What if you have a conviction now?

28.1What a record check shows

Employment

A National Police Check, which employers request through the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission or an accredited provider, shows the offence, the date, the court and the penalty. A conviction for possess prohibited drug with a fine appears. It does not disqualify you from most work, and many employers make individual assessments, but it is information they will have.

Some roles are different. Anything requiring a security licence, a working with children check, registration with a professional body, or a government clearance has its own rules, and some of those regimes look at findings of guilt as well as convictions. If your work falls in that group, check the specific regime rather than relying on the general position.

When asked, disclose. "I was convicted of possessing a small quantity of a drug in [year]. It was a first offence, I completed a program, and it has not recurred." An employer who discovers an undisclosed conviction has a reason to dismiss. One who was told has a decision to make, and most make it in your favour.

28.2Spent convictions

The scheme

NSW has a spent convictions scheme. A conviction becomes spent after a crime-free period of ten years for an adult, provided the sentence was not imprisonment of more than six months. Once spent, you are not required to disclose it for most purposes and it does not appear on a standard police check.

A finding of guilt dealt with under section 10 is treated as spent immediately, which is one of the reasons the non-conviction outcome matters so much. Some exclusions apply to both, for positions involving children, law enforcement and certain licences, where disclosure may still be required.

Legal basis: Criminal Records Act 1991 (NSW) ss 7 to 9, 12, 13. Requires principal review before release: confirm the treatment of s 10 findings under s 8 and the current s 13 exclusions. This is a summary for general understanding.

28.3Travel

Visas

Most countries do not ask and do not check. The United States is the exception that matters. The ESTA visa-waiver application asks, in terms, whether you have ever violated any law relating to possessing, using or distributing illegal drugs. That question is about conduct, not conviction, and a section 10 does not answer it. A truthful yes generally makes you ineligible for the visa waiver and requires a visa application through the consulate, which takes months and may be refused.

Answer honestly. A false answer on a US immigration form, if discovered, produces a finding of misrepresentation that follows you longer than any conviction. Other countries with drug-specific entry questions include Canada and Japan; check before you book.

28.4Renting, insurance, and the rest

Other consequences

Some property managers run checks; disclose if asked. Some insurance applications ask about convictions; read the question and answer it. Professional registration bodies generally require notification of a conviction within a set period; check your body's rules, because failing to notify is often treated more seriously than the conviction.

If you hold a firearms licence, a conviction for a drug offence will usually result in revocation. If you are not an Australian citizen, any conviction, and in some cases a finding of guilt, can have visa consequences under the character provisions, and that is outside this course and inside the lawyer box below.