School council and board members

School council and board members

Parent and community members of a school council or board are required to have a Nationally Coordinated Criminal History Check (NCCHC).

An applicant must be cleared before their position on the council or board can be confirmed. No other police clearance checks can be accepted.

Clearance for council and board members is valid for 3 years. If a parent or community member continues for longer than 3 consecutive years they will need to consent to a new NCCHC before starting their fourth year. If a parent or community member withdraws from being on the council or board or their tenure expires, and they later decide to return, they will need to have a new NCCHC before their position can be confirmed. Student members under 18 years do not need to be screened. All Department employees have already been screened as part of their employment.

School council and board members of public schools will not be charged to complete the NCCHC.

Start your Nationally Coordinated Criminal History Check.

Check your screening clearance

You can verify your screening clearance number and date of clearance through the external screening status check portal.

Criminal history screening involves a person providing their consent for the Department’s Screening Unit to undertake a Nationally Coordinated Criminal History Check through the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission (ACIC). The person must provide their personal details (name, date and place of birth, and places of residence) and 4 items of identification. This information is sent securely to the ACIC and a result is returned to the Screening Unit usually within a week, however, it can take up to 3 to 4 weeks in some instances.

The Screening Unit is provided with all Disclosable Court Outcomes, including Western Australian spent convictions. In cases where serious criminal history information is returned, the Screening Unit seeks the Statement of Material Facts from the Western Australian Police Force.

Criminal history information returned from the ACIC includes the following:

  • year of conviction
  • court that heard the matter
  • name of the charge
  • penalty imposed. 

If the matter is serious, the Screening Unit obtains the Statement of Material Facts from the WA Police Force for all Western Australian convictions and the person is also asked to provide a statement explaining the background of the conviction and what action they have taken since the conviction. The person may also be asked to provide 2 written confidential character references from people who are aware of the conviction(s) and make mention of this in their references. These people must not be members of the person’s family and should know the applicant as a professional or business acquaintance and not merely on a social basis.

Any criminal history information returned from the ACIC will be considered on a case-by-case basis by the Department’s Screening Committee. 

Factors that will be taken into account by the committee include: 

  • Was the conviction an isolated offence? 
  • How long ago was the conviction? 
  • How serious was the matter? 
  • What was the penalty imposed? 

For confidential advice on the suitability assessment, contact the Senior Screening Officer on 9264 4477.

All communication is directly with the applicant.  If the applicant has a conviction, the matter is managed by the Screening Unit and school staff are not informed. If the applicant’s conviction history is deemed to be in breach of the Criminal Convictions Suitability Criteria and he/she is refused clearance, the person will be informed by email, and will be asked to inform the principal that they are unable to be on the board or council. The applicant does not have to state the reason is due to a criminal conviction(s). If the person is cleared, they will receive an SMS advising them of their Screening Clearance Number and a clearance letter will be sent via email.