Are there any provisions in South Australia for certain convictions to be removed from a person’s record after a certain period of time (i.e. ‘spent’ convictions)?

There is currently no legislation in South Australia like that contained in the Crimes Act 1914 that allows some convictions to be treated as spent [see Commonwealth offences].

However, SAPOL policy is not to disclose convictions of any State or Territory more than 10 years old when a person requests a National Police Clearance Certificate, unless the person was sentenced to more than 30 months imprisonment or was fined more than $10 000 or was convicted of a major indictable offence. If a person re-offends in any jurisdiction then the 10 year period begins anew. For offences committed by minors, the relevant time period is 5 years since the conviction, provided no further convictions have been recorded. A conviction will no longer be reported where it has been quashed, set aside or a pardon issued.

If an individual re-offends within the above applicable period, all prior convictions are released (including juvenile convictions). Convictions recorded in other jurisdictions may also reactivate South Australian convictions.

Interstate offences

Interstate offences will be released in accordance with the spent conviction and rehabilitation legislation and policy of the State or Territory concerned. While South Australian Police are unable to release traffic history from some states and territories, this information can be obtained upon application to the specific departments in those states.

I have a conviction for theft that occurred over 10 years ago and which does not show on my National Police Certificate, if asked do I have to disclose details about this?

If requested you should disclose all State convictions, including very old convictions. Where an application or employment form ask a question such as, “have you ever been convicted of an offence of dishonesty?”, the duty to disclose means providing details of all offences, even if they no longer are included on the Police Clearance Certificate according to SAPOL policy.

However, for many situations a Police Clearance Certificate is all that is required and in that case old convictions that are no longer listed according to SAPOL policy (as described above) will not appear.