National Police Checks in Australia: AFP Certificates and the NCCHC

A national police check in Australia comes from one of two routes: the Australian Federal Police's National Police Certificate for Commonwealth or ACT purposes, or a Nationally Coordinated Criminal History Check issued through state and territory police for general employment and volunteering.

The AFP does not label this fee with a financial year. Treat it as current at the time of writing and check the AFP fee page for the current amount.

This article addresses national police checks used for general employment, volunteering, licensing and similar purposes in Australia. It does not cover the working with children or vulnerable people schemes, which pull a broader dataset and are addressed on the background checks hub and its state pages.

Two Routes to the Same Underlying Data

A national police check searches an applicant's criminal history held by Australian police agencies. There are two ways to obtain one, and which is correct depends on the purpose, not on where the applicant lives. The Australian Federal Police issues its own National Police Certificate, but its guidance states plainly that an applicant should use the AFP only where the request is for a Commonwealth or ACT purpose, such as a Commonwealth government role, a Commonwealth licence, or certain ACT-specific requirements. For general employment, volunteering or licensing purposes elsewhere in Australia, the standard product is a Nationally Coordinated Criminal History Check, obtained through the ACIC-accredited National Police Checking Service, run by state and territory police services or by an accredited third-party body operating under that accreditation. Both draw from the same underlying data held across Australian policing agencies; the distinction is administrative, about who processes the application and under what accreditation, not about which check is more complete.

AFP National Police Certificate: Fees and When to Use It

The AFP's current fee for a National Police Certificate is $56, rising to $113 where the application requires fingerprints. Online payments carry a separate card surcharge in addition to the base fee. The certificate is GST-exempt. The AFP's own guidance is direct about scope: use the AFP only if the request is for a Commonwealth or ACT purpose. An applicant needing a check for state-based employment, most private-sector jobs, or volunteering outside a Commonwealth or ACT context should instead apply through their state or territory's National Police Checking Service pathway rather than the AFP.

Consent Is Mandatory, for Either Route

A person cannot apply for a National Police Certificate, or an NCCHC, on someone else's behalf without that person's consent. This rule is stated directly on the AFP's own guidance and is reinforced by the Privacy Act 1988's treatment of criminal record as sensitive information, which under Australian Privacy Principle 3 requires both consent and a reasonably necessary link to the collecting entity's functions before that information can be collected at all. An organisation running a background-check process on an individual without securing that person's own consent is not acting within these rules. See criminal record and employment rights in Australia for how APP 3 constrains an employer's collection of this information more broadly.

There Is No Published AFP Volunteer Rate

The AFP's own fee page lists only the standard $56 and fingerprint-required $113 figures, with no volunteer, concession or not-for-profit discount rate published anywhere on that page. Rates advertised elsewhere online, commonly around $21 for a discounted or volunteer-labelled check, or in the $42 to $47 range, come from third-party accredited resellers operating under National Police Checking Service accreditation, not from the AFP directly. A reader comparing prices should not treat a low advertised figure as an official AFP concession; it reflects a different provider's own pricing for the NCCHC pathway, not the AFP's National Police Certificate.

Why a Working with Children Check Pulls More Than a Standard Check

A working with children or vulnerable people check is not simply a National Police Certificate with a different label. South Australia's own guidance describes its Working with Children Check as running an "expanded" version of the standard national criminal history check, including non-conviction information such as sentencing remarks and apprehension reports, not just finalised convictions. This broader dataset is one reason a person can be refused a working with children clearance over material that would not appear on, or would not affect the outcome of, an ordinary employment police check. See the Working with Children Check across Australia for how this plays out jurisdiction by jurisdiction.

A National Police Check Is More Portable Than a Working with Children Check

A national police check is not tied to a single state or territory's own screening legislation the way a working with children or vulnerable people scheme is. Because it reports the applicant's Australia-wide police record rather than assessing eligibility under a state-specific Act, an employer or organisation in one part of Australia can generally rely on a check obtained through either the AFP or another jurisdiction's National Police Checking Service pathway, subject to that employer's own policy on how recent the check must be. This is a meaningful difference from the eight working with children and vulnerable people schemes described on the Working with Children Check across Australia, none of which is portable between jurisdictions at all.

What an Employer Must Do Before Requesting a Check

There is no blanket legal bar on an employer requesting a national police check, but because criminal record is expressly listed as sensitive information under section 6(1) of the Privacy Act 1988, Australian Privacy Principle 3 applies to the request. The employer needs the applicant's consent, and the collection must be reasonably necessary for, or directly related to, the employer's functions or activities. The Office of the Australian Information Commissioner's guidance on this principle recommends an entity generally seek express consent given the greater privacy impact of collecting sensitive information. A policy of requiring a national police check for every position regardless of its duties, rather than for roles where the check has a genuine connection to the job, sits in tension with this framework. See criminal record and employment rights in Australia for the fuller picture of what an employer can and cannot do with the result once it is obtained.

This article provides general legal information about national police checks in Australia, verified 21 July 2026. It does not tell a reader whether a specific result on their own check will affect a particular application. For advice on your situation, consult a legal practitioner admitted in the relevant Australian state or territory.

Related reading: the background checks hub, the Working with Children Check across Australia, spent convictions in Australia, and criminal record and employment rights in Australia.