian Legal Services Board.
Aboriginal people were present throughout the project as collaborators, co-designers and trusted guides, ensuring the work remained grounded in Community priorities and real-world experience.
In particular, Uncle Michael “Mookeye” Bell played a primary and ongoing role as a key person consulted throughout the life of the project. The First Nations resources developed through this work are enabled by the voices, knowledge and contributions of Aboriginal people and organisations; this project reflects those voices, and it is because of them that these resources exist.
Project Acknowledgements
Siobhan Doyal
VALS – Victorian Aboriginal Legal Service
Project Role : Advisor
John Bell
Winda-Mara Aboriginal Corporation
Project Role : ACCO CEO
Jason Kanoa
Victorian Aboriginal Children and Young Peoples Alliance
Project Role : ACCO Employer
Uncle Larry Walsh
Footscray Community Arts
Project Role : Elder
Uncle Alan Coe
Warrigunya
Project Role : Lived Experience / Elder
Chris Sheppard
Worn Gundidj
Project Role : ACCO CEO
Uncle Mookeye Bell
RMIT
Project Role : Elder / Koori Court
Naomi Murphy
The Justice Mob
Project Role : Lived Experience
Shaun Middlebrook
Woor-Dungin
Project Role : ACCO CEO
Aunty Rieo Ellis
Grandmothers Against Removals Vic
Project Role : Elder / Lived Experience
Uncle Ricky Morris
Willan Foundation
Project Role : Employer
Cherkera Austin
VACCHO
Project Role : Lived Experience
Nikole Austin
VACCHO
Project Role : Lived Experience
Jim O’Shea
VACCHO
Project Role : ACCO Employer
Uncle Wenzel Carter
Koori Court Elder and First Nations Prison Visitor
Project Role : Elder
Shaun Braybrook
Wuigunggo Ngalu Learning Centre
Project Role : Employer
Uncle Lloyd Hood
Wuigunggo Ngalu Learning Centre
Project Role : Elder
Uncle Robert “Bobby” Nicholls
RAJAC Chair / VACCA life member
Project Role : Elder
Georgina Heydon
RMIT
Project Role : Chief Investigator
Bronwyn Naylor
RMIT
Project Role : Chief Investigator
Stan Winford
RMIT Centre for Innovative Justice
Project Role : Chief Investigator
Antoinette Saliba
RMIT
Project Role : Research Assistance
Chanel Kinninburgh
RMIT Centre for Innovative Justice
Project Role : Research Assistance
Amanda Pejoski
College of Design and Social Context, RMIT University
Project Role : Resource Production
James Burnell
Noutic Mind Pictures
Project Role : Resource Production
Nadia Rose
Namaro Creative
Project Role : Resource Production
Emma Davidson
RARE
Project Role : Resource Production
Zana Bytheway
Job Watch
Project Role : Collaborator
Kent Morris
TORCH
Project Role : Collaborator
Ricky Kildea
Wanyaari Aboriginal Consultation Service
Project Role : Collaborator
Alan Thorpe
Dardi Munwurro / DJIRRA
Project Role : Collaborator
Zoe Wundenberg
Project Role : Collaborator
Will Smith
Project Role : Research Assistance
How the RCRC project supports employers and job seekers
The Rethinking Criminal Records project was designed educate employers and job seekers about their rights and obligations in disclosing criminal history.
The project was built on earlier work, including the Criminal Record Discrimination Project (CRDP), which was started in 2016 by Aboriginal organisations connected with Woor-Dungin, and the Aboriginal Ex-Offender Employment Project (AEOEP). These projects focused on advocating for legal change and improving employment opportunities for Aboriginal people with criminal records.
The CRDP played an important role in advocating for reform and helped influence the Victorian Government’s February 2020 commitment to introduce a legislated spent convictions scheme. The Spent Convictions Bill 2020 was passed by the Victorian Parliament on 18 March 2021.
For more information, visit:
The RCRC project has created a range of practical resources to support both sides of the hiring process. If you are an Aboriginal person looking for work, visit our guide for job seekers to understand your rights around police checks and the Spent Convictions Scheme. Employers and organisations can find guidance on making fairer hiring decisions when assessing Aboriginal applicants. You can also browse and download all of our free fact sheets, videos, and brochures designed to support culturally safe recruitment practices across Victoria.
Project vision and objectives
Our long-term vision
To influence change in policy and practice amongst public and private sector employers and the broader Community in relation to people with a criminal record seeking work.
To reduce disadvantage for Aboriginal people in Victoria through increased access to employment and the removal of barriers to self-determination.
Our objectives
To facilitate employment of Aboriginal people by identifying legal requirements for use of criminal record checks and current good/best practice of employers in the use of criminal record checking and assessment and balancing of risk.
To provide Aboriginal jobseekers, with a criminal record, with information and guidance based on knowledge of legal requirements and employer best practice to present their strongest case for employment to an employer.
To communicate these practices and learnings to employers, including government agencies and Aboriginal-run organisations, and to Aboriginal jobseekers in the most effective and implementable ways.
