In this article, you'll learn about the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission (ACIC) checks that Certn offers through our partnership with Intercheck Global Pty Ltd (Certn InterCheck). InterCheck is authorized by the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission (ACIC) and the Australian Federal Police (AFP) to conduct criminal record checks.

This article is part of a set. To learn more, read our overview article for this check and our article about ordering this check.

Open the report

When an ACIC check is completed, you can view the report results. The way you access your report results depends on how you order our background checks:

• Using our web application: From your dashboard, select an application to view its report.
• Using your applicant tracking software (ATS): Check our Integrations section for instructions.
• Using our API: Refer to our API documentation for help requesting report results.

Explanation of results

When the ACIC check is complete, the report that becomes available to you shows one of two possible results, based on whether or not disclosable court outcomes were found:

• Cleared indicates that no disclosable court outcomes were found. 
• Review indicates that some disclosable court outcomes were found.

To view the full report provided by the ACIC, including any disclosable court outcomes that were found, select the certificate link that appears on your report in the section Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission Check:

On the certificate that opens, disclosable court outcomes appear under the heading Disclosable History. 

In the sections that follow, you’ll learn more about disclosable court outcomes and spent conviction legislation. The information in these sections will help you to better understand the results you receive from ACIC checks.

Disclosable court outcomes 

Disclosable court outcomes are records in a candidate’s history that have been deemed eligible to disclose. This determination is made by state or territory police agencies that the ACIC engages and coordinates with to complete ACIC checks. Police agencies make determinations in accordance with the relevant state’s or territory’s spent conviction legislation and by considering the check purpose that you or your candidate declare in the order or application.

Disclosable court outcomes can include the following, throughout all states and territories of Australia:

• Court convictions
• Court appearances
• Charges
• Findings of guilt with no conviction
• Good behaviour bonds
• Matters awaiting court hearings
• Traffic offences

Spent conviction legislation

As explained in the previous section, police agencies determine disclosable court outcomes in accordance with the relevant state’s or territory’s spent conviction legislation. Spent conviction legislation in each state and territory defines the rules that govern what parts of a candidate’s history can and cannot be disclosed in criminal history checks. Based on factors such as conviction severity, time since the conviction, and whether other convictions exist, a conviction may be considered ‘spent.’ Convictions that are considered spent cannot be disclosed in criminal history checks. The candidate also gains the legal right not to disclose that conviction (right of non-disclosure).

Next steps

This section provides guidance for scenarios that may occur after the check is complete. 

• My candidate wants to see the results of the check
  If your candidate wants to see the results of the check, you can direct them to submit a request to our Support team.
  
• I need help interpreting disclosable court outcomes returned by the check
  For help interpreting any disclosable court outcomes included in the check results, it is best to request assistance from the state or territory police agencies that helped to process the check. You can find contact details for police agencies from the ACIC’s Contacts page by expanding the Australian police agencies section.
• My candidate wants to dispute the results of the check
  If your candidate believes that there is an issue with the information returned in this check, they have the right to initiate a dispute. If your candidate wants to initiate a dispute, you can direct them to contact our Support team. We’ll provide them with a form to complete and return. Then, we’ll raise their dispute with the ACIC. After the dispute is resolved, if the result has changed, we will update the report and notify you and your candidate.