Spent Convictions Regulations 2021

The Regulations operationalise the Spent Convictions Act 2021 by identifying authorised recipients and specifying process. The principal legal concepts in play are "spent conviction", "criminal record information", "national police check", prescribed recipients, statutory functions which justify disclosure, and procedural requirements for court applications and notices.

Spent conviction disclosures: The Regulations provide a framework permitting a law enforcement agency to disclose a spent conviction when it is releasing a criminal record or criminal history information, but only to specified recipients and for specified statutory functions. Reg 5 establishes the basic rule and Table 1 lists a range of public bodies, regulatory authorities and decision makers who may receive spent convictions when they are performing the listed functions under the laws set out in Column 3.

Licensing and registration exception: Reg 5A expands the permitted recipient class to any person or body authorised to perform a licensing or registration function under any Act, provided two conditions are met. First, the recipient must be obtaining the criminal record in the course of performing that licensing or registration function. Second, the regulatory scheme must create automatic disqualification or ineligibility for the licence or registration where the person (or an officer of the person or entity) has been convicted of an offence that may be spent under the Spent Convictions Act. The regulation therefore links disclosure to a statutory disqualification rule rather than to a general fitness or probity inquiry.

Delegation, transfer and intermediaries: Reg 5B allows disclosure where a person or body is performing a function that another person or body has transferred, delegated, authorised in writing or directed in accordance with the Act which establishes the function. That provision also lists three specified bodies (the Director under the Australian Consumer Law and Fair Trading Act 2012, Service Victoria and the Service Victoria CEO) as potential recipients under reg 5B(2). The mechanism permits intermediaries or contracted service providers to receive spent conviction information where they are formally performing authorised functions, subject to the statutory delegation or agreement.

Road Safety Act interaction: Regulations 6 to 8 deal with disclosures under Part 7B of the Road Safety Act 1986 by the Transport Secretary or a "relevant person" as defined in s 90I of that Act. Table 2 in reg 6 specifies several classes of recipients and links each class to the relevant Road Safety Act provision authorising the function. Reg 7 permits disclosure in exceptional circumstances where the disclosure is for a permitted purpose under s 90L of the Road Safety Act, and reg 8 permits disclosure for verification functions under s 90M.

Spent childhood convictions: The Regulations impose special rules for spent convictions imposed when the person was aged 10 or 11, which the Act treats as spent immediately (Form 1 and reg 15). Regs 12 to 15 prescribe exceptions to the Act’s protections for spent childhood convictions, identify permitted recipients and purposes, and require the use of a prescribed Notice of Spent Childhood Conviction (Form 1) when disclosing such convictions. The Form 1 material reproduces the Act’s statutory prohibitions concerning the use of spent childhood convictions and warns of the offence provisions in s 24E of the Act.

Procedural content for court applications: Reg 9 requires that an application for a spent conviction order under s 11(1) of the Act include a signed declaration that information in the application and attachments is true and correct, and a national police check no older than six months. Reg 10 prescribes information that must be supplied under s 12(1)(d) of the Act. Reg 11 requires that any copy of the application served on the Chief Commissioner of Police and the Attorney‑General under s 13 of the Act must be a copy sealed with the Magistrates' Court seal.

Cross-references and carve-outs: The Regulations are full of cross-references to other statutes and schemes where exceptions to spent conviction protections exist, such as worker screening (Worker Screening Act 2020), adoption approvals (Adoption Act 1984), licensing regimes and various public safety and professional regulation regimes. Regs 12 to 14 set out specifically prescribed disclosures and prescribed uses of spent childhood conviction information to which the Act’s prohibitions do not apply, or where the Act permits particular usage.

Form and notice requirements: Reg 15 prescribes the form and particulars for notices of spent childhood convictions, and inserts the full Form 1 into the Regulations, including details to be provided in Parts A and B.

Definitions and scope: Reg 4 defines key terms in the Regulations, including "local council", "national police check", "Service Victoria", "Service Victoria CEO", "the Act", "Transport Secretary", and "vehicle" by reference to the Road Safety Act 1986. Several definitions were added or amended by the statutory rule amendments noted in the document.

The Regulations affect multiple groups in identifiable ways. First, they directly affect law enforcement agencies that disclose criminal records. Reg 5 starts from the premise that a "law enforcement agency" will disclose criminal record information and allows inclusion of spent convictions in those disclosures, but only to specified recipients and for specified statutory functions. The practical consequence is that police or other law enforcement record holders must apply the prescription in reg 5 and the Tables when deciding whether to include spent convictions.

Second, the Regulations affect recipients specified in Table 1 and Table 2. Table 1 lists a range of regulatory authorities and public offices, including:

• interstate public bodies that correspond to Victoria’s Department of Justice and Community Safety for NDIS or working with children screening;
• the Disability Worker Registration Board of Victoria (Disability Service Safeguards Act 2018);
• the Juries Commissioner (Juries Act 2000);
• principal officers of Aboriginal agencies acting under the Children, Youth and Families Act 2005;
• regulatory authorities for children’s services and education and care services;
• the Secretary to the Department of Justice and Community Safety when making judicial or tribunal appointments or approving adoptions;
• the Victorian Commission for Gambling and Liquor Regulation;
• the Victorian Disability Worker Commission and Commissioner;
• bodies regulating legal practitioners (Legal Services Board, Victorian Bar, Legal Services Commissioner);
• the Firearms Appeals Committee (Firearms Act 1996).

Each of those bodies receives spent conviction information only in the context and for the statutory functions listed in Column 2 and the linked Acts in Column 3 of Table 1. For those bodies, the Regulations alter the information available to them and hence affect eligibility, fitness, appointment, licensing and regulatory decisions.

Third, persons applying for a spent conviction order in the Magistrates' Court are affected by the procedural requirements. Reg 9 requires a signed declaration and a national police check dated within six months. Reg 10 requires applicants to provide prescribed information, such as convictions during the conviction period, date of any prior application for the same conviction, and contact details.

Fourth, intermediaries and service providers who perform functions on behalf of other persons or bodies are affected through reg 5B. That regulation allows disclosures to entities performing delegated or transferred functions, and specifically names the Director under the Australian Consumer Law and Fair Trading Act 2012, Service Victoria and the Service Victoria CEO as specified recipients where such delegation or arrangement exists.

Fifth, holders of authorisations and other participants in the Road Safety Act ecosystem are affected by regs 6 to 8. The Transport Secretary and "relevant persons" under s 90I of the Road Safety Act are authorised to disclose spent convictions to a number of recipients listed in Table 2 for the purpose of performing the functions specified in the Road Safety Act. Employers, insurers, registered operators, vehicle manufacturers and corresponding authorities are among those potentially receiving spent conviction information under the Road Safety Act pathway.

Sixth, employers and prospective employers outside Victoria may be affected by reg 12 and Table 3, which prescribe situations in which spent conviction protections do not apply when the employer or prospective employer is located outside Victoria, notably in Road Safety Act disclosures. Regs 13 and 14 also affect bodies exercising Commonwealth functions, adoption authorities, and worker screening agencies by prescribing permitted uses of spent childhood conviction information.

Seventh, persons with spent childhood convictions are specifically affected by the notice regime in reg 15 and Form 1. Where a spent childhood conviction is disclosed, the recipient must be given a prescribed notice (Form 1) that recites the Act’s restrictions on using spent childhood convictions and the relevant offence provision in s 24E of the Act.

Finally, the Attorney‑General, the Chief Commissioner of Police and the Magistrates' Court are implicated in the procedural regime. Reg 11 requires sealed copies of applications to be served on the Chief Commissioner and the Attorney‑General, which affects how applicants and the Court must handle service. The Electronic Transactions Act 2000 is flagged as authorising electronic service for the purposes of s 13 of the Act, which changes practical compliance methods.

The Regulations allocate duties to disclosers, recipients, applicants and courts, and they reinforce rights and protections in the Spent Convictions Act 2021. The duties are primarily procedural and definitional, and many flow from the requirement that disclosure of a spent conviction can only occur in specified circumstances.

Duties on law enforcement agencies: Under reg 5, a law enforcement agency may disclose a spent conviction only to persons or bodies specified in Table 1, and only where the person or body is obtaining the criminal record in the performance of the enumerated function under the law cited. The duty here is one of compliance with the prescribed recipient-function-law triad. Reg 5A and reg 5B create additional pathways, but each is conditional. Reg 5A permits disclosure to licensing or registration bodies but only where the statutory function carries automatic disqualification or ineligibility for convictions that may be spent. Reg 5B permits disclosure to persons performing a function on behalf of another, but only where the transfer, delegation, written agreement or direction is made in accordance with the Act under which the function arises, and only for the purpose of performing that function.

Duties on the Transport Secretary and relevant persons under the Road Safety Act: Regs 6 to 8 authorise the Transport Secretary or relevant person to disclose spent convictions in the context of Part 7B of the Road Safety Act 1986. Those disclosures must be for the purposes specified in Table 2, or in exceptional circumstances where s 90L of the Road Safety Act permits, or for verification under s 90M. The duty is to follow the Road Safety Act scheme together with these Regulations when deciding to include spent convictions.

Duties on applicants to the Magistrates' Court: Reg 9 requires applications under s 11(1) of the Act to include a signed declaration that all information provided is true and correct, and a national police check dated within six months. Reg 10 prescribes additional information an applicant must provide under s 12(1)(d) of the Act. Reg 11 requires that copies of applications served on the Chief Commissioner of Police and the Attorney‑General must be sealed copies from the Magistrates' Court.

Duties on disclosers of spent childhood convictions: Reg 15 prescribes that a specific form (Form 1) must be used to provide notice when disclosing a spent childhood conviction in accordance with s 24A(3) of the Act. The Form repeats statutory content including the Act’s restrictions on use of spent childhood convictions and the warning that s 24E creates an offence for prohibited use with knowledge. The duty is both to provide the specific information and to use the prescribed form.

Rights and protections for persons with spent convictions: The Regulations implement exceptions to the protections in the Act but also define where the protections continue to apply, especially for spent childhood convictions. Regs 12 to 14 are explicit in identifying disclosures and uses to which the Act’s s 24A, 24C and 24D protections do not apply, so the right to non-use is limited in those prescribed contexts. Simultaneously, the requirement to provide a prescribed notice for spent childhood convictions in Form 1 is a protective measure that informs recipients and evidences the limited circumstances in which the information may be used.

Duties on recipients: Where a person or body receives spent conviction information, the Regulations require that the recipient be the specified entity performing the specified statutory function. For spent childhood convictions, reg 15 imposes a duty on the disclosing specified person or body to deliver the prescribed notice, which effectively imposes an information duty on the discloser and places an expectation on recipients to respect the prohibitions summarised in Form 1 and enforced by s 24E of the Act.

Administrative duties: Reg 5B contemplates written agreements, delegated or transferred functions, and directions as prerequisites for disclosure to intermediaries. That requires record keeping and formal documentation by the delegating parties, and creates a compliance duty to ensure delegation is "in accordance with the Act under which the specified person or body or the other person or body performs the function", see reg 5B(1)(a)(i) to (iii).

Rights to procedural fairness and judicial review: While the Regulations do not create new judicial review rights, they connect to the underlying Spent Convictions Act procedures, including the Magistrates' Court application process and service on the Chief Commissioner and Attorney‑General. The requirement for a sealed copy (reg 11) and the specified application content (regs 9 and 10) structure the procedural rights of applicants and third parties. The Regulations also cross-reference the Electronic Transactions (Victoria) Act 2000 for the method of service, which affects how parties can exercise their service and response rights.

The Regulations themselves do not set out a standalone schedule of criminal penalties. They rather implement processes and carve-outs that operate within the enforcement framework established by the Spent Convictions Act 2021 and other Acts referenced in the Tables. Two enforcement mechanics are visible in the text provided.

First, the Regulations reference offences in the parent Act. Form 1 includes a specific warning that under section 24E of the Spent Convictions Act 2021 it is an offence to use a spent childhood conviction or information relating to it in a manner that contravenes section 24B or 24D where the person knows that the use contravenes those provisions. The Form therefore points to an enforcement path under the Act for misuse of spent childhood conviction information. The Regulations do not reproduce s 24E’s penalty quantum or procedure in the document, but they signal that the Act itself contains criminal sanctions that apply in at least that context.

Second, compliance and enforcement will be effected through the administrative and statutory decision-making processes identified in the Tables. Many recipients are regulators or decision-making bodies which possess their own enforcement or sanctioning powers under their governing statutes. For example:

• The Worker Screening Act 2020 and interstate equivalents govern worker screening decisions and can impose licensing or registration consequences where criminal history disqualifies an applicant; reg 5A links to that regime, and any enforcement action will be taken under those Acts.

• Regulators such as the Victorian Legal Services Board, Victorian Commission for Gambling and Liquor Regulation, Disability Worker Commissioner, and Firearms Appeals Committee receive spent conviction information for regulatory functions. Those bodies can exercise investigatory, disciplinary and sanctioning powers under the laws cited in Table 1 and elsewhere.

• Under the Road Safety Act 1986 pathway, the Transport Secretary and corresponding authorities can disclose criminal record information for statutory purposes, and the administrative enforcement lies with the Road Safety Act schemes and their compliance mechanisms, which can include administrative sanctions for non-compliance with licensing or registration standards.

Practical enforcement consequences for non-compliance with the Regulations’ procedural requirements may include administrative invalidity of a disclosure or an application defect. For example, reg 11 requires that copies of applications served on the Chief Commissioner and Attorney‑General be sealed copies. Failure to supply a sealed copy could affect the validity of the service under s 13 of the Act, although the Regulations note that electronic service may be effected under the Electronic Transactions (Victoria) Act 2000. The Regulations do not specify direct regulatory sanctions for procedural non-compliance, leaving remedial and enforcement responses to the parent Act, affected administrative regimes, and general administrative law remedies.

Recordkeeping and audit risk: The Regulations create compliance record obligations by requiring certain forms, declarations and time-limited documents. Reg 9’s requirement for a national police check within six months imposes a strict evidentiary timeframe that can be audited, and reg 5B’s delegation and agreement requirements require documentation that may be subject to review. Failure to maintain the required evidence may expose a discloser to administrative challenge or to civil liability in decision-making contexts where the disclosure was relied upon.

Interplay with offence provisions in other Acts: Because the recipient functions often arise under other Acts that contain their own criminal offences, misuse of disclosed spent conviction information may trigger enforcement in those statutory regimes as well as under the Spent Convictions Act. The Regulations direct disclosure to decision-making and investigative bodies that already possess enforcement powers relevant to their sectors.

The Regulations are explicitly cross‑referential and designed to operate within a network of existing statutory regimes. They do not stand alone; rather they implement conditional disclosure pathways tied to functions under a raft of Victorian and Commonwealth statutes.

Primary interface with the Spent Convictions Act 2021: All of the Regulations are made under section 26 of the Spent Convictions Act 2021 (reg 2). They specify matters that the Act calls for the Governor in Council to prescribe. Key cross-references to the Act include requirements under s 11(1), s 12(1)(d), s 13 for applications, and s 24A, 24C, 24D and 24E for the treatment and use of spent childhood convictions, each of which the Regulations either implement or narrow in prescribed circumstances (see regs 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14 and 15).

Worker screening and child safety regimes: The Regulations repeatedly reference the Worker Screening Act 2020, the Child Wellbeing and Safety Act 2005 and the Family Violence Protection Act 2008. Table 1 and Table 3 identify interstate equivalents to the Worker Screening Act as proper legal bases for disclosures to interstate bodies performing NDIS worker or working with children screening. Regs 12 and 13 specifically prescribe that certain uses of spent childhood conviction information are permitted for performing functions under the Worker Screening Act 2020 and for adoption approvals under the Adoption Act 1984. This creates a line where the protections of the Spent Convictions Act yield to other statutory schemes oriented to child protection and worker screening.

Professional regulation: Table 1 authorises disclosure to bodies regulating specific professions, including the Victorian Legal Services Board, Victorian Bar (delegated functions), the Victorian Legal Services Commissioner, and the Disability Worker Registration Board. The disclosure is tied to regulatory functions under statutes such as the Legal Profession Uniform Law Application Act 2014 and the Disability Service Safeguards Act 2018. That means professional regulatory decision-makers will have access to spent convictions for licensing and disciplinary functions where the statutory test is met.

Court and appointment processes: Table 1 permits disclosure to the Secretary to the Department of Justice and Community Safety in the context of judicial or tribunal appointments, with linked Acts such as the County Court Act 1958, Constitution Act 1975, Supreme Court Act 1986 and Magistrates’ Court Act 1989. The Regulations therefore allow spent conviction information to feed into appointment processes under those Acts.

Road Safety Act integration: Regulations 6 to 8 explicitly implement disclosure mechanisms under Part 7B of the Road Safety Act 1986. Table 2 shows who the Transport Secretary or relevant person may disclose to, and links disclosures to the various subsections of s 90K of the Road Safety Act. Reg 7 allows disclosure in exceptional circumstances for a permitted purpose within s 90L, and reg 8 authorises verification disclosures under s 90M. Reg 12 then identifies certain transport-related disclosures to which the Act’s protections do not apply, and reg 14 and Table 4 extend to the use of spent childhood conviction information in road safety contexts.

Electronic service law: The Regulations note that service under s 13 of the Act may be effected electronically, referencing the Electronic Transactions (Victoria) Act 2000 (reg 11 note). That integrates procedural requirements under the Spent Convictions Act and these Regulations with the regime governing electronic transactions and service.

Other Acts and public administration: The Regulations reference a number of statutes that govern public entities, agencies and local government, including the Public Administration Act 2004, the Transport Accident Act 1986 and the Local Government Act 2020 via the definition of "local council" in reg 4. Disclosures to Departments and public entities under the Public Administration Act are explicitly permitted in Table 2 and reg 7.

Subordinate legislation and sunset: The Endnotes point to the Subordinate Legislation Act 1994, which sets an automatic sunset date of 10 years from making for Statutory Rules, here 30 November 2031. The Regulations therefore must be read with the temporal limitation that they will expire unless remade or extended under the Subordinate Legislation Act.

Amendment interaction: The Regulations have been amended by S.R. No. 49/2022 and S.R. No. 78/2025, which added definitions, inserted regs dealing with court applications, and updated Road Safety Act related headings, tables and definitions. Those amendments changed who may receive disclosures and how certain procedures operate, thereby altering the interactional landscape between the Spent Convictions Act and other statutes. Users must therefore consult the current consolidated version of the Regulations when applying cross-references.

Absence of content in other Acts: The Regulations require that the recipient be obtaining criminal record information in performance of a function under a specified law. If the recipient's function is not grounded in the statutes referenced in the Tables, the Regulations do not authorise disclosure of spent convictions to them. That creates a bottleneck where disclosure rights hinge on the intersection of the discloser's statutory authority and the recipient's statutory function.

The Regulations were first made on 30 November 2021 and came into operation on 1 December 2021, under section 26 of the Spent Convictions Act 2021 (reg 3 and Endnotes). The Endnotes and marginal notes in the text record a sequence of amendments that have altered definitions, inserted additional regulations, and added and changed tables of recipients.

Key amendments recorded in the document are:

• Spent Convictions (Court Applications) Amendment Regulations 2022, S.R. No. 49/2022. This instrument was made on 30 June 2022 and commenced on 1 July 2022, and its changes are reflected in multiple insertions and amendments. Notable changes from S.R. No. 49/2022 include insertion of reg 5A and reg 5B, the definition of "national police check" and the insertion of reg 9 and reg 10 relating to court applications and prescribed information. The marginal notes show that several definitions and regs were inserted by S.R. No. 49/2022 reg 6 and reg 9.

• Spent Convictions Amendment Regulations 2025, S.R. No. 78/2025. This instrument was made on 26 August 2025 and commenced on 30 September 2025. The text shows many subsequent edits attributed to S.R. No. 78/2025, including substitution of reg 1, insertion of reg 1(c) to (e), insertion of the Transport Secretary definition in reg 4, amendments to reg 6 headings and tables, and revocation of the definition of "Roads Corporation". Regs 6 to 9 headings and internal references were amended by S.R. No. 78/2025, and reg 12 and subsequent regs were inserted or amended by S.R. No. 78/2025 reg 10 or reg 11. The 2025 instrument also inserted Form 1 as the prescribed form for notice of a spent childhood conviction.

The marginal notes in each regulation indicate where a given provision was added or amended, for example reg 1 was substituted by S.R. No. 49/2022 reg 5 and amended by S.R. No. 78/2025 reg 5(a)-(d), and reg 4 saw multiple insertions of definitions by S.R. No. 49/2022 reg 6 and S.R. No. 78/2025 reg 6. The Tables were amended by S.R. No. 49/2022 reg 7 and S.R. No. 78/2025 reg 7(3)(4) where noted. The Endnotes include a Table of Amendments confirming the S.R. numbers, dates made and dates of commencement for each amendment instrument.

Practical implications of amendments: The amendments materially broadened and refined authorised disclosures and procedural requirements. The 2022 rules introduced court application requirements such as the national police check time limit of six months and the signed declaration (reg 9). The 2025 amendments appear to have expanded and clarified the Road Safety Act interface, added the Transport Secretary definition, specified disclosures and carved out additional prescribed uses and forms for spent childhood convictions (regs 12 to 15 and Form 1). Users must therefore rely on the consolidated version of the Regulations as at 30 September 2025 to determine current obligations.

Sunset: The Endnotes specify the Regulations will sunset ten years from making on 30 November 2031 under the Subordinate Legislation Act 1994. Any practitioner relying on the Regulations should therefore be aware of that statutory temporal limit and check for remaking or replacement prior to the sunset date.

Absence of explanatory details: The Explanatory details section in the consolidated text states "No entries at date of publication", meaning the published consolidated instrument does not include substantive explanatory memoranda in the Endnotes. That raises the importance of consulting the original instruments (S.R. Nos 49/2022 and 78/2025) and parliamentary explanatory materials to understand policy intent where necessary.

The consolidated Regulations text supplied contains no citations to cases and no indication of litigation or judicial interpretation related to the Regulations. There is no litigation history recorded in the Endnotes or within the Regulations themselves. The document does not name any decided cases that interpret the Regulations, nor does it present any reported judicial consideration of the specific regulatory provisions.

Because the Regulations operate by prescribing disclosure pathways and procedural requirements, disputes that could give rise to litigation would typically be of three kinds, none of which are recorded in the supplied text:

• Administrative litigation over whether a particular disclosure conformed to the required statutory nexus in the Tables and reg 5, reg 5A or reg 5B, or whether a recipient was lawfully entitled to receive a spent conviction in the circumstances claimed.

• Judicial review of decisions that relied on disclosed spent convictions, for example where a licensing decision relied on a spent conviction that the applicant claimed should not have been disclosed, or where a regulator took action using spent conviction information contrary to the Act’s protections in the non-prescribed contexts.

• Criminal proceedings under the Spent Convictions Act 2021, for instance prosecutions under s 24E as referred to in Form 1 where a recipient knowingly uses a spent childhood conviction in contravention of ss 24B or 24D. The Regulations expressly reference s 24E in the notice form, but the consolidated Regulations text does not report any prosecutions.

Practitioners should therefore assume that litigation issues will be litigated in the future through standard administrative law and criminal law channels, but they must consult the case law databases and more recent legal sources to determine whether any decisions have since interpreted these Regulations. The lack of litigation history in the text means there is no authoritative judicial gloss on, for example, how narrowly the nexus requirements in reg 5 are to be read, how strict the national police check timeframe is applied in practice, or how courts interpret the Form 1 notice obligations. Those issues remain to be settled by courts, administrative tribunals, or prosecutorial practice.

There are a number of practical traps and drafting quirks in the Regulations that users should watch for, each of which has concrete compliance or evidentiary consequences.

1. Conditionality of disclosure pathways: Reg 5 permits disclosure only where the recipient is obtaining the criminal record in the performance of the statutory function listed and where that function is performed under the law specified in Table 1. That requires a fact-sensitive nexus. A recipient who is not performing the specified statutory function, or a discloser who cannot identify the statutory basis, should not include spent convictions. The obligation to match recipient, function and law is strict on its face, and misalignment can render a disclosure unauthorised.

2. Licensing and registration test is not open-ended: Reg 5A allows disclosure to any licensing or registration body under any Act but only where the function includes automatic disqualification or ineligibility triggered by a conviction that may be spent. If the regulatory scheme instead involves a discretionary fitness or probity assessment without automatic disqualification, reg 5A may not authorise disclosure.

3. Delegation and written agreement requirements: Reg 5B allows disclosure to persons or bodies performing functions of others only where there is a transfer, delegation, written agreement or direction "in accordance with the Act under which" the function arises. Practitioners should ensure those delegation instruments are formally documented and lawful under the parent Act. Informal contractor arrangements without statutory delegation may not suffice.

4. National police check timeframe: Reg 9 requires a national police check dated within six months of the application. That is a tight built-in validity period. Applicants whose national police check falls outside the six month window must obtain a fresh check before filing.

5. Sealed copy requirement: Reg 11 requires that copies of the application served on the Chief Commissioner of Police and the Attorney‑General under s 13 of the Act be sealed with the Magistrates' Court seal. Failure to use a sealed copy may affect compliance with service requirements. The Regulations do note electronic service may be used, but the interaction between electronic service and the sealed-copy requirement needs careful handling.

6. Prescribed information scope: Reg 10 prescribes that applicants must disclose convictions received during the conviction period, previous applications in relation to the same conviction, and contact information. Practitioners should consider how to identify convictions "during the conviction period" where multiple convictions or overlapping sentences exist. The Regulations do not expand on the temporal mechanics; reference must be made to the Act for definitions.

7. Drafting gaps and blank table cell: Table 2 in reg 6 contains a final row whose Column 2 cell is blank in the consolidated text. The last row lists "A law enforcement agency, a court, an employer or a prospective employer of the person to whom the criminal record relates" in Column 1, but Column 2 has no corresponding function entry. That may be a drafting omission or a formatting issue carried into the consolidation, and it raises uncertainty about the intended statutory purpose which should be clarified against the amendment instrument or the Road Safety Act text.

8. Special regime for spent childhood convictions: Reg 15 and Form 1 impose a particular notice form and describe criminal liability under s 24E for misuse with knowledge. Disclosers must use the exact prescribed form and provide the particulars in Form 1 when disclosing a spent childhood conviction. Failure to use the prescribed form could expose the discloser or recipient to compliance or legal risk.

9. Cross-jurisdictional recipients and residence tests: Several provisions permit disclosure to interstate or non-Victorian employers, or to bodies that are "outside Victoria" where the recipient resides outside Victoria, for example in reg 12 and reg 14. Practitioners should note that the moment an employer is outside Victoria, certain exclusions in the Act do not apply. This creates cross-border complexity and potential variation in how the information may be used under other jurisdictions’ laws.

10. No standalone penalties in the Regulations: The Regulations do not spell out specific penalties for violating the Regulations themselves. Instead, the punitive mechanism referred to is in the Act, notably s 24E for spent childhood convictions. That means enforcement is dispersed across multiple statutes, and proving a contravention may require recourse to the Act or other governing legislation.

11. Sunset date: The Endnotes flag a sunset in 2031 under the Subordinate Legislation Act 1994. Users should be aware of the prospective expiry and monitor for remaking or replacement.

12. Reliance on external statutory definitions: Several important terms are defined by reference to other Acts, for example "Service Victoria" and "Transport Secretary", and in some cases the Regulations have revoked earlier definitions or altered them by amendments. Practitioners must consult the cited statutes for full definitions.

13. No explanatory details in the consolidated text: The Explanatory details section is blank. For policy intent, the original instruments and parliamentary materials should be consulted, especially given substantial amendments in 2022 and 2025.

Compliance requires attention to the triage of authority, documentation of statutory function, strict adherence to procedural forms and timeframes, and records that evidence delegation or authorised disclosure arrangements. Practical steps for the main actors follow.

For law enforcement agencies disclosing criminal records:

• Check the recipient-function-law triad before including any spent conviction. Under reg 5, ensure the recipient is listed in Table 1, that the criminal record is being obtained in the performance of the specified function in Column 2, and that the function is being performed under the law in Column 3. Document the statutory basis in the disclosure file.

• Where disclosing for licensing or registration under reg 5A, confirm that the licensing or registration Act contains an automatic disqualification or ineligibility rule for the relevant offence. Keep the statutory provision cited in the disclosure record.

• Where disclosing to an intermediary under reg 5B, ensure that the intermediary is performing a transferred, delegated or authorised function in accordance with the parent Act. Maintain the delegation instruments, written agreements, or directions as documentary evidence in the file. Reg 5B(2) makes Service Victoria and the Service Victoria CEO specified recipients; ensure any contractual or statutory basis for their receiving the information is available.

• For Road Safety Act disclosures under regs 6 to 8, coordinate with the Transport Secretary role and verify the permitted purpose under ss 90K, 90L or 90M of the Road Safety Act. Use the specific recipient classes in Table 2 and document the information protection agreements or service agreements where applicable.

For applicants to the Magistrates' Court seeking a spent conviction order:

• Prepare and lodge the signed declaration required by reg 9(a) confirming all information in the application is true and correct. Use the exact statutory language where possible and have the applicant sign and date.

• Obtain a national police check that conforms to the definition in reg 4 and is dated within six months of the application filing date. Verify that the police check includes records from Victoria Police, other States and Territories and the Australian Federal Police as the national police check definition requires.

• Provide the prescribed information required by reg 10: convictions during the conviction period, the date of any previous application for the same conviction, and up-to-date contact information. Anticipate follow-up proof requests and retain originals or certified copies of the national police check.

• When serving copies of the application on the Chief Commissioner and the Attorney‑General under s 13 of the Act, ensure the copies are sealed with the Magistrates' Court seal as required by reg 11. If serving electronically, confirm the method is lawful under the Electronic Transactions (Victoria) Act 2000 and that the Court will issue a sealed electronic copy if that is the prescribed form of service.

For recipients of spent childhood conviction information:

• Expect the discloser to provide the Form 1 Notice required by reg 15 when a spent childhood conviction is disclosed. The notice contains the particulars that the Act requires be given to the recipient. Record receipt of Form 1 in the file for the transaction, including the date and purpose of disclosure.

• Strictly limit use of spent childhood conviction information to purposes expressly permitted by reg 13 and reg 14 and Table 4. If the recipient wishes to use the information for a purpose not listed, seek written legal advice before doing so, because misuse may constitute an offence under s 24E if the recipient knows the use contravenes ss 24B or 24D.

For licensing and registration bodies:

• Where you rely on reg 5A, ensure the licence or registration rules include automatic disqualification or ineligibility based on the relevant conviction. Keep a legal record of the specific statutory provision that triggers automatic disqualification as part of your decision file.

• Where regulatory functions are delegated or contracted to service providers, ensure those contracts and instruments explicitly authorise the service provider to obtain criminal record information, and that such delegation is "in accordance with the Act" that creates the function, as required by reg 5B. Maintain signed contracts and delegation instruments for audit.

For employers, particularly those outside Victoria:

• If you receive spent conviction information under the Road Safety Act pathway or other cross-border disclosures, check whether your jurisdiction’s laws permit the use you intend. Regs 12 and 14 indicate that certain uses are permitted for employers or prospective employers outside Victoria, but the scope is limited and often contingent on the person’s consent or the route of disclosure.

• Treat any spent childhood conviction received with particular caution. Confirm receipt of Form 1, understand the prohibitions in ss 24B and 24D as summarised in the Form, and obtain legal advice before acting on the basis of such information.

Recordkeeping and data protection:

• Maintain a disclosure log documenting the statutory basis, recipient name, purpose, date, and any delegation instruments or information protection agreements relied upon. For Road Safety Act disclosures, keep copies of information protection agreements under s 90N or service agreements under s 90M as required by regs 6 and 8.

• Ensure data security and retention are managed in accordance with privacy law and applicable sectoral information protection rules, especially where disclosures cross state or Commonwealth boundaries.

Review and training:

• Train staff in police disclosure units, HR and regulatory decision-making units on the triage approach set out in reg 5 and reg 5A, the delegation rules in reg 5B, and the special treatment of spent childhood convictions in reg 15. Provide quick-reference checklists to confirm statutory function and legal basis before releasing or relying on spent conviction information.

Monitor change and sunset:

• Keep under review the amendment history, notably S.R. No. 49/2022 and S.R. No. 78/2025 as recorded, and watch for any further amendments. Note the sunset date of 30 November 2031 and ensure policy and operational changes are in place before that date should the Regulations be remade or replaced.

When in doubt, seek legal advice on whether a disclosure is authorised under the triad of recipient, function and law, and on the permissible uses of spent childhood convictions. Documentation of the legal analysis is essential to demonstrate compliance in the event of a challenge.