About the screening process
The screening process examines a person’s criminal history to make sure they are suitable to work in aged care.
We are working with state and territory governments to introduce a more robust screening check for the aged care sector that aligns to the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) worker screening check.
This new screening process for aged care will not start before 2026.
Types of screening
From 1 November 2025, all aged care workers and responsible persons (such as a CEO or Board Member) will continue to need either a:
- police certificate (not older than 3 years) that does not record certain offences, or
- an NDIS worker screening check.
Police check and certificate
There are certain offences that will stop you from working for a registered provider. The registered provider must assess your police certificate for certain offences. These. are:
- conviction for murder
- conviction for sexual assault
- conviction and imprisonment sentence for any other form of assault.
If you work for a registered provider delivering Commonwealth Home Support Program (CHSP) or National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Flexible Aged Care Program (NATSIFACP) services, the offences that will stop you from working in aged care are:
- a conviction for an offence involving the death of a person
- in the past 5 years, a conviction and imprisonment sentence for 1 year or longer for:
- a sex related offence or a crime, including sexual assault (whether against an adult or child)
- child abuse material offences
- an indecent act involving a child
- a crime or offence involving dishonesty.
You must immediately notify your employer if your circumstances change after your certificate is assessed.
NDIS Worker Screening Check
The NDIS worker screening check is recognised in aged care. This assessment is undertaken by a state or territory worker screening unit and will check your national criminal history and work misconduct history.
You must have this check if you work or want to work in a risk-assessed role for a registered NDIS provider. This may also apply if you work in an aged care setting that supports NDIS participants.
If you have an NDIS worker screening check you do not need a police certificate.
You must immediately notify your employer if your NDIS worker screening check is suspended or cancelled.
Future of screening checks
We are working with states and territories to introduce a new aged care worker screening check to align with the NDIS. This will apply to risk-assessed roles in aged care. A risk-assessed role will be one that is:
- a responsible person (for example a CEO or board member)
- involved in the direct delivery of aged care services to older people
- likely to have ‘more than incidental contact’ with older people accessing aged care services as a normal part of their duties.
An aged care worker screening check will be recognised in the NDIS sector and vice versa.
Final arrangements are subject to agreement with the states and territories and will not commence before 2026.
We are also making changes in the future to recognise Australian Health Practitioner Regulatory Agency (Ahpra) registration for the purpose of aged care working screening.
Guidance for providers and workers
We will release a range of practical tools to support aged care providers and workers closer to the start of the new worker screening process to understand and navigate the new process.
Why we are making this change
The future worker screening process considers more information than a police check. It will:
- create a national approach that better protects older people
- deliver consistent screening outcomes with skilled decision-makers doing the checks for disability and aged care workers
- allow the ongoing monitoring of workers
- make it easier for workers to move between employers in the disability and aged care sectors or work in both sectors
- make it easier for workers to work in a different state or territory
- make it easier to employ workers who have already been screened to work in aged care or disability
- make it easier to employ workers who are registered with Ahpra to work in aged care.
Consultation
We consulted extensively about introducing a new national screening check similar to the NDIS screening check. This consultation provided strong support from:
- people accessing aged care
- aged care workers
- aged care providers
- unions
- professional bodies and peaks
- governments.
Next steps
Aged care providers and workers do not need to prepare for the new screening check yet.
Workers will not be required to have the new check in place when the new process starts. They can continue to use their existing police check until it expires. This transitional arrangement will make sure:
- new screening applications are processed efficiently
- workers can continue to work without interruption.
We know providers need time to get ready. We are working with states and territories to plan for implementation. We will share information with providers as soon as we can.
Resources
For more information, see: