International criminal history checks

If you declared you have criminal history in an overseas country or have lived overseas for a period of six consecutive months or more as an adult, you will also need to complete an international criminal history check (ICHC). It is your responsibility to request and pay for your ICHC through an Ahpra-approved supplier. We cannot register you until we have received and considered the results of your ICHC.

The results will be provided to you and passed on to us directly. ICHC results are valid for three months from the date of issue.

Applying for an ICHC

You can apply for an ICHC from Ahpra-approved ICHC supplier:

You may want to contact the vendors to confirm processing times for your international criminal history check to ensure they meet your expectations.

Remember you need to apply for an ICHC before you submit your application for registration. Please read the Important information for international criminal history check applicants before applying for an ICHC.

You are responsible for paying for your ICHC. The approved supplier will provide an ICHC reference page and check reference number. You will need to provide these as part of your Ahpra  registration application.

The approved supplier will advise you of the results when they are available and will pass them on directly to us. You do not need to send your ICHC results to us.

Who needs to apply for an ICHC

New applicants

If you are a new applicant seeking registration as a health practitioner in Australia, you will be required to apply for an ICHC if you:

• declare a criminal history outside Australia, and/or
• have lived, or been primarily-based, in one or more countries other than Australia for six consecutive months or longer, as an adult.

Registered practitioners

If you are currently registered, you will be required to apply for an ICHC:

• if there has been any change to your criminal history in one or more countries other than Australia since your last declaration to Ahpra.
• at any time of the year, if you have been:
  • charged with an offence outside Australia that is punishable by a sentence of 12 months imprisonment or more, or
  • convicted of, have pleaded guilty to or are the subject of a finding of guilt by a court for an offence, outside Australia, that is punishable by imprisonment. 

Important information for ICHC applicants

You must:

• state the same legal name, previous names, alias names, email, phone, etc as the Ahpra application. 
• state the same country name as selected from the approved supplier’s country list on the Ahpra registration form (this will assist in identifying changes to country names over different periods of time) 
• complete the supplier consent form to allow Ahpra to receive an ICHC report, and 
• provide Ahpra with the ICHC reference page (that contains the supplier’s name, check reference number, list of countries, date of request and consent).

Please note:

• ‘International Criminal History Check’ may also be referred to as ‘International History Police Check’. 
• Offences in some countries are not offences under Australian law. For example, some countries have established offences for political activity which do not exist in Australia. There are also countries where the criminal justice system is less robust and a conviction may be made on the basis of questionable evidence or the applicant may make a claim of persecution. International criminal history checks will still be done for these countries. However, the National Boards’ criminal history registration standard explains how the Boards will take these issues into account when considering your international criminal history.
• The approved supplier will advise you of the results and provide them directly to us when they are available. You do not need to send your ICHC to us directly.
• If your required country is not listed on the approved supplier's website you will need to:
  • contact the supplier to check if your required country has been listed under a different name. If not, for: 
    • online applications - please select ‘Other’ and manually type the required country name (a check reference number will not be required). 
    • paper application forms - please write the following:
      • your required country name, 
      • ‘ICHC not available for this country as advised by the supplier’, (you will need to initial or sign next to this), in the country field 
      • ‘N/A’ in the ‘Check reference number’ field.
• There are limited circumstances where a National Board may accept a statutory declaration in place of an ICHC. This includes:
  • when the country check is not available from either of the approved supplier, or
  • if you are Australian Military/Defence personnel who has served overseas, or
  • you have served overseas on an Australian Diplomatic or Official passport as prescribed on the Australian Government Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade website.

Fact sheets

New applicants

Registered health practitioners