I'm applying for a job. How serious does a conviction have to be before I declare it on my application form?

Whether you indicate you have had convictions on an application form depends on whether you qualify to be “clean slated” under the Criminal Records (Clean Slate) Act 2004. This Act allows you to conceal your convictions if you meet all of the following conditions:

• No convictions within the last 7 years;
• Never been sentenced to a custodial sentence e.g. imprisonment,
• Corrective Training, borstal;
• Never been ordered by a Court following a criminal case to be detained in a hospital due to your mental condition, instead of being sentenced;
• Not been convicted of a “specified offence” (e.g. sexual offending against children and young people or the mentally impaired);
• Paid in full any fine, reparation, or coasts ordered by the Court in a criminal case;
• Never been indefinitely disqualified from driving.

If you do not meet these conditions or, under section 19 of the Act, if you apply for certain types of employment (e.g. a member of Police, prison or probation officer, national security positions, a judge, or JP) or roles involving the care and protection of children, you must declare your convictions. Clean Slate only applies within NZ so when you travel overseas, deal with a foreign country or any matter relating to foreign law, you will need to fully disclose any convictions.

See the Ministry of Justice website for more information.