Our background check platform serves thousands of Australian customers each year. It’s the quickest and easiest way to obtain a copy of your Nationally Coordinated Criminal History Check which searches national police records.

Yes. Intercheck Global Pty Ltd (trading as InterCheck Australia and Certn) is an Accredited Agency with the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission (ACIC) to access the National Police Checking Service, we provide Nationally Coordinated Criminal History Checks (NCCHCs). We also have an account with the Australian Federal Police to provide National Police Certificates.

In Australia, criminal background checks can be obtained from the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission (ACIC) and state or territory police departments, including the Australian Federal Police (AFP). The ACIC facilitates Nationally Coordinated Criminal History Checks (NCCHC) and the AFP facilitates National Police Certificates (NPC). While similar in many aspects, each of these checks has distinct characteristics and purposes.

The Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission (ACIC) administers the National Police Checking Service which facilitates access to police information (as provided and maintained by Australian police agencies) in accordance with relevant Australian legislation. The National Police Checking Service provides access to Nationally Coordinated Criminal History Checks across all Australian states and territories. It aggregates data from various state and territory police services. It’s broadly used for Australian candidates for employment, volunteering, licencing and probity checking.

As an Accredited Agency/Body, we’re required to have all customers using the National Police Checking Service approved by the ACIC. Customers are also required to agree to and sign a Terms of Use agreement. Applicants using our service must provide specific information for each request for a Nationally Coordinated Criminal History Check, including specific identification and consent. We must also link applicants to their ID and their application.

The Australian Federal Police (AFP) is Australia’s national policing agency responsible for enforcing Commonwealth (federal) laws and laws of the Australian Capital Territory (ACT). The AFP offers a National Police Certificate based on national records, including data from all Australian states and territories. A National Police Certificate is most often used for purposes relating to federal government positions or Australian government roles, National Police Certificates for non-Australian candidates, certain immigration and visa applications, and national security clearances. Candidates must provide consent to obtain a National Police Certificate, along with 100 points of identification.

Yes. We’re able to provide criminal history background checks for individuals and organisations requiring pre-employment vetting, including those working in regulated sectors. These include, but aren’t limited to: aged care workers, finance licensing, mortgage licensing, and ASIC licensing.

Yes. There are a number of different specific standards that apply to background checks across industries. For more information on background checks for businesses, visit certn.co/anz and we’ll guide you through any specific requirements that may apply to your checks.

Once all of the necessary information is collected and verified by InterCheck Australia, we submit the request with the ACIC or the AFP. The check is then logged on the National Police Checking Service Support System (NSS). This system checks your personal details against a national database using a name matching algorithm. If the personal details match any police information held in police records, the system will generate a “Potential Match” in the report. If no match is identified, the case is released to InterCheck Australia as “No Disclosable Court Outcomes” in the report.

Where a “Potential Match” is identified, the case is referred to the relevant police jurisdiction(s) where the match was identified. If the police jurisdiction determines that the match doesn’t relate to you, it’s released as “No Disclosable Court Outcomes.” If the police jurisdiction determines that the details do match, it’s referred for vetting against relevant spent conviction legislation and information release policies. The final outcome will be a “No Disclosable Court Outcomes” or “Disclosable Court Outcomes.”

A volunteer Nationally Coordinated Criminal History Check is for individuals who are seeking positions such as:

• Volunteering with an Australian or overseas charity or not-for-profit organisation;
• Volunteer foster carers;
• Students undertaking a compulsory student placement (this doesn’t include unpaid work experience or internships); and
• Volunteering with a community organisation, such as a school, religious organisation, community sports group, or government council (including volunteer board members).

Job seekers participating in the Work for the Dole scheme and family day care providers, educators, assistants, or family members aren’t entitled to access the ACIC volunteer check category.

There’s a discounted price on Nationally Coordinated Criminal History Checks for volunteers for $34.90.

Yes. Where an applicant is less than 18 years of age, InterCheck Australia must obtain consent from you and your parent or legal guardian. In addition to this requirement, we are also required to:

• Verify the identity of your parent or legal guardian (using the same verification process as we do for you); and
• Establish a documentary link between you and your parent or legal guardian, such as through provision of a birth certificate or court order.

Most applicants can meet the minimum proof of identity documents and some may need to renew or obtain relevant documentation to verify their identity prior to submitting a check. However, in some cases, applicants may find it difficult to provide or get the necessary evidence to identify themselves in line with minimum requirements. In these cases, the National Police Checking Service does have an exceptional circumstances approach which allows you to use special provisions.

Reasons for exceptional circumstances may include applicants:

• Whose birth was not registered;
• Who are homeless;
• Who are undocumented, or recent arrivals to Australia;
• Who live in remote areas;
• Who are transgender or intersex;
• Who are affected by natural disasters;
• With limited access to identity documents for reasons associated with how they were raised, their ability to participate in society, or due to their age; or
• Who are foreign nationals and reside outside of Australia.

Each application must be assessed on a case-by-case and inconvenience isn’t a suitable reason for granting the use of special provisions. If you’re having difficulty meeting the required ID requirements, you should contact us for assistance.

A “disclosable outcomes” finding may list the following information:

• Court convictions, including penalties and sentences
• Court appearances
• Pending court matters
• Charges
• Findings of guilt without conviction
• Traffic offences
• Good behaviour bonds or other court orders
• Warrants and/or warnings

The Nationally Coordinated Criminal History Check Lookup online verification tool can be used by any third-party to assess the authenticity of a background check result provided by InterCheck Australia. Click here to verify a check.

“Disclosable Court Outcome” indicates that a match has been identified and determined to be releasable by the police jurisdiction based on the information you provided. While inaccuracies are rare, they can happen. If you think there’s an error, you can file a dispute by contacting help@intercheck.com.au.

Absolutely! Before commencing any type of background check, you must ensure that you’ve obtained consent from the applicant, candidate, or employee. When you run a background check on yourself through InterCheck Australia, we’ll ask you to consent before beginning the process.

The following people may have access to your personal information and background check result:

• Authorised police staff involved in the check assessment process;
• Authorised ACIC staff to support accredited bodies and police agencies when processing the background check; and
• Authorised staff of InterCheck Australia.

If your background check report has been requested by your employer, or other third party and you’ve consented to their access, they’ll receive a copy of your background check report, along with other third parties that may require it by law.

Where no additional consent is made for third party access, no one else besides you receives a copy of the report you order through this service, unless you provide it to them. Report notifications are sent securely to the email address provided in your application and made available on your secure account on our platform.

If you provide a copy of your background check report to a third party, they can verify the authenticity on our website.

Your personal information is always treated confidentially. We collect your information for the purpose of verifying your identity and encrypt and securely store anything we receive. Information relating to the National Police Checking Service is retained for 12 months and at least three years for a National Police Certificate undertaken through the AFP. All information relating to the National Police Checking Service is stored in Australia.

InterCheck Australia’s online platform connects directly to the National Police Checking Service Support System (NSS) to finalise results in real time. 70% of results are returned in 1-2 business days. The remaining 30% take up to 15 business days or longer in some cases. For example, if you have a common name or a name that matches many potential Persons of Interest on policing systems, your results may take longer. If your check is taking longer than expected please contact us for more information.

There are many reasons why some background checks take longer than others to process which can include:

• A common name, or a name that matches with multiple Persons of Interest on policing systems;
• Aged Police History Information connected with a possible match that requires manual processing of archived records;
• The relevant police jurisdiction having inaccurate or incomplete records which need to be investigated before the results can be released;
• Information transfer between the various police agencies; and/or
• Workloads within each police jurisdiction.

A background check is a point-in-time check and based on the purpose for which it was requested. The organisation or requesting body that requires the check will typically determine the timeframe for a check result to be valid.

As a Nationally Coordinated Criminal History Check is a point-in-time record based on the purpose declared in the application, the check result will only be available to you and/or the customer for three months following the release of the result by the National Police Checking Service. This is because a Nationally Coordinated Criminal History Check may not contain new offences that have occurred since the initial check submission, or some offences may become spent after the check is undertaken and released.

In addition, if the “purpose” of a check changes (i.e., job title or employer), this can affect the disclosure decisions made by police jurisdictions when vetting records. This means that a different release of information may apply for two different roles in the same organisation/industry.

You can find more information here on the ACIC website: Nationally Coordinated Criminal History Check Validity.

Where the result of a check undertaken through the National Police Checking Service contains a Disclosable Court Outcome, InterCheck Australia will:

• Ensure you’re notified of the result as soon as practicable after we have received it; and
• Ensure you have sufficient time to review the results and raise a dispute or any concerns with the results; and
• Ensure any dispute raised by you is resolved prior to any sharing with another individual or entity.

You have a right to dispute the result of your Nationally Coordinated Criminal History Check or a National Police Certificate.

Click here for more information: Dispute Results.