Everything You Need to Know About Employee Background Checks in Australia
Background checks are becoming more and more important for Australian employers as the country increasingly embraces a digital and service based economy.
Employers are recommended to carry out background checks on their employees, to ensure that their credentials and experiences are accurate and true. These checks might include a criminal record check, an employment history check and a credit check. Employee background checks are an important part of the hiring process. They help employers to make sure that they are hiring the right person for the job and also protect them from lawsuits, and any negative impact on the workplace culture.
The use of automated background checking software has increased in the workplace over the past decade with some companies using it to conduct background checks on potential employees. This is because online screening tools can now be used to automate these processes and reduce human error, whilst also saving time and money.
Background Checks in Australia
There are 21 different categories of background checks available. Here is a selection of the different types of background checks available for businesses in Australia.
- Criminal History Checks
- Employment History Verification
- Academic Achievement
- Credit Report Check
- Social Media Check
- Reference Checks
- Civil Litigation Check
Criminal History Checks
In Australia, criminal history checks are done by checking with police or government records to see if a potential hire has any criminal record. This background check can also be used to test for employment-related issues like fraud (a type of gross misconduct), drug use or mental health problems.
For employment, it’s common to ask for a National Police Certificate (NPC). This contains:
- Comparison of the candidate’s name and date of birth against the central index
- Disclosable court outcomes
- Local and interstate criminal and traffic court outcomes
- Outstanding warrants
- Pending charges
An NPC can be obtained through an Australian police agency or Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission (ACIC) accredited body. Around 70% of the checks can be returned in 24 hours.
Besides an NPC, a candidate may also need to undergo an Australian Federal Police (AFP) Check. This is for commonwealth police records for conviction under federal regulations and is usually necessary for immigration purposes and positions in the public sector.
Learn more about How Criminal Records Checks Help in the Hiring Process here.
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Employment History Checks
Companies often check the potential candidates’ past work experience by asking them about their previous employers and what they did and accomplished there.
To verify crucial details - such as the names of the organisations, roles held, and reasons for leaving - it’s best to conduct employment history checks. Your HR may take charge by getting in touch with the candidate’s previous employers or you may partner with a background screening platform, like Veremark, to run the checks for you.
Academic Achievement Checks
These are used in order to check the history of a person's education to ensure it is legitimate and was completed, at and on a recognised course and institution. These background checks can help businesses hire individuals with the right specialised skills and credentials.
Adverse Financial and Credit Report Checks
A credit report identifies the applicant’s credit history and ensures that they have no unpaid debts with any creditors or debt collectors.
In Australia, individuals may request for a free credit report once every 3 months. As credit reporting bodies may hold different information about the person, the government recommends obtaining the report from each of these bodies.
For employers, it’s crucial that you first get the candidate’s written consent before conducting a credit report check.
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Social Media Checks
A social media check searches for social media profiles and determines if a candidate has any red flags on his/her social media accounts before sending a job offer.
This check is of particular importance if the candidate would, in any way, represent the organisation to the public.
Learn more about screening your employees on social media here.
Reference Checks
Automated employment references obtained based on the needs against the candidate can further verify the candidate’s credentials and attitude towards work.
Here’s a Guide on How to Conduct Efficient Employee Reference Checks (with a free checklist), as well as 23 Reference Check Questions To Ask for a more informed hiring decision.
Likewise, don’t forget that you may partner with Veremark Australia to conduct reference checks in conjunction with employment history verification.
Civil Check
A civil check verifies whether or not your candidate has been involved in civil litigation by using an automated civil check. Learn more about its importance in employment in this guide.
The Importance of Background Checks for Employers
Employee background checks are important to avoid hiring someone who could be a risk to your company. Furthermore, it is important that you take the time to vet candidates before hiring to:
- Save money by avoiding the cost of training someone who might turn out to be unproductive in the long run.
- Find people with the right, sometimes specialised, skill sets, which ensures that they're not wasting their time on candidate profiles they don't need.
- Have peace of mind for employers who want to know that the kind of person they're hiring does not have any criminal record or a history of violence and is not in any way a threat to their co-workers and customers
- Protect business investment, avoid legal issues, and make sure that they have trustworthy staff who will be able to help them grow and succeed.
Given these reasons, it’s easy to see that pre-employment background checks in Australia are crucial for all businesses - regardless of industry or candidate seniority.
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Legal Framework Governing Background Checks in Australia
As in any country, conducting pre-employment background checks in Australia requires that employers follow the law.
To avoid lawsuits, it’s imperative that you obtain the candidate’s written consent before conducting any type of check. As employers, you must also ensure that your checks follow relevant regulations on anti-discrimination and data privacy and protection.
It’s best to discuss these things with your legal team to be safe. When partnering with an Australian background check provider, it's crucial to ensure they are well-versed in relevant laws and adhere to them diligently.
Using a Software in Background Checking
As in many countries, background checks in Australia can be done in many ways: online, phone call or in-person interviews. But the best way to conduct an employee background check is through the use of specially designed HR software and this can be done by using a number of different methods such as internet searches, social media profiles, or public databases.
Online screening software provides a way for employers to quickly and easily do background checks on their candidates. The software searches for public records and social media profiles that may contain information about the person being checked. It then compares these records with the information provided by the person applying for employment. If there is a discrepancy in the checks compared with the stated information, this is then flagged to the prospective employer in a report.
There are also online services that offer a range of tools and resources to help employers conduct these checks. These services include conducting background checks, running credit checks, and verifying identity documents.
Hiring a Background Checking Company in Australia
Companies want to hire the best talent quickly, but they often don't have time to do a comprehensive background check. That's where third party background checking companies come in.
Background checking companies are often used by employers to check the background of potential employees. They conduct thorough background checks on a person's criminal history, educational background, and professional experience.
Background check services can be used for any type of company, from small businesses to large corporations. Hiring a Background Checking Company can be useful for employers who want to make sure that they are hiring the right person for the job, it helps them save a lot of time by not having to do all of this checking themselves.
Veremark offers fast, secure, scalable automated background checks for companies in Australia from high-growth start-ups to enterprise businesses. Trusted by the world’s best workplaces, we possess the framework necessary to conduct checks in full accordance with prevailing laws and regulations. To know more, click on the links below to get started for free or talk to our sales team.
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FAQs
Police checks, criminal record checks, identity verification, Australian work entitlement (VEVO) checks, identity fraud checks, reviewing criminal databases, online identity checks, reference checks, credit checks, and credit scores are just a few examples of background checks typically performed in Australia.
According to the Privacy Act, a person's criminal history is deemed sensitive information. Therefore, firms must get permission from candidates before doing a police criminal record check or gathering information about a candidate’s criminal history.
HR can hire a verification agency like Veremark to perform an Employment Verification Check that will confirm a candidate's employment history to a number of years from the time the applicant ceased employment with a previous employer.
In most cases, an employer is required to inquire about a job applicant's criminal history. However, employers must get a candidate's permission before conducting a police check.
Carrying out a background check in Australia and New Zealand can be a complicated and lengthy process, but with Veremark's automated platform this can be achieved quicker, with less risk and is next to no work for your team.
FAQs
This depends on the industry and type of role you are recruiting for. To determine whether you need reference checks, identity checks, bankruptcy checks, civil background checks, credit checks for employment or any of the other background checks we offer, chat to our team of dedicated account managers.
Many industries have compliance-related employment check requirements. And even if your industry doesn’t, remember that your staff have access to assets and data that must be protected. When you employ a new staff member you need to be certain that they have the best interests of your business at heart. Carrying out comprehensive background checking helps mitigate risk and ensures a safer hiring decision.
Again, this depends on the type of checks you need. Simple identity checks can be carried out in as little as a few hours but a worldwide criminal background check for instance might take several weeks. A simple pre-employment check package takes around a week. Our account managers are specialists and can provide detailed information into which checks you need and how long they will take.
All Veremark checks are carried out online and digitally. This eliminates the need to collect, store and manage paper documents and information making the process faster, more efficient and ensures complete safety of candidate data and documents.
In a competitive marketplace, making the right hiring decisions is key to the success of your company. Employment background checks enables you to understand more about your candidates before making crucial decisions which can have either beneficial or catastrophic effects on your business.
Background checks not only provide useful insights into a candidate’s work history, skills and education, but they can also offer richer detail into someone’s personality and character traits. This gives you a huge advantage when considering who to hire. Background checking also ensures that candidates are legally allowed to carry out certain roles, failed criminal and credit checks could prevent them from working with vulnerable people or in a financial function.
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