Spent Convictions in Queensland — Criminal Records
Criminal Records — 2026-06-24 — by Sacha Sarah Smith, Civic Law
How spent convictions work in Queensland — the rehabilitation periods, what can become spent, what cannot, and what you can legally deny once a conviction.
You have a criminal conviction on your record and you want to know when — or whether — it goes away. The answer in Queensland is governed by the Criminal Law (Rehabilitation of Offenders) Act 1986 . Under that Act, most convictions become "spent" after a set period of time, which means they no longer appear on a standard police check and you are not required to disclose them.
But not all convictions become spent. The rehabilitation periods differ depending on the court. And there are important exceptions — professions and agencies that can still see spent convictions and require you to disclose them.
The Rehabilitation Periods
A spent conviction is one where the "rehabilitation period" has expired without the conviction being revived. The rehabilitation period depends on the court in which you were convicted and whether you were dealt with as an adult or a child:
Conviction on indictment (District Court or Supreme Court) as an adult — 10 years from the date the conviction is recorded
All other cases — including Magistrates Court convictions, and all convictions where you were dealt with as a child — 5 years from the date the conviction is recorded
If the court made an order in connection with the conviction — a restitution order, a compensation order, a fine — and that order has not been satisfied within the rehabilitation period, the period is extended until the date the order is fully satisfied. In other words, an unpaid fine keeps your conviction alive.
What Can Become Spent
A conviction can become spent if the sentence imposed was either:
No term of imprisonment at all (a fine, a good behaviour bond, probation, community service), or
A term of imprisonment of 30 months or less — including wholly suspended sentences and sentences where you were immediately released on parole
Once the rehabilitation period passes without the conviction being revived, the conviction is automatically spent. You do not need to apply for it. There is no form to fill out and no court hearing. It happens by operation of law.
What Cannot Become Spent
A conviction cannot become spent if:
The sentence involved imprisonment for more than 30 months (including wholly suspended sentences of more than 30 months)
The conviction was for an offence committed by a corporation
If your sentence was more than 30 months imprisonment, that conviction stays on your record permanently — it will never become spent under the Act. This is one of the reasons the length of sentence matters beyond the immediate custodial consequences.
What Happens When a Conviction Is Spent
Once a conviction is spent, section 6 of the Act prohibits its disclosure. More significantly, section 8 provides that you may lawfully claim — under oath or otherwise — that you have not been convicted of the offence. This is not just a right to stay silent about it. The Act expressly authorises you to deny the conviction exists.
In practical terms:
A standard national police check will not show spent convictions
You do not have to disclose spent convictions on a job application (unless the role falls under a specific exception)
If asked directly whether you have a criminal record, you can lawfully say no — if the only convictions on your record are spent
Evidence of the spent conviction is not admissible in most proceedings to prove the conviction exists
Revival — When a Spent Conviction Comes Back
A spent conviction can be "revived" if you are convicted of another offence after the rehabilitation period has expired. If you commit a new offence and are convicted, the earlier spent conviction becomes part of your criminal history again for the purposes of the new proceedings.
This means the court sentencing you for the new offence can see your earlier conviction and take it into account. However, it does not mean the spent conviction permanently reappears on your record for all purposes — the revival applies in the context of the new criminal proceedings.
A "simple offence" — a minor regulatory offence — does not automatically revive a spent conviction unless the court orders otherwise.
Exceptions — Who Can Still See Spent Convictions
The non-disclosure rule has important exceptions. Certain professions, roles, and agencies are expressly permitted — or required — to access and consider spent convictions. These exceptions are set out in section 9A of the Act and include:
Blue Card applicants — Blue Card Services conducts a broader criminal history check that includes spent convictions
Solicitors — applying for admission or a practising certificate
Police officers — current and prospective
Teachers — registered under the Education (Queensland College of Teachers) Act 2005
Corrective services employees
Health practitioners — registered with AHPRA, where required by registration conditions
Security providers — licensed under the Security Providers Act 1993
Government agencies — including police, the Parole Board, and immigration authorities
If you work in one of these areas — or are applying to — your spent convictions are not hidden from the relevant body. You must disclose them when required to do so. Failing to disclose a spent conviction when the exception applies is itself a problem.
For a full breakdown of which professions and roles are affected by criminal charges, read our article on whether a criminal charge will affect your job .
Disclosing Someone Else's Spent Conviction
Section 6 of the Act makes it an offence for a person who knows a conviction is spent to disclose it without authority. The maximum penalty is 100 penalty units. This protects people with spent convictions from having their past disclosed by former associates, employers, or anyone else who happens to know about it.
The Difference Between a Spent Conviction and No Conviction Recorded
These are two different things, and the difference matters.
No conviction recorded — under section 12 of the Penalties and Sentences Act 1992 , the court finds you guilty but does not record a conviction. No conviction goes on your criminal record in the first place. There is no rehabilitation period to wait out because there is no conviction to become spent. This is the best possible outcome for most first offenders .
Spent conviction — a conviction was recorded, but after the rehabilitation period (5 or 10 years without reoffending), it is treated as spent. The conviction existed and was on your record — it just no longer needs to be disclosed.
If you are currently being sentenced, the priority is to obtain a section 12 no-conviction order rather than relying on the conviction becoming spent years later. The no-conviction order gives you an immediately clean record. The spent conviction route means living with the conviction for 5 or 10 years before it clears.
Can You Apply to Have a Conviction Cleared?
Queensland does not have a general "expungement" process that allows you to apply to have a conviction removed from your record before the rehabilitation period expires. The conviction becomes spent automatically when the rehabilitation period passes — or it does not become spent because it is ineligible (over 30 months imprisonment).
There are limited circumstances in which convictions can be set aside — for example, on appeal, or under specific legislation dealing with historical homosexual convictions. A conviction that is set aside or quashed is automatically treated as not part of a person's criminal history.
Civic Law offers a record expungement service for cases where there is a legal avenue to have a conviction reviewed or removed.
Talk to Civic Law
If you have questions about whether a conviction on your record is spent, when it will become spent, or what your obligations are for a specific profession or role, call Sacha Sarah Smith on 0425 429 458 .
Record Expungement