Having a conviction appearing on your record can be a daunting reality. One momentary lapse in judgement can result in a conviction which may impact on your life in a wide variety of ways. A criminal conviction can limit your ability to work, study, or travel.

If your conviction is "spent", it will be unlawful for employers to discriminate against you by virtue of that conviction (with some exceptions for healthcare or child-related work).

A conviction that is spent will not be visible on a National Police Clearance, routinely required for employment purposes, licensing applications and background checks. A spent conviction can help to limit the long-term impacts of your offence.

It is important to note that Spent Convictions are highly discretionary, so it is important to be thoroughly prepared when seeking a spent conviction. The team at Assurance Legal can help you to maximise your spent conviction application and give you the best chance to resume living without the burden of a disclosable conviction on your record.

Spending Convictions at time of Sentence

If you are convicted of an offence and the Court has imposed no sentence, or has sentenced you to a Conditional Release Order, a suspended fine, a fine, or a Community-Based Order, it also has the discretion to make a Spent Conviction Order.

A Court may spend a conviction if, at time of conviction, it is satisfied on the balance of probabilities that

• you are unlikely to reoffend in the same way in the future, and

Having regard to

• the fact that the offence is trivial in nature or
• your previous good character

It considers that you should be relieved of the adverse impact that a recorded conviction might have on you.

If a Court does not grant you a spent conviction at the time of your conviction, you will need to wait at least 10 years before applying for the conviction to be spent. If the sentence was one of imprisonment for 1 year or less, or a fine of less than $15,000, this application can be made along with any Police Clearance application on the WA Police website.

If the conviction resulted in a fine of $15,000.00 or more, or a term of imprisonment exceeding 1 year in duration, you must apply to the District Court for this conviction to be spent. This can be a lengthy and extremely involved process and it is important to ensure you are thoroughly prepared. At Assurance Legal, we have assisted numerous clients with this process.