yorkielad

Hi All,
I'm applying for a Oz visa at the moment and I've declared a police caution back in 2004 for shop lifting. I have no other offences as this was out of character due to stress/ depression from prolonged bullying at work. I'm don't think the visa will be a problem, but I'm concerned when applying for jobs or registering with agencies in Oz. In the UK you don't have to declare a spent minor offence under the rehabilitations act, I'm not sure if I'll have to declare in Oz, and if they do a background check will they have access to my visa declaration? Any guidance or experience would be great.
many thanks

Pollyana

I've moved your post to its own thread as you had posted in the US forum, and their rules about criminal records are very different from those used by Aussie Immigration.

Pollyana

If your caution is only on UK records then it won't be accessible to Aussie authorities without your consent. If you apply for something here that requires you to admit to ALL offences, spent or otherwise, you should still declare it, but otherwise they have no way of knowing about it.
An ordinary employer would have no access to your visa application.

spouse of scouse

Totally agree with Polly. The only job applications that would require you to list all convictions, including spent, would be applications for particular jobs that require a high level of security clearance (usually government jobs in sensitive areas).

You made a minor mistake and you've played it straight with Oz immigration. I think that'll be the last time you have to worry about it. Enjoy your time in Australia

yorkielad

Does anybody know if I would need to declare for jobs at a University , Hospital or a school as I work in IT field. I have not declared this in the UK and had no issues getting work within the NHS, as I believe they do a basic CRB check?

Pollyana

It honestly depends on their individual policies. They cannot do a CRB check. They may ask you for a coy of a UK police check, they may ask you to declare unspent cautions/convictions - or they may not. They may just do an Aus police check.
However, if all you have is an old caution for shoplifting, and you have a good explanation ready - stress/depression - I doubt it will have any real effect on employment here.

spouse of scouse

Don't know the answer to that one - but I've never seen a job application in Australia where you've had to declare any convictions. Instead, for some jobs you need to provide a National Police clearance certificate, and certainly for a job in a school (or any job that involves working in close proximity to children) you need to apply for a Working With Children Check. The former doesn't show spent Australian convictions, the latter concentrates on offences against children.

I think you're worrying too much about this. For starters, I very much doubt that a spent conviction for shop lifting would show up on an ordinary Police check (the high security clearances I mentioned earlier are an exception). If you were a minor in legal terms at the time of the offence, it's even less likely (in Australia, juvenile records are sealed and are not generally accessible to anyone).

Also, a shop lifting conviction as a teenager would be very unlikely to put an employer off. I have interviewed countless people for local government jobs - if a conviction showed on a prospective employee's record the decision to employ them or not was based on the severity of the offence, the sentence received, and how long ago it occurred. I can tell you straight that a conviction such as yours wouldn't even have raised an eyebrow.

yorkielad

I was 30 at the time of the caution so certainly not a juvenile offense, like I say it was a dark period when I made a foolish mistake which I'll always regret and have told nobody of my shame.
Will a national police clearance certificate link to my visa admission?

yorkielad

Hi spouse of scouse, In your experience of being on interview panels, would you advise that I would be best to inform at the interview stage if the application didn't specifically request details of spent convictions etc for say a council or university post rather than in the application form as I would have thought it would be a easy paper sift for some? Where there is a likelihood of requesting copy of UK records.

spouse of scouse

Do you have a current criminal record check from the UK? If not, get one. That, and an Australian National Police clearance should be all you need. As mentioned, you will not have to supply these for every job - it depends on the company. If your UK certificate doesn't show the spent conviction, then there's no problem. If it does show it, there's still not much of a problem - you will have the opportunity to explain the circumstances to a prospective employer.

A prospective employer cannot access your visa application details, as far as I'm aware.

Just a bit of advice - lose the feelings of shame. What's done is done and it's not as though you killed someone!

spouse of scouse

I very much doubt you'll be asked to declare anything, at any stage, for a job in a council or uni. The most you will be asked for is a UK and (if you've been in the country long enough) an Australian criminal/police clearance.

If your UK one (which you should get before coming over) discloses your shoplifting caution, you can either speak about it at interview or (my preferred option), if you are interviewed by a panel as is often the case here, contact the lead panel person (who is usually an HR specialist) after the interview and have a chat about it. I can't stress enough though - such a conviction/caution will not automatically exclude you from being selected.

Edit - if a police/criminal record certificate is a requirement of the job, then the job advertisement and the accompanying job description will invariably state that, so you'll know before applying for that particular job.

yorkielad

Thanks for your advice, its very much appreciated and welcome news.
Not looking forward to the immigration card, as I hear you have to declare on arrival and I'll be with my family. As I said I've never told anyone of my mistake, its something I've tried to forget in many ways.

spouse of scouse

Hopefully someone else can clarify what you need to put on the immigration card, I don't know sorry.

Personally, I wouldn't hesitate to employ you for any job you're qualified for. You made a mistake, you regret it, you're getting on with your life.

If you need to declare it on your immigration card, it'd be worth having a chat with your partner prior to arriving (if you haven't already). An arrivals hall is probably not the best place for that

Pollyana

All they can access is VEVO on the DIBP website which simply gives the visa status and subclass, and whether the person has working rights. No info on criminal hstory or any other part of the application is available to employers.

The question on the incoming passenger card is 'Do you have any criminal convictions?'
A caution is not a criminal conviction, you don't need to declare it and you won't be asked about it.

quiltman

For info on UK police clearance go here;

http://www.acro.police.uk/police_certificates.aspx

In your case the certificate will likely show as "No Live Trace" which means there is something recorded against you - in your case the caution.This means only police can access this information without a court order.
Looking on the New Zealand website it says that if this is the case you must declare what the offence was to immigration on your visa application.It's their country so they can set their own rules!
Haven't had time to look ,but I expect australia is similar.
Whether it would affect your application I don't know , but for just a caution hopefully not.