What Is A Criminal Conviction (Victoria 2024)?

A criminal conviction is a criminal sentence in Victoria when a court says someone is guilty of a crime or when that person pleads guilty to a crime. You might get fined, go on probation, do community service, or even go to jail. Thanks to the Spent Convictions Act 2021, the government can erase some terms from public records in certain situations. This gives people a chance to move on without the lasting effects of past crimes.

A person is "convicted" of a crime if the court says they are guilty or if they agree to plead guilty to that crime. There are different kinds of crimes, like killings and other offences. Any crime or plea bargaining will get you a sentence.

You might have been guilty of a crime even though you didn't go to jail. Anytime you paid a fine, went on probation, did community service, or got a conditional or unconditional release for a crime, you might still have a charge on your record. Other low-level offences and "violations" are not always crimes in some places. If any of these things happen to you, you should talk to experienced criminal defence lawyers in Melbourne to find out where you stand.

What Is A Criminal Conviction, And Can I Remove It?

Victoria's courts can find someone guilty of a crime even if there is no record of the sentence. When someone is convicted, though, it becomes part of their criminal record and needs to be shown in certain cases, like when they are being checked by the police or when they are applying for a job with children. A finding of guilt without a conviction, on the other hand, will still be on the criminal record, but for other people, it will be harder to find than a conviction.

A criminal conviction is also when a court adds the sentence to the criminal record. In the legal and social realms, getting a criminal sentence can have big effects, and the shame that comes with it can make it hard to find work. You can get your record erased after a certain amount of time and under certain conditions, which is called a “spent conviction.” This means that people who have a spent conviction don't have to say they have a criminal record when they apply for a job or an apartment. Every state and crime has its own rules about when a charge is "spent."

In Victoria, it used to be hard for a lot of people to tell the difference between being convicted and not being convicted. This is because in the past, if you went to court, pleaded sorry, and got a "non-conviction", you would still have a criminal record. The Spent Convictions Act, which went into force in 2021, shows how important it is to record a sentence or not record it. Because of this act, you might not have a criminal record if the magistrate or judge chooses not to record a sentence in your case. There are three types of lines that will not be added to your criminal record, namely:

1. Convictions that are over right away, like trespassing convictions
2. Convictions that are over right away if you don't break the law again for a certain amount of time
3. Convictions that were over because the court said so

How Long Does A Criminal Conviction Last?

In Victoria, the Spent Convictions Act 2021 lets some convictions go away either on their own or after a court plea. After you pay off these fines, they won't show up on your record again, so you don't need to say anything about them. As of 2010, the Equal Opportunity Act made it illegal to treat people differently because they have a spent charge. People with criminal records have a better chance of living a better life after this. It helps a lot, especially when it comes to work. The court can spend your sentences right away after a certain amount of time, or if you ask them to. Depending on your age, a crime record usually stays on your record for 5 to 10 years.

• 10 years from the date of your sentence if you were over 18
• 5 years from the date of your sentence if you were under 18

A finding of a new crime will usually mean that the sentence starts all over again, unless one of the following occasions occurs:

• It means that the person is "not guilty"
• The person will only have to pay a fine of up to 10 penalty units
• The person either pays the victim money (for example, for pain and suffering) or returns something that they took

Convictions Are Over Right Away

As of December 1, 2021, several sentences will be over right away. There will be no need to apply for these. The Magistrates' Court of Victoria says that a sentence will fall away right away if:

1. There is no record of the conviction
2. The person was found guilty under section 17(1)(c) or 38X(1)(c) of the Crimes (Mental Impairment and Unfitness to be Tried) Act 1997; or a foreign law that matches either of those sections
3. The crime was committed when the person was younger than 15 years old
4. The only punishment for the conviction was a fine by the Children's Court or a court 

Conclusion

It is very important to know what a criminal conviction is and the difference between a criminal conviction and non-conviction under Victoria, following Australia's Spent Convictions Act 2021. There are times when this rule lets people with certain convictions keep their records secret. They have a second chance now. To keep the public safe and help people get better, the Act sets standards and times for when a conviction is no longer valid. In the end, it just lets people go back into society without having to deal with what they did wrong.

Resources And Further Reading

1. https://www.legislation.vic.gov.au/as-made/acts/spent-convictions-act-2021
2. https://www.legislation.vic.gov.au/in-force/acts/equal-opportunity-act-2010/030
3. https://www.mcv.vic.gov.au/criminal-matters/spent-convictions-scheme

Author Bio

Dragana Randjelovic - Writing has always been her side project, and it fulfils her just as much as her teaching career. Having worked in a variety of corporate, agency, freelance, and part-time roles for the past eight years, Dragana has developed a strong background in copywriting, marketing, and content creation. Her writing portfolio covers a wide range of topics from her nearly eight years in the field, including cars, nutrition, cryptocurrencies, moving, and logistics. She has concentrated on writing about law over the last two years.