Spent Convictions in Western Australia: How the Two-Tier System Works

In Western Australia, a conviction does not become spent just by waiting: under the Spent Convictions Act 1988 (WA), a "lesser conviction" needs a successful application to the Commissioner of Police and a "serious conviction" needs a successful application to a District Court judge, and the only convictions in this state that lapse purely by the passage of time are certain juvenile convictions under a separate Act.

This article addresses how a conviction becomes spent under Western Australian law, meaning it no longer needs to be disclosed once a successful application has been granted. It does not tell a reader whether their own specific conviction is, or will become, spent. For the Commonwealth scheme and how WA compares to the other states and territories, see spent convictions in Australia.

The Act, and why "spent" in WA means an application, not a wait

Western Australia's spent-conviction scheme runs on the Spent Convictions Act 1988 (WA), which splits every conviction into one of two tiers rather than applying a single waiting period to all of them.

A "lesser conviction" (section 10(1)) is any sentence that is not a "serious" sentence and not life imprisonment. Once the prescribed waiting period has passed, the person applies to the Commissioner of Police in the prescribed form. Section 7(3) states the Commissioner "does not have a discretion to issue or not issue a certificate" and must issue one if the application meets the Act's requirements; this track is mandatory once the paperwork is right.

A "serious conviction" (section 9) is a sentence of imprisonment of more than 1 year, an indeterminate sentence, or a fine of $15,000 or more. This track goes to a District Court judge (section 6(1)), and the judge has genuine discretion whether to grant it (section 6(4)).

A sentence of life imprisonment can never become spent under either tier (section 4(2)).

Neither tier lapses automatically at any point. This is the structural feature that makes WA different from most other Australian jurisdictions covered in this cluster: the waiting period only opens the door to apply, it does not do the spending itself.

Waiting periods before you can even apply

Section 11 sets the "prescribed period" that must run before an application under either tier can be lodged:

• 10 years, the general rule (section 11(1)(a)), running from the conviction date for a determinate sentence with the imposed prison term added on top (section 11(3)), or from the date of discharge for an indeterminate sentence (section 11(2)).
• 3 years, a reduced period that applies only to a narrow list of minor cannabis offences under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1981 committed on or after the Cannabis Law Reform Act 2010 commenced (section 11(6)).
• Reset on reoffending (section 11(4)): a further, non-spent conviction incurred while an earlier one's waiting period is still running discards that earlier period, and the longer of the two periods runs afresh from the latest conviction.

A refused District Court application cannot be renewed for the same conviction for 2 years (section 6(2)(b)).

The juvenile exception that sits outside this framework

Western Australia's "nothing lapses on its own" rule has one real exception, and it lives in a different Act. Section 4(1)(a) of the Spent Convictions Act excludes juvenile convictions from the ss 6/7 application tracks entirely, handing them instead to section 189 of the Young Offenders Act 1994. Under that section, once 2 crime-free years have passed since sentence discharge, "the conviction is not to be regarded as a conviction for any purpose," automatically, with no application required. Murder, attempted murder and manslaughter are excluded from this pathway; the current text of section 189 contains no reoffending-based exclusion. Once a juvenile conviction lapses this way, section 189(9) gives it the same non-disclosure protection as a conviction spent under the main Act.

This means a young person's record and an adult's record run on genuinely different systems in Western Australia: the adult system never lapses without an application; the juvenile system does, on a straightforward 2-year clock.

What "spent" gives you, and the unlawful-access offence

Once a conviction is spent, section 27 creates a non-disclosure right: questions to or about the person are not taken to relate to the spent conviction, and no contract or common-law rule can force disclosure.

Rather than a general "unlawful disclosure" offence, the Act penalises unlawful access: section 28 makes it an offence to obtain information about a spent conviction from an official criminal record without lawful reason, carrying a flat $1,000 penalty. This figure has not been increased since the Act's 1988 enactment; it was last amended in 2020 and left unchanged at $1,000.

Where a spent conviction still shows up

Schedule 3 lists the roles and proceedings excepted from the Act's non-disclosure protection, including:

• Firearms licensing under the Firearms Act 2024, which replaced the Firearms Act 1973 (fully commenced 31 March 2025): an application for a firearms licence, permit or approval, or a firearms prohibition order assessment under the Firearms Act 2024's Part 8.
• Police, corrections and judicial roles: police officers and cadets, prison officers, JP candidates, the Prisoners Review Board, and related bodies.
• Working with Children screening: the Working with Children (Screening) Act 2004 (renamed from "Criminal Record Checking" effective 1 July 2023) and NDIS worker screening.
• Court and tribunal proceedings: spent convictions remain relevant to guilt and sentencing in a court's own proceedings, and section 15 separately disapplies the non-disclosure protection for bail decisions.

For how any of these checks are actually processed, see the state's Working with Children Check page and the national police check page; this page covers only how a spent conviction is treated once inside one of those processes.

On a National Police Certificate: WA's practical difference

Western Australia's own guidance confirms a point worth stating plainly: an eligible conviction that a person has never applied to have spent will still appear on a WA National Police Certificate. WA folds the spending application into the certificate request itself, so a person does not need a separate, earlier filing before requesting a certificate, but the application step is not optional and nothing drops off automatically. This is a materially different practical experience from a jurisdiction where an old, qualifying conviction simply stops appearing once a waiting period runs on its own.

Discrimination protection: built into this Act, not the Equal Opportunity Act

Western Australia protects against spent-conviction discrimination through the Spent Convictions Act's own Division 3 (sections 17 to 24), covering job applications, employment, contract work, and professional bodies, enforced by borrowing the Equal Opportunity Commission's investigative machinery. It is not achieved by adding "spent conviction" as a protected attribute inside the Equal Opportunity Act 1984 (WA) itself.

The WA Law Reform Commission's Project 111 Final Report (May 2022), reviewing that Act, recommended adding a new "irrelevant criminal record" ground, and confirmed no such ground currently exists. As of this article's research date, no bill implementing that recommendation had been found to have been introduced. A current, non-spent conviction that is arguably irrelevant to a decision, such as an old charge that was withdrawn, has no discrimination protection in Western Australia today.

For a broader look at how background checks intersect with hiring, see criminal record and employment rights in Australia.

This article provides general legal information about spent convictions in Western Australia, verified against the Spent Convictions Act 1988 (WA) as accessed 18 August 2026. It does not assess whether any individual reader's own conviction is, or will become, spent. For advice on your situation, consult a legal practitioner admitted in Western Australia.

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

Frequently Asked Questions

Does a conviction in Western Australia become spent automatically after a certain number of years?

No, not for an adult conviction. A conviction only becomes spent after a successful application: to the Commissioner of Police for a lesser conviction, or to a District Court judge for a serious conviction (more than 1 year's imprisonment or a $15,000 or higher fine). The waiting period (generally 10 years) only makes a person eligible to apply; it does not spend the conviction by itself.

Is there any conviction in WA that does lapse automatically?

Yes, for juveniles only. Under section 189 of the Young Offenders Act 1994, a juvenile conviction is treated as no longer a conviction once 2 crime-free years have passed, with no application needed, unless it was for murder, attempted murder or manslaughter.

Will an eligible conviction I haven't applied to spend show up on a WA National Police Certificate?

Yes. Western Australia bundles the spend application into the certificate process, but the application is still required. A conviction that has never had a successful application keeps appearing on a National Police Certificate even after the waiting period has run.

Can a sentence of life imprisonment ever be spent in Western Australia?

No. Section 4(2) of the Spent Convictions Act 1988 states that a life sentence cannot become spent under either the serious-conviction or lesser-conviction track.

Does the Equal Opportunity Act 1984 (WA) protect people with a spent conviction from discrimination?

No. Discrimination protection for a spent conviction comes from the Spent Convictions Act's own Division 3, not from the Equal Opportunity Act. The WA Law Reform Commission's 2022 review recommended adding a general "irrelevant criminal record" ground to the Equal Opportunity Act, which confirms that ground does not presently exist there.