In a nutshell...
There are limited possibilities of having a criminal record expunged, meaning that the record is removed, and certain specific circumstances must be present for this to occur. If you have recorded a criminal conviction and think that you may fall within a category for having it expunged, then you should seek legal advice as soon as possible.
Jameson Law have an expert team of professional lawyers ready and willing to assist you with all legal needs you may have.
How Can A Criminal Record Be Expunged?
Under most circumstances, expungement is not an option available to people who have committed a criminal offence or offences. There are limited circumstances where expungement of criminal convictions may be considered and even then, there are strict requirements such as a waiting period, good behaviour, etc.
What Is A Spent Conviction?
A spent conviction is a category of convictions which exists on every state and territory in some form. Spent convictions refer to offending which has occurred within a specific timeframe. If an individual has committed offences but there has been a period of ten years, or more, before any new offences are committed, the initial offences can be considered to be spent.
That is not to say of course that a spent conviction can automatically erase the damage it has caused. There are several circumstances whereby a spent conviction will still affect things. This may be due to license applications such as a gun license, certain employment opportunities such as disability or aged care work or things such as government security clearances.
One of the biggest ways a spent conviction can affect an individual’s life is an immigration or citizenship application. Criminal offending, of any nature, is a black mark against any immigration or citizenship matters.
How To Apply?
To apply for your convictions to be spent under the spent conviction scheme, you will be required to fill out an application form. Each state and territory may have slightly different processes in pace but generally, you will be required to provide supporting evidence or further information along with the application.
Specifically, a person’s criminal record will need to be provided as evidence that they have not committed a further offence for a minimum of 10 years. If offences have been committed as a minor, a period of five years needs to have passed before an application can be made for the convictions to be considered spent.
The application then needs to be filed with the Magistrate’s Court and served on the police. They need to have the right of reply.
Case Study
Unfortunately, in order to obtain a working with vulnerable persons check within this industry, her full criminal record will be considered. Whilst there has been a long break in her offending, her spent convictions are of a violent and fraudulent nature. it is too dangerous for the residents of the aged care facility to be subjected to the possibility of further violent or fraudulent behavior. The residents of the aged care facility are classed as vulnerable.
Alice's application is rejected.
FAQs
What is an automatically spent conviction?
If an individual has committed a commonwealth offence under the Crimes Act 1914 and either did not go to prison or went to prison for less than 30 months, then their conviction will be automatically spent after a certain period of time.
What is a lesser conviction?
A lesser conviction is classed as a summary offence as opposed to an indictable offence. Lesser convictions are heard in the district court whereas indictable offences are heard in the Supreme Court.
What Conviction may not be able to be spent?
There are certain convictions, such as a sexual assault or serious violent offences which may never be able to be expunged. Serious criminal offending needs to be on record to ensure community safety.
Case Study
Given that her police checks confirm that her older offences were committed over 10 years ago and despite the serious offences she has undertaken rehabilitation, her application is successful.
In a nutshell...
There are limited circumstances whereby an expungement can be applied for or where old convictions could be considered under the spent convictions scheme. Spent convictions can only be considered if there has been a time period of 10 years or more between offending or 5 years for offences as a minor.
Jameson Law have a team of lawyers eager to assist with any criminal law matters you may have.