What are spent offences?
When a criminal conviction is ‘Spent’ this means that a sufficient amount of time has passed since the conviction. Spent offences do not have to be disclosed to any other person including when applying for a job. A standard National Police History Check (NPHC) will not include spent offences. Different jurisdictions in Australia have varying laws regarding what constitutes a spent offence and when they must be disclosed.
In NSW, Spent Convictions Legislation does not apply to people working with children or other vulnerable people. This means you must disclose all offences when asked. You are required by law to disclose all offences including spent offences.