On 5 November 2024, the Policing (Police Vetting) Amendment Bill (the Bill) received its first reading and was referred to the Justice Select Committee for consideration. Public submissions on the Bill closed 19 December 2024. It is expected to be enacted later in 2025, subject to parliamentary processes.
The Bill provides a statutory framework for the Police vetting service to continue in substantially the same manner as at present. The Bill will provide clear and consistent policy for Police and users of the vetting service.
In practice, we expect most vetting users are unlikely to notice a change in service.
The statutory framework:
- sets out the purpose of Police vetting, which is to assist agencies with their decision-making about:
- roles that involve the care and safety of children, young people, and vulnerable adults
- roles that involve the education of children or young people
- roles that involve law enforcement or national security, or
- suitability for immigration or citizenship purposes
- provides the process to approve agencies to make a vetting request
- requires that a request for a Police vet be made with the consent of the vetting subject, or, if they are between 14 and 16 years of age, their parent or guardian
- provides that a request for a Police vet cannot be made where the vetting subject is under 14 years of age
- sets out that a vetting subject’s criminal conviction history must be disclosed in a Police vet, subject to the Criminal Records (Clean Slate) Act 2004
- sets out the types of Police-held, non-conviction information that may be considered for release. This may include active or past charges, warrants, infringement offences, demerit points, overseas convictions (if held), family violence incidents, investigations that did not result in charges, and interactions that the vetting subject has had with Police
- provides that non-conviction information may be disclosed in a Police vet only where it is relevant to the purpose of the vet and Police has taken reasonable steps to ensure the information is accurate and not misleading
- provides additional specific disclosure tests for information subject to a suppression order, information about a person when they were under 18 years, mental health or substance abuse information, and information about a subject’s involvement in family violence as a witness or victim
- requires Police to provide a Police vet in response to a request, except where doing so is likely to prejudice the maintenance of the law
- requires Police to provide agencies with updates on Police vets where the vetting subject is a children’s worker under the Children’s Act 2014.
The Bill enables Police to extend the current Police vetting service to provide services that could improve public safety and generate efficiencies through the provision of Police vets. This is done by:
- enabling Police to make arrangements with an agency to provide updates on a Police vet in agreed circumstances, with the vetting subject’s consent, and
- enabling Police to specify a class of individuals who can request a Police vet on themselves to be provided to approved agencies.
Police does not currently have plans to deliver these services.
Police has provided further background information on the Bill here.