Police Vetting Service (NZ)
- Andrew Watkins
The New Zealand Police Vetting Service provides criminal history checks and other relevant information on potential and current employees, volunteers and vocational trainees to Approved Agencies that provide care to children and vulnerable members of society. We also provide criminal history checks for overseas visas and work permits.
A Police Vet will be obtained for all volunteer engagement that involve direct interaction with children. This is because the Police have access to information, beyond a criminal conviction history, that may be relevant to child safety. The Police Vet will provide details about any convictions, including the location of the court, the date of the offence and the sentence imposed. However, the Service is not limited to providing information about convictions and may give:
Information on active charges and warrants to arrest and any other information received or obtained by the New Zealand Police.
Information about any concerns the Police has in any context, including family violence, even if:
» There have not been charges or,
» charges have been withdrawn, or
» the person has been acquitted (found not guilty) of a charge.
Information that relates to unproven allegations, i.e., no conviction entered, should be treated with caution and you should be vigilant to look out for patterns of offending.
Police may hold relevant information that they are unwilling to disclose for privacy, confidentiality, or law enforcement reasons, and (through a process known as the ‘red stamp process') may recommend against unsupervised access to children or vulnerable persons.
Guide to filling in form
https://www.police.govt.nz/advice-services/businesses-and-organisations/vetting/forms-and-guides