On this page

  • About serious convictions

  • Types of serious convictions

  • Convictions which can never be spent

  • Applying to the court for a serious conviction to be spent

  • More information

About serious convictions

Serious convictions are treated differently to other convictions, including if and when they can be spent. For a serious conviction to be spent, if you were 15 or over at the time of the offending, you will need to apply to the Magistrates’ Court for a Spent Conviction Order (External link).

What is a serious conviction?

Serious convictions include a conviction for:

  • a serious violence offence
  • a sexual offence, or
  • any other offence where you got a prison sentence of more than 30 months for an individual charge.

These convictions can only be spent in limited circumstances.

In certain circumstances, your conviction for a sexual offence or serious violence offence will be spent immediately, subject to completion of any conditions, including if:

  • you were under 15 at the time of the offence
  • the court sentence was a ‘without conviction’ finding
  • the only penalty was a Children’s Court fine
  • you were found unfit to be tried and at a special hearing the court found you committed the offence. 

If you are not sure of the sentence ordered for each individual charge, you can contact the court that you were sentenced in to ask for a court extract.

Types of serious convictions

 

Serious violence offences

A ‘serious violence offence’ refers to several specific offences, including:

  • murder
  • manslaughter
  • child homicide
  • homicide – including defensive homicide, homicide by firearm
  • causing serious injury intentionally, including in circumstances of gross violence
  • causing serious injury recklessly, including in circumstances of gross violence
  • kidnapping
  • arson causing death.

Conspiracy, incitement or attempt to commit to any of the above offences also meets the definition of a ‘serious violence offence’. The complete list can be found in Schedule 2 of the Serious Offenders Act 2018 (External link).

 

Sexual offences

The definition of a sexual offence is very broad and includes many different types of offending. The complete list can be found in section 4 of the Criminal Procedure Act 2009 (External link). Examples include:

  • rape
  • sexual assault
  • any offence involving a person engaging in sexual activity
  • any offence involving taking part in a sexual act
  • sexual offences against children
  • offences for child abuse material
  • indecency offences
  • some offences relating to children taking part in sex work
  • distributing an intimate image of a person under 18 years (a type of 'sexting' offence).

Registered sex offenders

Even if your conviction for a sexual offence is spent, this will not affect your registration status if you are a registered sex offender under the Sex Offenders Registration Act 2004 (External link) (SORA), or your reporting obligations under the SORA.

 

Other serious offences

If you have a conviction for another offence which does not meet the definition of sexual offence and is not a ‘serious violence offence’, it might still be treated as a ‘serious conviction’, because of the outcome decided by the court. 

It will be a serious conviction if the court sentenced you to physical imprisonment or detention for more than 30 months for an individual charge.

The following are examples of offences that do not meet the definition of ‘serious violence offence’, but that could be ‘serious convictions’ based on the sentence imposed:

  • robbery and armed robbery
  • drug and drug trafficking offences
  • fraud
  • culpable driving causing death.

For example, if you are convicted of armed robbery:

  • a prison sentence or detention for 30 months or less (for an individual charge) means your conviction for that charge can be spent automatically after completion of the relevant conviction period without needing to apply to the court
  • a non-custodial order such as a community corrections order (without imprisonment), youth supervision order, youth attendance order or youth control order, means your conviction can be spent after completion of the relevant conviction period automatically without needing to apply to the court.

However, if the court imposes a term of more than 30 months for an offence, that conviction will be classified as a serious offence. 

 

Examples

Morton was convicted of recklessly causing serious injury when he was 25 years old, but because of all the circumstances of the case the judge decided not to order jail time. Morton has not reoffended for over 10 years so he can apply to the Magistrates’ Court for his conviction to be spent. If the court makes a spent conviction order, it will not show up on Morton’s police check unless an exemption applies.

Shannon was convicted of sexual assault when she was 19 years old and the court ordered a non-custodial outcome ‘with conviction’. Her conviction cannot be spent immediately. Shannon is now 26, but she reoffended when she was 23 and the court then ordered a community corrections order. Shannon’s second offence restarted the five-year conviction period and so she cannot yet apply to the Magistrates’ Court for the sexual assault conviction to be spent. She may be able to apply when she is 28 provided she has had five straight years with no new convictions.

Convictions which can never be spent

Some serious convictions can never be spent. This includes if you are an adult (21 years or older at the time of sentencing) who was:

  • sentenced by the court to prison for five years or more
  • convicted of a serious violence offence or sexual offence and the court sentenced you to prison for any length of time.

These convictions will always be disclosed on your police check.

Example

Antonio was 30 when he was convicted of intentionally causing serious injury. The court sentenced him to four years in prison. Even though Antonio is now 47 years old, it is more than 10 years since he was found guilty and he has not reoffended since, his conviction is not able to be spent. This is because it was for a serious violence offence where the court sentenced him to prison.

Applying to the court for a serious conviction to be spent

Certain eligible serious convictions can be spent by making an application to the Magistrates’ Court, once you have completed the relevant conviction period without any further offending.

You will only need to apply for a spent conviction order for certain serious offences. In other cases, your conviction may be spent immediately or automatically after a conviction period expires. See Convictions that can be spent for more detail.

To apply for a spent conviction order, you will need to complete the Application Form and file this with the Magistrates’ Court of Victoria.

Apply now (External link)

Step 1: Consider whether you are eligible

Different serious convictions are eligible for a spent conviction order depending on your age when you were sentenced.

 

Children and young people (15-20 years at the time of sentencing)

You can make an application to the Magistrates’ Court if you were 15 years or older at the time of offending, but under 21 years old when you were sentenced for:

  • a serious violence offence or sexual offence, or
  • any other offence where you were sentenced to a prison sentence or detention of more than 30 months.

You must have also completed a ‘conviction period’ of five years in which you have not reoffended (apart from some minor offences).

If you were under 15 at the time of offending, and have completed your sentence, your conviction has already been spent automatically.

Explanatory flowchart for children and young people (PDF, 450 KB)

 

Adults (21 or over at the time of sentencing)

You can make an application to the Magistrates’ Court if you were an adult (21 years or older at the time of sentencing) and the court convicted you for:

  • a serious violence offence or sexual offence, but you were not given a prison sentence, or
  • any other offence where you were given a prison sentence of more than 30 months, but less than five years for the individual charge (not total effective sentence).

You must have also completed a ‘conviction period’ of 10 years in which you have not reoffended (apart from some minor offences) 

There are some serious convictions that can never be spent. For example, if you were 21 years or older at the time of sentencing and:

  • the court ordered a prison sentence for a serious violence or sexual offence, or
  • for any other offence where the court ordered a prison sentence of more than 5 years.

Explanatory flowchart for adults (PDF, 337 KB)

 

Applying for multiple convictions

You can apply for more than one conviction to be spent at a time. However, you must have completed the conviction period for each of the convictions in your application.

Step 2: Prepare your application

To apply for a Spent Conviction Order you must complete the application form. (External link)

In your application form and supporting documents, you can provide information to support your application. A Magistrate will consider your application and make a decision on whether to grant it.

In your application, you should include any information relevant to the following factors, which the Magistrate will consider when deciding your application:

  • the nature, circumstances and seriousness of the offence
  • the impact on any victim
  • your personal circumstances
  • your age and maturity when the offence was committed
  • any demonstrated rehabilitation
  • any risk to public safety of making a spent conviction order for the conviction
  • any other matter that the Magistrates’ Court considers relevant.

 

If you are Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander, the Magistrates’ Court must consider any unique factors of background, including factors relating to:

  • incarceration of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander persons
  • impacts on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander persons of disclosure of a criminal record.

Documentation to support your application

Police check (mandatory)

You must include a National Police Check (External link) as part of your application. The National Police Check must be dated within six months of your application. There is a fee for obtaining a National Police Check.

When completing the National Police Check request form include the following:

  • for the purpose of the check/role/position you must specify ‘Spent Conviction Application Victoria’
  • for the name of the organisation requesting the check (sometimes listed as ‘Employer’ or similar), state ‘not applicable’
  • for the relevant state or territory, you must specify ‘Victoria’.
Supporting documents (optional)

You can also choose to include with your application any documents you would like the Magistrate to consider when deciding your application.

This can include:

  • a personal statement to provide details about the offence, your circumstances, and your rehabilitation
  • supporting letters or character references from your employers, community organisations or referees
  • documents detailing any rehabilitation programs you have completed.

You should include everything you want the Magistrate to consider in your written application, as the Magistrate may decide your application without a hearing.

Two-year wait if your application is refused

If you apply for a spent convictions order and your application is refused, you will not be able to apply again for two years. It is important to take care in preparing your application and seek advice if you are unsure.

If you need help completing your application, you can seek legal support. If you have an appointed guardian, they can also complete this form on your behalf.

If you are an Aboriginal person in Victoria, the Victorian Aboriginal Legal Service (External link) can help you complete your application. The Victorian Aboriginal Legal Service can be contacted by:

Step 3: Submit your application

Submit your completed application and attachments to any Magistrates’ Court, via email, post, or in person. There is no fee for submitting your application. A list of Magistrates' Court locations is available on their website (External link).

Once the Magistrates’ Court has received your application, they will send you a copy by email, this copy will have been sealed, meaning it is stamped by the court. 

You must email this sealed copy to the Department of Justice and Community Safety at spentconvictionsapp@justice.vic.gov.au (External link) and to Victoria Police at spentconvictionsapp@police.vic.gov.au (External link).

After you apply

The Attorney-General and Chief Commissioner of Police will review your application and may make a submission. Submissions can involve providing any further information and documents about your application that they think could be relevant for the Magistrate to consider. They may also seek to contact you to discuss your application, so it is important to respond to these calls.

If either the Attorney-General or the Chief Commissioner of Police decide to make a submission, a hearing will be held in the court to determine whether a spent conviction order should be granted.

If there are no submissions made, the Magistrate can choose whether or not to hold a hearing before they make a decision on whether to grant the spent convictions order.

To support their decision-making, the Magistrate may request that you provide further documentation regarding your application.

Step 4: Hearings for a spent conviction order (in some cases)

If the Magistrate chooses to hold a hearing, you will have the opportunity to attend the hearing to present any relevant information in person. You may wish to seek legal advice or representation and you can bring someone to support you.

Hearings are usually closed to the public; however, the Magistrate can make the hearing open to the public if the circumstances of the case justify this.

If the Attorney-General and the Chief Commissioner of Police intend to make a submission, they will also be notified about the hearing. They may have Department of Justice and Community Safety or Victoria Police representatives attend the hearing to make submissions. For hearings closed to the public, the Court will determine who may be present at the hearing.

Usually, before a hearing the Magistrate will make directions about how it will be conducted.

You can also find out more information about preparing for a hearing (External link).

Step 5: Outcome of your application

If there is a hearing, the Magistrate may inform you of the outcome of your application at the end of the hearing, or the Magistrates’ Court will inform you of the outcome at a later date.

If there is no hearing, the Magistrates’ Court will contact you with the outcome of your application.

The Chief Commissioner of Police and the Attorney-General have 28 days from the date they receive your application to notify the Magistrates’ Court about whether they will make submissions. The Magistrate will not make a decision before this time.

If you have not heard anything from the court after six weeks from submitting your application, it is recommended that you contact the Magistrates’ Court to get an update regarding your application.

If you are granted a spent conviction order

If your application is granted, this means your conviction will not appear on your police check (except in special circumstances), and you do not have to tell anyone about it. This does not change the sentence or penalty for that conviction.

There are also laws in Victoria that protect you from being unlawfully discriminated against because of a spent conviction.

More information can be found at:

If your application is refused

If your application is refused, the conviction will continue to be disclosed on your criminal record.

You can re-apply again once two years have passed since the Magistrates’ Court refused your application. If you re-apply, you must provide new information to support your application. At this point you must also still meet the eligibility criteria, so any further offending may restart the conviction period.

More information

The information is a general guide only and you should seek legal advice about how the law applies to your circumstances. You can contact a lawyer for more information through: 

Learn more about

What is a spent conviction?

A spent conviction is a conviction that (unless an exemption applies):

  • will not appear on your police check,
  • you do not have to disclose to anyone,
  • no one is allowed to ask you about.