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How to stop chasing police checks — a practical guide for care providers

Police checks are the document care providers chase most. Eight steps to collect them earlier, record what an auditor will look for, and renew them before they lapse.

Police checks cause more chasing than any other document. New starters forget to apply, certificates arrive as a photo of a screen, nobody wrote down the reference number, and three years later the check quietly expires. These eight steps fix most of that. They work whether you track checks in a spreadsheet or in software.

This guide is general information, not legal advice. Your own obligations depend on your funding, registration and contracts — check the official sources linked below.

1. Write down your rule once

Decide, for each role:

• Which check you need. A National Police Check, an NDIS Worker Screening clearance, a Working with Children or Vulnerable People check — or more than one.
• How often it must be renewed. A police check has no single legal expiry date; your obligations and your own policy set it. For example, Australian Government aged care worker screening guidance says a police certificate is valid for three years from its date of issue, and an NDIS Worker Screening clearance for five years (Department of Health aged care worker screening guidance).
• What you accept. A National Police Certificate from a police agency, or a results report from an ACIC-accredited body (ACIC: how the service works).

One written rule stops every manager making it up differently.

2. Ask at application, not on the first day

Most chasing happens because the request goes out after the offer. Ask applicants for their police check (or to apply for one) on the application form or in the first document request, so it's moving while you interview and check references.

3. Make it easy to send

People reply to a link much faster than to an email asking for attachments. Send one link where they can photograph or upload the certificate from their phone, with no login. Tell them in the same message exactly what you need: the full certificate (every page), not a cropped screenshot.

4. Record what an auditor will ask for

When the certificate arrives, record — every time:

• the person's full name and date of birth as shown,
• the date of issue and the reference number,
• the expiry date under your rule (for example issue date + 3 years),
• who sighted it and when.

The aged care guidance above lists name, date of birth, date of issue and a reference number as what a certificate must show, and expects providers to record who checked it.

5. Start renewals early

Applying for a new check can take anywhere from a day to several weeks. Don't remind people the week it expires. Remind them 60–90 days before, and again at 30 days if nothing has arrived.

6. Know your rules for "pending"

Sometimes a new worker's check hasn't come back yet. Some rules allow a start while a check is pending, under conditions. For example, the aged care guidance allows a new worker to start if they have applied, are supervised and have made a statutory declaration — but not an existing worker whose certificate has expired. Check the rule that applies to you before anyone starts without a current check.

7. Keep the records for as long as you must

Keep screening records for as long as your rules require. The aged care guidance above says seven years from the day the record is made. Store them securely, and only let people who need them see them.

8. Look at one list, once a week

Ten minutes a week with one list — expired, expiring in the next 30 days, missing — beats a crisis before an audit. Send the reminders from that list, then close it.

A checklist you can copy

• ☐ Each role has a written rule: which checks, how often, what we accept
• ☐ Applicants are asked for their police check at application
• ☐ Certificates are collected by link, not email attachments
• ☐ Date of issue, reference number, expiry date and who sighted it are recorded
• ☐ Reminders go out 60–90 days before expiry
• ☐ Everyone knows our rule for checks that are still pending
• ☐ Records are kept for the required period, securely
• ☐ Someone reviews the expired / expiring / missing list every week

How Workforce Ignite helps

Workforce Ignite doesn't run police checks — your staff apply the usual way. It does the rest of this guide for you:

• set each check up once, with its expiry rule and the roles it applies to,
• request certificates by email or text link — staff upload from their phone, no login,
• record the expiry date, the date it was sighted, and who verified it,
• see who's expired, expiring within 30 days or missing anything, and remind them in one click,
• download a compliance register when an auditor asks.

See compliance and documents in Workforce Ignite · For NDIS providers

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