Checklist · Criminal Law
Commonwealth spent conviction screen before a client is asked to disclose
Screen for the Commonwealth Spent Convictions Scheme as the OAIC describes it. It records the waiting period, the 30-month imprisonment limit and the exclusions named on that page. It does not decide that a conviction is spent.
- Kind
- Checklist. Steps or checks to work through and tick off.
- Where it applies
- Australia, Commonwealth
- AI use
- Yellow You and the tool draft together, with you directing. You check every statement you rely on.
- Law stated as at
- 22 October 2026
- Status
- Maintained. Checked on 22 October 2026 against the authority it cites, for Australia and Commonwealth.
- Version
- 1
- Source
- Written for this library
When to use it
Use before a client is asked to disclose a conviction, or before an agency or employer is told about one, where the Commonwealth scheme may apply. A state or territory scheme may also apply. No state Act was opened for this checklist.
Used for these tasks
Each task page says how far AI may help with the task and what the lawyer must review.
How AI may be used
AI may enter dates and sentence details the lawyer supplies against the OAIC tests. The lawyer decides whether the conviction is spent and whether an exclusion applies.
AI may
- Record the date of conviction, the sentence, and whether the person was a juvenile offender, from documents the lawyer supplies
- Calculate the calendar end of a 10-year or 5-year period only after the lawyer has chosen which period applies
- List any later offence the lawyer has already identified as occurring during that period
AI must not
- Must not say that a conviction is spent, or that the client may withhold it
- Must not apply a state or territory waiting period
- Must not quote a Crimes Act section number. The OAIC page does not give one, and the Act was not opened
The lawyer checks
- The conviction is a less serious federal, state, territory or foreign offence of the kind the page covers, or it is not
- Imprisonment was none, or not more than 30 months, or the pardon or quashed-conviction path applies
- No exclusion on the page applies, including working with children, a law-enforcement use, or a decision under the Australian Citizenship Act 2007 or the Migration Act 1958
Method: how the Green, Yellow and Red levels are decided. This is guidance for planning, not legal advice.
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