Most popular background checks in Australia

A background check is an important part of checking the credentials of a job applicant. This process helps employers hire the right people for the job and protect them from lawsuits. 

These checks typically include criminal records and previous employment information, which are cross-checked with other data such as credit history, education and references. 

Additionally, when you hire a temporary or permanent workforce, knowing they are skilled enough to protect the company’s integrity is important.

This article will help you understand some of the most popular background checks important in Australia when applying for a new job.

Important Background Checkpoints For Employees In Australia

Without a background check, you or other applicants will unlikely be employed in Australia. Also, the result of each review confirms that you are suitable for the job, not just any check or a police check. 

Various tests, including analytical, analytical, psychological, and medical, can be part of an employment background check. And you have to comply with various Australian laws.

Given below are some of the most important background checks that you cannot and should not escape while applying/hiring for a new job—

Criminal Background Check (NPC)

A certified way to check someone’s background is to start with their criminal record. Test results are used for employment purposes and determine whether you can legally engage in certain activities.

In Australia, you can check an individual’s court convictions, penalties, sentences and charges (if any) against them from the nationally coordinated criminal history records. 

National Police Certificate (NPC) is a document compiled from the databases of all Australian police agencies. An individual’s disclosable court verdicts and pending charges (i.e., when they have been charged with an offense but have not yet been in court) are included in an NPC.

Several online services like ANCC police check help you get nationally coordinated criminal records in Australia.

ID Checks And VEVO

You are liable if you knowingly and knowingly employ an undocumented person who is not an Australian or New Zealand citizen and who is working without a permit.

To minimize these risks, always check your employee’s employment rights. Some types of documents are accepted as proof of your right to work in Australia, while others are not.

The Visa Entitlement Verification Online (VEVO) provides this information if a non-citizen has unrestricted work rights, work rights or restricted work rights (including employment conditions) in Australia.

The following information will be verified by this online VEVO check:

• Passport Nationality Passport Number.
• (Class/Subclass) of Visa.
• Date of Visa Grant.
• Visa End Date (if applicable).
• Work Eligibility (including any conditions)

Employers who need to offload the laborious chore of manually verifying an entire workforce to guarantee they’re employing legal personnel can benefit from CVCheck’s Australian VEVO Visa & Work Entitlement Check.

Employment History Verification

In Australia, both individuals and businesses regularly utilize this reference check, also known as a pre-employment screening, to validate that the data on a CV is accurate. 

This verifies a person’s employment history directly with the employer’s human resources department. In some cases, the organization lacks a qualified HR who has witnessed the candidate during her/his tenure in the past company. You can directly contact an ex-colleague in such cases. 

The following information will be confirmed by this job history check:  

• Name of the company worked.
• Dates of employment.
• Type of employment (full-time, part-time, casual, contract, etc.)
• The previous job held.

Financial Background Check

Credit reports tell employers about a candidate’s financial history, including other personal information. 

Employers can’t see your credit score on these checks. Still, you can see details like your maximum loan, various lines of credit, average monthly payments, balances, debts and your available credit percentage. 

A credit report also includes a history of loan defaults, debt agreements, bankruptcy, repayment or foreclosures.

Medical Checks

Pre-employment medical exams are a strategy for workforce risk management used to evaluate applicants for risk factors that might restrict their capacity to do a job safely and efficiently. 

They could propose a mutually agreeable termination agreement or assist the company in assigning suitable individual tasks. Your employees’ health and safety are crucial to maximizing business efficiency. 

In WA, SA, NT, QLD, NSW, VIC, ACT, and TAS, pre-employment medical exams are carried out in accordance with Australian state or territory WorkSafe rules. 

Employment Reference Check

Accurate validation of the candidate’s employability and talents comes from a professional reference check. An individual who has not worked with the candidate but who is able to speak about their ideals, traits, and personality is considered a personal reference. 

Employers can request character references from former coworkers or managers or ask candidates to inquire with other recent employers to see if they are prepared to provide one.

Although the Australian Privacy Act 1988 expressly excludes situations in which there is an employment connection from this requirement, it is probable that a potential employee will be able to access notes. 

The ban against defamation is the fundamental restriction on the supply of references. Therefore an employer must be assured that anything they say about a previous or present employee is accurate.

Bankruptcy Check

Unable to pay bills results in a debtor filing for bankruptcy, a legal status. However, due to the stigma attached to this status, those with a bankruptcy on their record are often less likely to get recruited. 

For several positions, employers look for people who have never filed for bankruptcy in their lifetime. This is because a risk element in the employment market is bankruptcy. 

It is a type of personal financial crisis that may have a long-term impact on a person’s ability to find employment in the future. 

The procedure is simple, and for most of our customers, we offer a fully co-branded website that combines bankruptcy and police checks into a single process.

Background Check — Never Skip It!

A business invests time, energy, and money each time it recruits a new employee. Background checks might take a lot of time to complete. However, it guarantees that the work you’ve put in will endure.

To optimize their growth, companies are forming cross-border alliances, and they are expanding abroad more swiftly than in the past.

Businesses today have access to a practically endless pool of international talent because of the swift shift to borderless commerce. Background checks may help firms evaluate and hire from a labor pool that is always expanding and changing.