Before pleading guilty to an offence, it is important to consider what the consequences of having a criminal record in Australia will be, aside from the obvious penalty that you will face. This is also something to think about in the event you are found guilty after a trial.
There are several ways that a conviction can affect your life, although not all of them may be applicable to your circumstances. It is important to speak to a criminal lawyer about which ones apply in your case.
From limited job prospects to getting your property confiscated and even destroyed, here’s a quick overview of the different restrictions and penalties you may receive after being convicted of an offence.
Recorded conviction
The first, and most obvious, is that the conviction will be recorded.
It will appear on your criminal record and any police clearance. If you are later charged with another criminal offence, the court can take into account your previous conviction.
Having a conviction appear on a police clearance can also affect your current employment and future employment prospects, and applications for visas or citizenship.
If you are granted a spent conviction, however, it can be hidden from a police clearance. This is discussed further below.
Spent convictions
A common question we get asked by clients is, how long does a conviction stay on your record in Australia?
For certain types of minor offences, you may be able to apply for a spent conviction.
Being granted a spent conviction for an offence means that it will no longer appear on a police clearance, and you will not be required to disclose it to anyone, unless required to by law.
There are some exceptions for when a spent conviction must be disclosed, such as:
- Applying for a Working With Children card
- Applying for a security licence
- Applying to be a police officer, prison guard, lawyer, medical practitioner or teacher
This is not a comprehensive list, but covers the most common ones.
The police and court will also have access to all convictions, spent or not.
To find out whether you are eligible for a spent conviction, talk to one of our Perth criminal lawyers.
Restraining orders
For certain offences, if you plead guilty or are found guilty after trial, the court can impose a restraining order on you.
A restraining order can impact where you can go, who you can speak to, and your ability to possess firearms.
A restraining order can be made where someone is convicted of:
- Strangulation or suffocation;
- Persistent family violence;
- Wounding;
- Doing an act or omission causing bodily harm or danger;
- Common assault and assault causing bodily harm;
- Indecent assault and aggravated indecent assault;
- Deprivation of liberty;
- Threats to kill, threats with intent to gain a benefit, statements or acts that create a false apprehension of a threat or danger;
- Stalking; and
- Criminal damage (dealt with summarily);
And a victim impact statement is provided.
A restraining order will be made if someone is convicted of:
- Attempt to unlawfully kill;
- Disabling in order to commit indictable offence;
- Stupefying in order to commit indictable offence;
- Act intended to cause grievous bodily harm or prevent arrest;
- Grievous bodily harm;
- Act or omission with intent causing bodily harm or danger;
- Sexual offences against a child;
- Sexual penetration without consent;
- Sexual coercion;
- Sexual offences by relatives;
- Kidnapping
- Criminal damage (dealt with on indictment)
Unless the victim of the offence requests that an order not be made.
Various licenses
Having a conviction on your record may impact your ability to hold or apply for various licences, such as:
- Firearms Licence
- Security Licences, and
- Liquor Licences.
Criminal Injuries Compensation
If you are convicted of an offence, as a result of which another person has suffered an injury, you may be required to pay Criminal Injuries Compensation.
This is an entirely separate process to the criminal court, and requires an application to be made by the harmed party that sets out their injuries and any losses, normally with supporting evidence from doctors, psychologists and other medical professionals.
When an application is made, the assessor at Criminal Injuries will notify you that an application has been made and will give you the opportunity to respond. A determination will then be made as to whether:
- Compensation should be awarded and, if so, the amount; and
- Whether you ought to be made to repay that compensation.
You will again be asked to respond on the question of whether you should be made to repay all or part of the compensation awarded and things like your income will be relevant to that decision.
Sometimes, the amount of compensation can be substantial so this is an important consequence to consider.
If you have been notified of an application, you should get advice from a Criminal Injuries Compensation specialist right away.
Immigration and visa implications
If you are visiting Australia on a visa, or you are a permanent resident but not a citizen and you are convicted of an offence, that may affect your visa.
A conviction and sentence may be relevant in determining whether your visa will be cancelled.
If you are not an Australian citizen, or are planning on applying for a visa in the future, you should get advice from an immigration specialist regarding the visa implications.
Reportable offender
If you are convicted of certain sexual offences, you can be deemed a “reportable offender”. This means you will be required to report to the WA Sex Offender Management Squad (SOMS) for a number of years.
Destruction or confiscation of seized property
If the police have seized your property, and if it is relevant to the offence, the court can order that the items be destroyed or confiscated after conviction.
Freezing of assets or confiscation
Property can be subject to a freezing notice or order or confiscated if there are reasonable grounds for suspecting that the property is related to a crime, or owned or controlled by a declared drug trafficker.
If you are convicted of a drug offence where the drug is over a certain amount, you can be declared a drug trafficker.
An order can be made freezing or confiscating certain property, even if you have not been charged or convicted of an offence.
If the police or DPP are seeking orders regarding this, you should get legal advice from a confiscation specialist right away.
How our Perth criminal lawyers can help
If you have been charged with a criminal offence and you are thinking of pleading guilty, it is important to consider all of the consequences that may follow from that decision. If you would like to discuss your case with a criminal lawyer in Perth, please contact Chambers Legal on (08) 9500 8915 or at [email protected].