Anyone who has been convicted of a crime in their youth may have mended their ways and not want anyone to know about it. If the offence was over ten years ago, they can apply to have that conviction ‘spent’; that is, wiped from the records. A criminal lawyer will tell you that such convictions have two classifications: lesser convictions and serious convictions. Here is how this is worked out.
- The lesser conviction refers to a sentence of less than $15,000 for the fine, or under twelve months for a lesser conviction.
- A serious conviction is imprisonment of more than a year in length or over $15,000 for the fine.
To have your conviction ‘spent’ you must apply through the courts. The review of the conviction should only take around 21 days.
The benefits
- It will no longer be listed on a National Police Certificate, so anyone searching records to see if they can find out anything against you will not be able to find it.
- You won’t have to tell everyone about it, although in some cases this will still be required. This means that when you apply for a job, you may not be required to disclose the fact that you had a conviction. Whereas before such a disclosure would work against you, now it is like starting over with a clean slate.