National criminal history checks

Applicants are required to consent to a national criminal history check when they apply for teacher registration with the TRBWA. This includes when they apply for renewal of registration or change of category.

National criminal history checks are undertaken by the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission (ACIC) on behalf of the TRBWA.

Proof of identity requirements

Applicants must provide three (3) identity documents for the national criminal history check, along with a completed Nationally Coordinated Criminal History Check Application and Informed Consent Form. The three documents must comply with the ACIC requirements and include:

• one document from the list of Commencement of identity documents
• one document from the list of Primary use in the community documents
• one document from the list of Secondary use in the community documents.

The combined identity documents must contain an applicant's:

• full legal name
• date of birth
• clear photograph.

The Nationally Coordinated Criminal History Check Application and Informed Consent Form contains a list of the identity documents that may meet the minimum proof of identity requirements.

Applicants who are unable to meet the minimum proof of identity requirements will need to contact us for further advice.

Verification of an applicant's identity

As part of the ACIC requirements, we are also required to verify the identity of the person making the application.

Applicants have two options to verify their identity:

• An authorised third party can verify an applicant's identity - for the purposes of teacher registration, an authorised third party is an occupation or person as listed in the Statutory Declaration Regulations 2023. Applicants can refer to the Authorised witnesses for TRBWA registration process document for a list of authorised third parties.
• In person (by appointment only) - applicants attend the TRBWA office in person where a staff member can verify their identity. 

To verify an applicant's identity, the TRBWA or an authorised third party will make a visual comparison between an applicant and the original photo identity document submitted with their application. If they are unable to establish that an applicant is the person represented in the photo identity document, additional photo identification may be requested.

Applicants who are unable to complete the identity verification process through one of the methods outlined above should contact us for further advice.

Disputing the results of national criminal history checks

Where an applicant has been provided with the result of a check, they are asked to confirm it is correct. If the result contains incorrect information, we will initiate a dispute on the applicant's behalf (with the ACIC), with the aim of correcting the record.