How to make fairer decisions when hiring Aboriginal people

This page is for employers, government agencies, and ACCOs. You’ll find out what you actually requires around criminal record checks, what good practice looks like, and how to make fairer and stronger hiring decisions when Aboriginal people apply.

Criminal record checks: What employers can and can’t ask
Good Practice: How to do it better
Spent Convictions: What Employers Need to Know
Information for Government Agencies and ACCOs

Criminal record checks: What employers can and can’t ask

Do you actually need to do a police check?

Before requesting a criminal record check, ask yourself:

Is this check required by legislation? Or is it a funding condition?
Does the requirement apply to this specific role, or has it just become standard practice across all positions?
Is the check genuinely relevant to the duties of the role?

Blanket screening of all positions is not required by law. The standard is proportionate, role-relevant screening.

What you can do:

Request a police check where legislation or a funding condition specifically requires it for that role
Consider criminal history that is directly relevant to the duties and risks of the position

What you can’t do:

Ask someone to disclose a spent conviction, unless a specific exemption applies (see below)
Refuse to hire someone, or treat them less favourably, because of a spent conviction. That’s unlawful under Victoria’s Equal Opportunity Act 2010.
Use criminal record information as an automatic disqualifier. Decisions must be based on the relevance of the record to the specific role.

You can’t use criminal record information as an automatic disqualifier. Decisions must be based on the relevance of the record to the specific role.

When exemptions apply

Some roles are exempt from spent conviction protections, meaning you must review the candidate’s full criminal history. These include:

Roles requiring a Working with Children Check
Law enforcement, corrections, and judicial roles
Applications for certain licences, such as firearms, gaming, and security
Registered professions including health, law, and teaching

For all other roles, spent convictions must not factor into your decision-making.

Good Practice:
How to Do It Better

Doing a police check is one thing. What you do with the information, and how you treat the person in front of you, is what makes the real difference.

1. Only check when it’s genuinely needed
Review your current hiring policy. Is the check required by law or a funding condition for this role? Or has it become automatic? If it’s not genuinely required, remove it. At a minimum, don’t advertise it upfront in job ads where it’s not relevant. That alone can stop Mob from applying.

2. Be specific about what actually disqualifies someone
If a check is required, decide in advance what kinds of convictions are actually relevant to the role. An old, minor offence that has nothing to do with the job shouldn’t automatically rule a candidate out.

3. Create space for yarning

Formal interviews can be intimidating. Consider offering a yarning conversation as part of your process, either alongside or instead of a traditional interview. This gives candidates the chance to share their story in a way that’s comfortable and culturally appropriate.

Watch this video to understand why Yarning is best practice

4. Involve Elders and Community voices

Elders, family, and respected Community members can give you context that paperwork can’t. Their involvement in recruitment decisions builds trust and leads to fairer outcomes for everyone.

5. See lived experience as an asset

A complex background isn’t automatically a risk. People with lived experience of the justice system often bring unique skills in community-facing roles. They understand what clients are going through. That’s valuable.

6. Document your reasoning
If you take criminal record information into account when making a hiring decision, write down why. What was the specific relevance to the role? This keeps your process accountable and protects you if a decision is ever questioned.

7. Have support available when candidates disclose
If a candidate shares their history, how you respond matters. Have a support person available. Be respectful. Give them space to explain. Don’t react. Listen.

“We have a conversation, we talk through their record, we get the context. The yarn tells you more than the forms ever can.”

“Community leadership is critical in culturally appropriate recruitment. Community context often tells a very different story from what appears on a police check.”

“That peer worker type arrangement I think is really important — they’re the people you want in those roles, because they know what it’s like to live it.”

Spent Convictions: What Employers Need to Know

If you’re requesting a police check, you need to understand what you will and won’t be seeing.

What shows up on a standard police check

A standard Australian Police Check shows convictions that haven’t been spent. It won’t show:

Convictions that have automatically become spent after the crime-free period
Minor offences (like traffic infringements) that were spent immediately
Convictions that a court has ordered to be spent

What this means for you
If a conviction doesn’t appear on the check, don’t factor it into your decision. And if a candidate tells you about a spent conviction but says they don’t need to disclose it, or declines to answer a question about their history, you can’t use that against them.

Under Victoria’s Equal Opportunity Act 2010, discriminating against someone because of a spent conviction is unlawful.

When you’re reading a police check, ask yourself:

Is this conviction relevant to the specific duties of this role?
How long ago did this happen? Has the person demonstrated change since then?
Is there Community or Elder support that speaks to who this person is now?

Old or minor offences that aren’t relevant to the job should not be used to exclude a candidate.

When exemptions apply

Some roles allow, or require, disclosure and consideration of the full criminal history. These include roles requiring a Working with Children Check, law enforcement, certain licensed occupations, and registered professions. For roles covered by an exemption, be transparent with candidates upfront about what’s required and why.

Watch this video to learn how the Spent Convictions Scheme gives Mob a real second chance

“People’s behaviours and who they are can change very quickly. We try not to let something small from the past stop them if it’s no longer relevant.”

For Government Agencies and ACCOs

Creating a fairer framework for police check requirements will open doors and build better pathways to employment for Aboriginal job seekers.

Police checks are often driven by funding rules, not mistrust. The way you ask, listen, and respond can either open a door or quietly close it.
Paperwork never tells the full story, lived experience carries knowledge, growth, and strength.
When employers make space for yarning and involve Community voices, safer and fairer decisions follow.

For government agencies and funding bodies:

If you’re a government agency or funder, you have real power to change the system. Reviewing whether police check requirements in your funding agreements are genuinely necessary, and making them proportionate and role-relevant, would have a direct impact on Aboriginal employment across the sector.

What funders can do:

Review blanket police check requirements in funding agreements
Develop more proportionate, role-relevant screening requirement frameworks
Work with ACCOs to develop culturally appropriate compliance frameworks

For ACCOs and peak bodies

If you’re an ACCO, you’re often caught between funder requirements and your own commitment to culturally safe, fair employment for mob. The RCRC project has developed resources to help you work through this, and to make the case for change with your funders.

What ACCOs can do:

Advocate with funders to change or qualify blanket check requirements
Implement yarning-based recruitment within their existing compliance obligations
Develop ACCO-specific good practice guides

Watch this video to hear how funding requirement on criminal records checks create unnecessary barriers for Mob and ACCOs.

Police checks are often driven by funding rules, not mistrust. The way you ask, listen, and respond can either open a door or quietly close it.

Paperwork never tells the full story, lived experience carries knowledge, growth, and strength.

Disclaimer regarding this information

The information provided within the Rethinking Criminal Record Checks website is for general informational and educational purposes only. It does not constitute legal, financial, or professional advice. Reading or using this information does not create an attorney-client relationship. You should consult with a qualified professional in your specific jurisdiction before taking any action based on this information.