Records checks - licensed and registered businesses

On this page:

• Four identity documents
• Document requirements
• Certification
• How the information provided will be used
• Release of disclosable court outcomes to applicants
• Spent conviction schemes

To apply for occupational licences and registrations administered by the Business Licensing Authority (BLA) you must satisfy various eligibility requirements. The BLA conducts checks with the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission (ACIC) and other agencies to verify the eligibility of applicants and associated people to hold a licence or registration.

Note: The criminal history record check that is conducted through the lodgement of an application is for a Victorian licence or registration administered under the licensing and registration provisions of the business licensing Acts covered by section 6 of the Business Licensing Authority Act 1998 (VIC).

Applicants and each person associated with an application must:

• fill in and sign the Consent to national criminal history and other record checks form
• provide four identity documents
• certify the documents and their own identity.

Download the Consent to national criminal history and other record checks form (Word, 141KB).

Online identity verification is available for all individual licence and registration applications (except motor car traders, second-hand dealers and pawnbrokers). For more information, view Identity verification. If your identity is verified online, you do not need to provide certified copies of a minimum of four identity documents, or attach a signed Consent to criminal history and other records checks form.

Four identity documents

ACIC has replaced the previous 100-point identity system with a new set of identity requirements. To complete the record checks form, provide four documents including at least:

• one commencement of identity document, and
• one primary use in the community document, and
• two secondary use in the community documents.

Document requirements

• The documents provided by each person submitting a records check form must include evidence of their full name and date of birth and their photograph.
• If none of the documents include a photograph, they must submit a passport-style photograph certified as being their true likeness.
• If the identity documents provided are under two or more different names (for example, a birth certificate in your maiden name and a driver licence in your married name), you must provide evidence of the name change. This means providing a Deed Poll or change of name certificate issued by the Australian Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages, or an Australian marriage certificate issued by a state or territory, in addition to the four identity documents. Church or celebrant-issued certificates are not accepted.
• Change of name documents must be originals or certified true copies and do not count towards the required minimum four identity documents.
• If all the identity documents provided are under the same name, there is no requirement to provide proof of name change for an alias or maiden name listed in the Consent to national criminal history and other record checks form.

Certification

Certification of documents means that:

• all documents provided, including proof of change of name documents, must be certified as being true copies of the original documents, and
• any documents provided in a language other than English must be accompanied by a translation that is endorsed or stamped by an accredited translation agency.

Who can certify documents

All documents must be certified by a person listed in Schedule 2 of the Statutory Declarations Regulations 2018 (Cth). These include pharmacists, Justices of the Peace and police officers. The full list is on the Consent to national criminal history and other record checks form.

Certification of online documents

Some documents may be difficult to certify as true copies of original documents, particularly if they are printouts of online originals. This may include, for example, printouts from Visa Entitlement Verification Online or the Australian Electoral Office,  bank card statements or credit reference checks. If these documents are not certified, we will verify them through our access to other databases.

We will not accept uncertified copies of documents where the originals are not online, such as passports, driver licences, government photo identity cards or Medicare cards. If people submit uncertified copies of these types of documents, we will require them to be properly certified.

Linking identity to documents

Every person submitting a records check form must establish the link between them and the identity they are claiming in their identity documents by either:

• having one of the photo identity documents certified as being a true likeness of them, or
• uploading a photo of them holding next to their face one of the photo identity documents that has been certified as being a true copy of the original document. The faces must be clearly visible and recognisable.

If none of the identity documents contain a photograph, the subject of the records check form must submit a passport style photograph that has been certified as being their true likeness, in addition to the four identity documents.

How the information provided will be used

Information will be forwarded to the ACIC, the Australian Federal Police and all Australian state and territory police services for checking. By completing the form, you are providing your consent to these agencies:

a) disclosing criminal history information that pertains to you from their own records to the BLA; and/or
b) accessing their records to obtain criminal history information that in turn will be disclosed to BLA.

Such criminal history information may include outstanding charges and criminal convictions or findings of guilt recorded against you that may be disclosed according to the laws of the relevant jurisdiction and, in the absence of any laws governing the release of that information, according to the relevant jurisdiction's information release policy.

It is usual practice for an applicant’s personal information to be disclosed to Australian police services for them to use for their respective law enforcement purposes, including the investigation of any outstanding criminal offences.

Release of disclosable court outcomes to applicants

Where the BLA receives a police check result from ACIC containing a disclosable court outcome, it is now required to send that result as soon as practicable to the person who is the subject of the police check. They will have an opportunity to dispute that result. Any dispute will be passed on to ACIC by the BLA.

For any enquiries or to dispute the results of a check, complete and lodge the BLA enquiry form.

Spent convictions schemes

Victoria

The release of any Victorian criminal record must comply with the Spent Convictions Act 2021 (Vic). The effect of a spent conviction is that:

• a spent conviction does not form part of a person’s criminal record
• a person is not required to disclose the existence of a spent conviction or information related to a spent conviction
• a person must not request that another person disclose the existence of a spent conviction or information related to a spent conviction.

The Business Licensing Authority does not seek any information in relation to spent convictions.

For more information:

• view the Spent convictions page
• seek independent legal advice.

Other states and territories and the Commonwealth

The release of any criminal record must comply with any Commonwealth, state or territory legislation which has the effect that a spent conviction does not form part of a person’s criminal record and that person is not required to disclose any information in respect of the spent conviction.

The Business Licensing Authority does not seek any information in relation to spent convictions.

For more information about spent convictions, please seek independent legal advice.