A bad hire rarely announces itself at the interview stage. The trouble tends to surface later in the onboarding or post-hire stage. By integrating Ministry of Justice Criminal Conviction History Checks into the pre-employment workflow, New Zealand employers can mitigate this risk by providing an auditable legal shield that flags histories of dishonesty, fraud, or reckless endangerment before a bad actor can expose an organisation to damaging regulatory liability or physical harm.
This sits within a broader employment screening context. For a comprehensive look at how criminal conviction checks work alongside identity verification, see our guide to employment screening and criminal conviction checks. In this article, we narrow the focus to the Ministry of Justice check itself, covering what it includes, how the process runs, and where employers most often get it wrong.
What Is a Criminal Conviction History Check?
A Criminal Record Check (also known as a criminal conviction history) is a search of the New Zealand Ministry of Justice criminal records database. It returns information about an individual's criminal convictions that are not concealed under the Clean Slate Scheme.
When Employers Use It
Criminal Record Checks are commonly used when:
- Roles involve working with vulnerable groups
- The position involves financial responsibility or sensitive data
- Industry regulations require or recommend screening
- Employers apply consistent, role-based screening policies
Employers should apply checks consistently and proportionately to promote fairness and build trust, helping candidates to be treated equally and respectfully. The check is one input into a hiring decision and should never be the only factor used to judge a candidate’s suitability.
What Information Is Included in a Ministry of Justice Check
Convictions Only
A Ministry of Justice Criminal Conviction History check reports convictions recorded against the individual. It does not include:
- Allegations
- Police interactions that did not result in a conviction
- General intelligence or “reputation” information
The Ministry of Justice also does not, by default, issue results directly to employers. The results are sent to the individual, who may then choose to share them with employers or a third-party screening provider.
Clean Slate Scheme
The Clean Slate Scheme, established under the Criminal Records (Clean Slate) Act 2004, allows eligible individuals to have their criminal convictions concealed from standard checks. When the Scheme applies, those convictions will not appear on a standard Criminal Conviction History check. When the Scheme applies, those convictions will not appear on a standard Criminal Conviction History check.
We will be covering the Clean Slate scheme in more depth in an upcoming article in this series. The Ministry of Justice provides more detail on the Clean Slate Scheme and its limits.
Scope and Limitations
Employers should be aware of the key boundaries of a Ministry of Justice check, including:
- It reflects New Zealand convictions, not overseas criminal records.
- Pending charges are not generally part of a standard conviction history.
- Name suppression orders restrict public disclosure but do not prevent the information from appearing in a record shared with a third party where the person has authorised release.
- There is no set expiry date on a criminal record check result, and organisations decide how recent they require results to be.
Because of these limits, Criminal Conviction History checks should be combined with other lawful pre-employment checks, such as identity checks, depending on the role and risk profile.
Why Criminal Record Checks Matter for Employers
Risk Mitigation
Certain roles expose organisations to financial loss, regulatory penalties, or harm to customers and communities if something goes wrong. A carefully considered criminal history check can help employers:
- Identify convictions that may conflict with core duties (for example, fraud-related convictions in finance roles).
- Support risk assessments for roles involving access to property, financial systems, or confidential information.
- Demonstrate that reasonable steps were taken when something later comes under review.
Workplace Safety
For roles involving direct care, supervision of children or vulnerable adults, or safety‑critical tasks, criminal history can be relevant to predicting future behaviour. Employers have health and safety duties to manage reasonably foreseeable risks. That includes thoughtful screening where the nature of the role and the type of conviction are genuinely linked.
Trust and Compliance
Transparent, lawful use of Criminal Conviction History checks can:
- Show regulators and clients that screening is taken seriously.
- Reassure staff that colleagues have been screened appropriately for sensitive duties.
- Support organisational values around honesty, accountability, and fairness.
Used responsibly, these checks can support confident, defensible decision-making and reinforce your organisation's integrity. When used poorly, they can introduce discrimination and privacy risks.
How the Screening Process Works
Step 1: Candidate Consent
Before any request is submitted to the Ministry of Justice, the candidate must provide informed, specific consent. That means telling them plainly what's being checked, why, and what you'll do with the result.
Step 2: Identity Verification
Identity verification verifies that the candidate is who they claim to be. In New Zealand, this typically follows Evidence of Identity standards using documents such as a passport or a New Zealand driver's license. We'll go deeper on identity verification, specifically in an upcoming guide in this series.
Step 3: Record Check Submission
The Criminal Record check is submitted to the Ministry of Justice through a screening provider.
Step 4: Results Delivery
Results are returned securely, with timeframes that depend on the provider and the complexity of the check.
Compliance Considerations for Employers
Privacy Act Obligations
A candidate's criminal history is personal information, and the Act's privacy principles apply in full. These being, collect only what's relevant to the role, obtain proper consent, and don't retain it longer than necessary. Under the New Zealand Privacy Act 2020 (Privacy Act), employers must:
- Have a lawful purpose for collecting criminal history information, and it is necessary for that purpose.
- Collect information directly from the individual where practicable and with clear consent.
- Store criminal record information securely and restrict access to those who genuinely need it.
- Only keep the information as long as it serves a lawful employment purpose, then dispose of it securely.
The Ministry of Justice’s third-party contract reinforces these requirements, emphasising privacy, confidentiality, and security controls for organisations using the online service.
Fair Hiring Practices
Human rights and employment law in New Zealand protect people from unlawful discrimination, including based on criminal history in some contexts.
Good practice includes:
- Considering the nature, age, and relevance of any convictions to the actual duties of the role.
- Allowing candidates to explain the context of convictions and any rehabilitation.
- Avoiding blanket policies that automatically exclude anyone with “a record”, regardless of role or circumstances.
Guidance on considering criminal records in recruitment can be found in resources from Employment New Zealand.
Responsible Use of Results
Once criminal history information is received:
- Only people involved in the hiring decision who genuinely need to see the record should have access.
- Notes taken about the record should be factual and objective.
- Decisions should be documented in a way that makes sense if later reviewed, showing how the conviction information was weighed alongside skills, references, and other factors.
Responsible use of results means treating a conviction as information that informs a conversation, not grounds for automatic rejection. A future article in this series will pull these obligations together into a single employer compliance checklist for hiring in New Zealand.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
Using unverified sources is a common misstep. A casual search or a candidate's own account of their record is not a Ministry of Justice check, and treating the two as equivalent means relying on information that's never been checked against the Ministry of Justice's actual records.
Misinterpreting results is another common mistake. A clear result doesn't mean no convictions exists. It can simply mean the person qualifies under the Clean Slate scheme. The reverse applies too. An older or unrelated conviction doesn't automatically mean a candidate is unsuitable for the role.
Skipping consent, or letting it go stale, is the mistake most likely to create a genuine legal problem. Build consent into the point in your process where you actually need it, rather than ticking it off early and assuming it covers you indefinitely.
Key Takeaways
- Ministry of Justice checks are the official records of criminal conviction history in New Zealand, issued directly by the Ministry of Justice.
- Only recorded convictions appear; pending charges and non-conviction outcomes are excluded.
- Specific, current consent from the candidate is required before a check can be requested.
- Used well, the check helps support informed, fair hiring decisions, not a replacement for employer judgment.
Get It Right, Every Time
A Criminal Conviction History check is one part of a wider hiring process. Used at the right point, with consent that is specific and current, it can help employers make fairer, better-informed decisions while supporting privacy and compliance obligations.
For employers who'd rather not manage the back-and-forth themselves, NCC's Criminal Conviction History check service handles consent collection, identity verification, and Ministry of Justice submission in one workflow, built to align with New Zealand privacy requirements at every step. Request a Criminal Conviction History check through a trusted provider.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a Criminal Conviction History check?
It's an official report issued by the Ministry of Justice confirming whether someone has recorded criminal or traffic convictions in New Zealand. Employers typically request it during pre-employment screening, with the candidate's informed consent, to support hiring decisions when risk, compliance, or workplace safety are relevant factors.
What appears on a criminal record check in New Zealand?
The report lists recorded criminal and traffic convictions, including sentencing details such as fines, community work, or imprisonment. It won't include pending charges, infringement notices, or matters that didn't result in a conviction, and any convictions concealed under the Clean Slate Act won't appear if the candidate is eligible.
Are pending charges included?
No. A Ministry of Justice check only reports convictions that have already been through the court process and finalised. Charges still awaiting a hearing, or matters in which no conviction was entered, are excluded entirely from the report.
When should employers conduct these checks?
Most employers request a check once a candidate has accepted a conditional offer, before the start date. Running it earlier in the process, before a role is confirmed, is harder to justify under the Privacy Act's requirement that any check be relevant and proportionate to the position.