Police Check in Tasmania: How to Apply, Fees and What Shows Up

A Tasmania Police National Police Record Check costs $70 for most applicants, drops to $7 for volunteers from a Tasmania Police registered organisation, and takes about 5 days for a clear result or about 10 days if there is a record; Tasmania's Anti-Discrimination Act 1998 gives job applicants a real, though narrow, state law protection against an irrelevant criminal record.

Getting a National Police Record Check in Tasmania

Tasmania Police's own service page titles its check a "National Police Record Check" and also refers to it in running text as a "National Police Certificate." Service Tasmania, the agency that now actually processes applications, uses "National Police Certificate (Police check)" as its listing title. Both names describe the same product; this page uses National Police Record Check as the primary term, since Tasmania Police is the issuing law enforcement agency. For how this fits into Australia's two national routes, the AFP National Police Certificate and the ACIC accredited National Police Checking Service, see the Australia background checks hub and national police check in Australia.

The administering agency is Tasmania Police, part of the Department of Police, Fire and Emergency Management. Since 1 July 2024, applications go through Service Tasmania service centres rather than a police station directly, a genuine recent operational change worth knowing before applying.

Tasmania does not use a 100 point identification system. Service Tasmania's application page instead asks for one Commencement document, one Primary document and one Secondary document, all originals, each showing full legal name, date of birth and a photograph. This is a different category structure from the flat 100 point systems used in some other states, so do not assume the same documents apply.

The standard check is name based. A fingerprint based option exists as a separate product, called a National Police Record and Fingerprint Check, but Tasmania Police does not publish a fee for it online. Its own page directs applicants to their local police station, by phone on (03) 6169 4411, for details, rather than listing a figure. Treat the fingerprint fee as unpublished rather than assuming it matches another state's rate.

Fees and Turnaround

The standard fee is $70. A volunteer whose organisation is registered with Tasmania Police pays $7. These figures are confirmed on two separate official sources: Tasmania Police's own service page, and Service Tasmania's application page, which adds the more precise note that "fees and charges" were "last updated 1 July, 2026." That date is the safer one to attach to the $70 and $7 figures.

On timing, Tasmania Police's own page gives approximate figures rather than a guarantee: about 5 days for a "No Record" result, and about 10 days for a "Record" result, both plus postage. Neither Tasmania Police nor Service Tasmania states how long a completed certificate is considered current, and neither uses "point in time" language the way some other states' police forces do. If a reader wants a general sense of how a police check works as a snapshot, that is a common practice across Australian police checks generally, not something Tasmania Police itself states about its own certificate.

Tasmania Police's page also notes a scope limit worth knowing before applying: the check is for residents or employees based in Tasmania, for employment, licensing, volunteering or personal purposes, and it explicitly does not cover overseas applicants or Australian immigration matters. Those go through the AFP's national process instead, covered on national police check in Australia.

What Shows Up: Annulled Convictions

Tasmania's own filtering scheme is not called a spent convictions scheme. The Annulled Convictions Act 2003 (Tas) uses "annulment" instead, with its own revival mechanism under section 10. This page does not restate those thresholds; see spent convictions in Tasmania for the full mechanism.

Checks That Go Beyond the Standard Check

Tasmania's equivalent to a Working With Children Check uses a different name entirely: Registration to Work with Vulnerable People, or RWVP. It is a separate scheme from the standard National Police Record Check, not an extra tier of the same product. See Registration to Work with Vulnerable People in Tasmania for how that process works.

Employment Protection: The Anti-Discrimination Act 1998 (Tas)

Tasmania's Anti-Discrimination Act 1998 names "irrelevant criminal record" as a protected attribute under section 16(1)(q), and section 22(1)(a) makes employment one of the activities the Act covers. That means discriminating against a job applicant or employee on the ground of an irrelevant criminal record is unlawful conduct in Tasmania, a state level protection separate from, and stronger than, the federal Australian Human Rights Commission's non binding complaint route covered on criminal record employment rights in Australia.

The practical limit sits inside the Act's own definition. Section 3 defines "irrelevant criminal record" with a built in relevance test: a record only counts as irrelevant, among other conditions, if "the circumstances relating to the offence for which the person was convicted are not directly relevant to the situation in which the discrimination arises." A conviction that genuinely is relevant to the job, a fraud conviction for a finance role, or a violence conviction for a role involving vulnerable people, falls outside the protected ground altogether. Unlike several other grounds in the Act, there is no separate general workplace exception section for criminal record; this relevance test inside the definition does that work across the whole Act.

The one dedicated exception naming this ground specifically sits in section 50: it allows discrimination on the basis of a criminal record in relation to the education, training or care of children, where reasonably necessary to protect their physical, psychological or emotional wellbeing.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is a Tasmania police check called?

Tasmania Police calls its own check a National Police Record Check, also referred to as a National Police Certificate. Service Tasmania, which now processes applications, lists it as National Police Certificate (Police check).

How much does a police check cost in Tasmania?

The standard fee is $70. Volunteers from an organisation registered with Tasmania Police pay $7. Both figures are current as of 1 July 2026 per Service Tasmania's application page.

How long does a Tasmania police check take?

About 5 days for a clear, no record result, and about 10 days if there is a record, plus postage. Neither Tasmania Police nor Service Tasmania states how long a completed certificate stays current.

Can I get fingerprinted for a Tasmania police check?

Yes, as a separate product called a National Police Record and Fingerprint Check. Tasmania Police does not publish a fee for it online; contact a local police station directly for details.

Does Tasmania protect job applicants with a criminal record from discrimination?

Yes, to a real but limited extent. The Anti-Discrimination Act 1998 (Tas) makes irrelevant criminal record a protected ground in employment, but its own definition excludes a conviction that is genuinely relevant to the job, so the protection does not cover every criminal record case.

Where do I apply for a police check in Tasmania?

Since 1 July 2024, applications are processed through Service Tasmania service centres rather than through Tasmania Police stations directly.