Police Vetting and Criminal Record Checks in NZ: A Guide for Employers
New Zealand has two ways for an employer to see someone's criminal history: a Police vet, and a criminal record check from the Ministry of Justice. They show different things, only some employers can use the first, and the Clean Slate scheme limits what you can ask for with either. Neither result has an expiry date, so deciding when to check again is up to you, unless your sector decides for you.
This post covers both checks, the Clean Slate rules, how often to recheck, handling the result under the Privacy Act 2020, how long to keep it, and how to track it in WorkZerk.
The two checks side by side
| NZ Police vet | Ministry of Justice criminal record | |
|---|---|---|
| Who asks for it | Approved agencies only | The person, or a registered third party with their consent |
| What it shows | Convictions, plus other relevant police information | Convictions only |
| Clean Slate convictions | Hidden, unless an exception applies | Hidden, unless the person asks for their full record |
| Who gets the result | The agency | The person, or the registered third party |
| Cost | $8.50 + GST per request, with exemptions | Free for the person, $13.00 per request for a third party |
| Usual time | Most within 20 working days | Aim of 20 working days, about 90% within a week |
The Ministry of Justice puts the difference simply: its check "only covers convictions", while a Police vet can also include "any contact you've had with the police" (Police clearances and vetting).
The NZ Police Vetting Service
The service is "only available to authorised agencies. It is not for individual or personal use" (register for NZ Police vetting). To register, an agency must provide a service for one of these purposes:
- the care and safety of children or vulnerable people, in more than an incidental way
- educating children and young people without a parent or guardian present
- law enforcement, in roles with warranted coercive powers
- national security, in frontline roles
- assessing someone for a New Zealand visa or citizenship
Agencies required to vet under the Children's Act 2014 or the Education and Training Act 2020 may also qualify. Police list roles likely to be turned down, such as head office staff, ICT, HR and policy staff, and cleaners outside schools. For roles outside the criteria, Police point you to a Ministry of Justice check instead.
Each user signs in with their own RealMe login, and the agency signs the Authorised Agency Agreement online. Police aim to reply to an application within 5 to 10 working days.
What a vet can show
A result is either "no information", or one or both of the person's criminal record and "a summary of other readily retrievable information, relevant to the purpose of the vetting request" (information about vetting). That other information may include pending charges, charges that did not lead to a conviction, Youth Court charges, infringement offences, involvement in family violence, overseas convictions and police investigations that led to no charge.
Police do not approve or decline anyone. They provide information "to allow them to make an informed decision", and the decision stays with you.
Consent, identity and timing
Every vet needs the person's signed Request and Consent form, signed on paper or electronically. You check their identity against at least two documents, at least one with a photo. Police vet people aged 14 and over, and 14 and 15 year olds need a parent or guardian's consent (vetting FAQs).
Police complete most requests within 20 working days. A result held for review can take longer. Results stay available to download for two months after they are completed.
Fees
The fee is $8.50 plus GST per request (fees, charges and payments):
- An agency making 20 or fewer requests a year (1 July to 30 June) pays nothing. At 21 or more, it pays for all of them, including the first 20.
- Registered charities get the fee waived once their charity number is on their account.
- Waivers are also possible for extreme financial hardship or exceptional circumstances.
Police consulted on changing the fees from 23 June to 25 August 2026. They say any change is unlikely before some time in 2027, and agencies get 3 months' notice (consultation).
A Ministry of Justice criminal record check
Any employer can use this check, with the person's consent. It shows criminal and traffic convictions. It does not include charges that haven't gone to court, infringements, or charges that did not lead to a conviction (criminal record check).
There are two ways to get one:
- The person asks for their own. It is free. They apply online or on paper, with a copy of one accepted ID and a signed Authority to Release Information form. The result goes to them, never straight to you, and they can pass it on to anyone they choose.
- You ask as a registered third party. Registering is free, but you sign a contract for online delivery and pay $13.00 per request (get someone else's criminal record). The person gives consent, and you check their ID and keep it for 90 days (FAQs).
The Ministry aims to answer within 20 working days, and about 90% of requests take less than a week.
The Clean Slate scheme
Under the Criminal Records (Clean Slate) Act 2004, some people's convictions are hidden automatically. They don't apply. A person qualifies if they (Clean Slate scheme):
- have had no convictions in the last seven years
- have never had a custodial sentence, such as prison
- have never been convicted of a "specified offence" listed in the Act
- have paid every fine, reparation and court-ordered cost in full
- have never had an order under section 65 of the Land Transport Act 1998
- have never been held in hospital by a court, instead of being sentenced, because of their mental condition
Someone who qualifies can say they have no convictions. The Ministry says "it is against the law in New Zealand for anyone to ask or make you reveal your full record" outside the listed exceptions. Under section 18 of the Act, asking someone to disregard the scheme, either in answering a question or by consenting to their full record being released, carries a fine of up to $10,000.
So word your application form carefully. "Do you have any convictions not covered by the Clean Slate scheme?" is safe. "List every conviction you have ever had" is not, unless an exception covers the role.
The exceptions include roles such as police, prison and probation staff, judges, justices of the peace and national security roles. Safety checks of core children's workers under section 31(3) of the Children's Act 2014 are also an exception, so a vet for those roles can show convictions Clean Slate would otherwise hide.
How often to check again
There is no legal expiry date for most roles. Police say they "can only guarantee a vetting result as accurate at the time it is released" and "do not determine the interval for re-vetting" (vetting FAQs). A Ministry of Justice record is the same: it shows the day it was printed.
Some sectors set the interval for you:
| Sector | Rule |
|---|---|
| Children's workers in state-funded services | A safety check, including a Police vet, every 3 years (Oranga Tamariki) |
| Early learning services, non-teaching staff | A Police vet "updated by the employer at least every 3 years" (Ministry of Education) |
The Children's Act safety check has several parts beyond the vet. See Children's Act safety checks. Elsewhere, write your own interval into policy, such as every three years for anyone working with vulnerable people, and apply it the same way to everyone in the role.
Privacy Act 2020
Criminal history is personal information under the Privacy Act 2020, and the information privacy principles (IPPs) apply:
- Only where it's needed. IPP 1 lets you collect information only where it is necessary for a lawful purpose. The Privacy Commissioner found a care home breached it by running a belated police check on a caregiver during an employment dispute.
- Consent first. The Commissioner's recruitment guidance says to get the applicant's prior consent to any vetting, and not to use what you learn for any other purpose without their express consent.
- Tell them what you're collecting. IPP 3A, in force since May 2026, covers information you collect from someone else, such as Police. The person must know what was collected, why, and who will see it. A clear consent form and notice usually covers this.
- Keep it secure. IPP 5 asks you to protect it against loss, misuse and access by people who don't need it.
Police add their own rule: vet results "should not be shared with multiple agencies". A result you get for one role is not something to pass to another employer.
How long to keep results
IPP 9 says not to keep personal information "for longer than is required" for its lawful purpose. Police are more specific about vets: store printed copies securely and destroy them "within twelve months following receipt of the result", and keep the consent form until its purpose is complete (vetting FAQs). For people you don't hire, the Commissioner says to destroy their applications securely unless they agreed you could keep them.
Most employers don't need the result itself once the decision is made. Keep a record of the date, the type of check, who assessed it and your decision.
Rules change and depend on your sector, so this is general information, not legal advice. Check with NZ Police, the Ministry of Justice, your sector body or a lawyer. For the rest of the paperwork, see the NZ new employee onboarding checklist, the NZ contractor onboarding checklist and right to work in New Zealand.
What WorkZerk does and doesn't do
- Each person uploads their signed Police consent form, or their own Ministry of Justice record, from a private link, with no account or password.
- Marked sensitive, a file or field is stored encrypted, only admins can open it, and every view is recorded.
- You approve each upload once you have assessed the result, and WorkZerk records who approved it and when.
- WorkZerk emails the person before their recheck date.
- The Document compliance report shows who is current, due, waiting or missing a check.
- WorkZerk can delete an approved file after a set time and keep the date and your approval.
What it doesn't do: WorkZerk does not submit Police vets, register you with the Police Vetting Service or the Ministry of Justice, check identity documents, or verify a result. It does not connect to Police or Ministry systems. Those steps stay with you.
Setting it up in WorkZerk
The Staff onboarding (New Zealand) pack has an optional Police vetting consent form upload, saved to a sensitive Police vetting consent form field with no expiry date. The Contractor onboarding (New Zealand) pack has no Police vetting ask, and neither pack asks for a Ministry of Justice record. The steps below set up the rest.
1. Turn on two-factor authentication
Asking people to upload documents needs two-factor authentication on your account. Set it up first under Account, then Two-factor authentication (opens in WorkZerk in a new tab).
2. Create the fields
A new vet needs a new signed consent form, so the consent form is the document to track. Its "expiry date" is the date the next vet is due.
Open Fields (opens in WorkZerk in a new tab). If you added the staff pack, open its Police vetting consent form field, switch on Require an expiry date, and switch off Use AI to check expiry date, because the form prints no date for it to read. Without the pack, add a Police vetting consent form Upload field set up the same way. Then add:
- Criminal record (Ministry of Justice), an Upload field set up the same way, if you use that check for roles Police won't vet.
- Police vet result date, a Date field your team fills in.
- Police vet outcome, a Text field your team fills in, such as "No information" or "Information released, assessed, cleared".
Make sure each Upload field and the outcome field has Sensitive switched on. See keeping sensitive information private.
3. Ask for it on a portal
Open Portals (opens in WorkZerk in a new tab) and open your onboarding portal. If the portal has the staff pack, open its Police vetting consent form request on the Requests panel and switch on Require expiry. It already links the NZ Police vetting forms. Otherwise click + Insert, choose Upload, name it "Police vetting consent form", pick Police vetting consent form under Document type, make sure Require expiry is on, and attach the blank form from the Police website with Attach a document, link or YouTube video. See attaching a document or video to a request.
Spell out the date in the description, for example: "Fill in and sign the Police Request and Consent form, then upload it. In the expiry date box, enter the date three years from today. Bring two forms of ID, one with a photo."
If some roles get a Ministry of Justice check instead, add a Choice request first ("Which check does your role need?") and use Show only when on each Upload. For the Ministry check, the description could read: "Request your own criminal record at justice.govt.nz (it's free) and upload the PDF. Don't ask for your full record." A request hidden from someone never counts against them.
4. Submit the vet, then approve
Uploads wait under Needs review on Requests (opens in WorkZerk in a new tab), and the person shows as not compliant until you approve. While it waits:
- Check their ID against the form and submit the request on the Police vetting website.
- When the result comes back, assess it against the role.
- Fill in Police vet result date and Police vet outcome on their contact record.
- Click Change date to set the next vet three years from the result date, then approve.
Keep the result itself in the Police system, or delete your copy within twelve months. See reviewing uploads.
5. Delete the form after you approve it
Open Profile (opens in WorkZerk in a new tab) and find Document retention. Under Delete approved files, pick 30 days after I approve them. WorkZerk deletes the file and keeps the date, who sent it and your approval. The setting covers every approved file with an expiry date in your account, not just vets, and applies from your next approval. See deleting documents after you approve them.
6. Switch on the reminders
Open Automations (opens in WorkZerk in a new tab) and switch on Document expiring reminder and Document expired reminder. Both start switched off. The expiring reminder goes 30 days before the date by default. A vet can take 20 working days, so consider 60. See automations.
Leave the portal open while people on it need rechecks. Closing a portal switches off its links, and the reminders stop with them.
7. Check who is covered
Open Requests (opens in WorkZerk in a new tab) and click Document compliance. Each person shows as current, expiring, needs review, expired or missing for their Police vetting consent form. Use Download CSV when an auditor or funder asks for a register. See document compliance.
Getting started
Start a free WorkZerk trial at workzerk.com, then work through the steps above. If you get stuck, the getting started guide walks through a first portal end to end, or email us at [email protected].