17Duration of clearances

17 Duration of clearances

17 Duration of clearances

(1) A clearance remains in force (unless sooner cancelled or surrendered) for a period of 5 years starting from whichever of the following start dates is applicable in the circumstances—

(a) if the applicant is not the holder of a clearance under this Act or a corresponding law when the application for the clearance is granted, the start date is the date on which the application for the clearance is granted,

(b) if the application is granted while the applicant is the holder of a clearance (an existing clearance) under this Act or a corresponding law, the start date is the date on which the existing clearance ceases to be in force.

(2) The Screening Agency may extend the period for which a clearance remains in force for a period of up to 6 months after the clearance would otherwise have ceased to be in force if the holder of the clearance has made a valid application for a clearance under this Act or a corresponding law (either before or within 6 months after the clearance ceases to be in force) and that application is pending.

(3) If the period for which a clearance remains in force is extended under this section after the date on which the clearance ceased to be in force, the clearance is taken to have remained in force from that date until the extension takes effect.

(4) The following arrangements apply for the purpose of facilitating alignment of the periods for which a clearance granted to a person under this Act and a clearance granted to the person under the Child Protection (Working with Children) Act 2012 are in force—

(a) an NDIS worker check clearance may, at the discretion of the Screening Agency and with the agreement of the applicant, be granted so as to be in force for a period of less than 5 years,

(b) the period for which an NDIS worker check clearance is in force may be shortened after the clearance is granted at the discretion of the Screening Agency and on the application of the holder of the clearance,

(c) the holder of an NDIS worker check clearance may, with the approval of the Screening Agency, apply for a new NDIS worker check clearance earlier than 3 months before the expiry of the clearance (despite any requirement of this Act that the application be made no more than 3 months before the expiry of the clearance),