Proposal for Victorian Spent Conviction Scheme
Wednesday 29 April 2015 @ 10.59 a.m. | Crime
Law Institute of Victoria (LIV) has written to Victorian Attorney General Martin Pakula advising for legislation to introduce a scheme for spent convictions. Under the proposal currently before the Victorian government, less serious crimes would disappear from adult’s criminal records a decade after they have been convicted.
Background
As it currently stands, Victoria is the only Australian state without spent conviction provisions. All other states and territories, including the Federal government, have schemes in place for spent convictions. If Victoria enacts the law, it will join the Commonwealth and Queensland as the only jurisdictions that provides a spent conviction scheme that covers prison terms of less than 30 months. All other jurisdictions’ schemes cover prison terms of 6 months and less, with Western Australia covering a year.
Human rights lawyer Hugh de Kretser, who will moderate a panel discussion in Melbourne on the subject, said many people offended when they were young, and should not have minor convictions follow them throughout their lives:
"It's about balancing the relevance of the criminal history to the particular position or job that people might be applying for."
LIV's president Katie Miller said:
"The judgments made about a past conviction can have more long-term serious effects on a person's life than the court's original judgment and penalty. A spent convictions scheme is an important part of ensuring our justice system is about rehabilitation and not life-long punishments."
Government Response
Mr Pakula said that the government would consult with the legal community on whether a spent convictions scheme "would assist Victorians who have come into contact with the justice system to find work and rehabilitate."
The Victorian Victims of Crime Commissioner Greg Davies suggested that the proposed laws should allow some room for discretion when it comes to disclosure of older crimes particularly when the nature of the crime is relevant to the proposed job being sought.
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