Can I speed up my police check?

Understanding Processing Times and What You Can (and Can’t) Do to Help

Short answer: No — a police check cannot be manually fast-tracked, except in urgent public-safety circumstances authorised by the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission (ACIC).

Once your application is submitted through Worker Checks, it enters a national matching process across multiple police jurisdictions. This process cannot be influenced or prioritised.

Why You Can’t “Speed It Up”

After submission, your Nationally Coordinated Criminal History Check (NCCHC) is securely transmitted to the ACIC and relevant state and territory police agencies.
From that point, the process is automated and regulated — meaning no provider (including Worker Checks) can alter its speed or sequence.

Checks are completed as quickly as possible, but some are delayed for reasons such as:

• A potential match requiring manual review by police
• Missing or inconsistent personal information
• Out-of-date or invalid identification documents

How to Avoid Delays

While you can’t control the back-end process, you can help ensure your check runs smoothly by completing everything correctly.

Follow these steps for faster processing:

1. Enter your details carefully — including spelling, spacing, and date formats.
2. Use valid ID documents — check expiry dates before uploading.
3. Complete all biometric prompts — ensure clear photos and a live selfie.
4. Avoid multiple or duplicate submissions — one clean application is best.
5. Double-check email and mobile phone number accuracy — so you receive your confirmation link immediately.

Worker Checks Tip:
80% of Nationally Coordinated Criminal History Checks through Worker Checks are finalised within 1–3 minutes when applications are submitted correctly.

When a Police Check Can Be Prioritised

Expedited processing applies only in rare public-safety or government-authorised cases.

Urgent, priority processing is strictly limited to the following categories:

• Emergency or Disaster Situations: Cases where volunteers or workers are urgently needed to respond to disasters.
• Medical Reasons: Urgent, time-critical, or high-risk medical roles, such as specialists or locums required for immediate, critical care in remote or high-demand areas.
• Child-Related Processes: Immediate, critical needs such as emergency foster care placements or urgent child-related employment.
• Political or National Security Reasons: Specific situations requiring urgent, high-level vetting, usually for government purposes. 

What is NOT considered an urgent reason:
The ACIC does not consider the following as grounds for urgent priority, even if they cause inconvenience:

• Employment starting immediately (e.g., "starts tomorrow").
• An expired police check.
• Inability to begin work without the check.
• Pending professional registration. 

Common Reasons for Standard Delays (Non-Urgent):
Most delayed checks have been referred for manual review by police, which can take longer, sometimes several weeks. Common reasons include: 

• Common Name Match: Similarities with a "Person of Interest" on police systems.
• Old Record Retrieval: Need to access archival, hardcopy records.
• Data Inaccuracy: Police records needing verification.
• Agency Workload: High volumes within state or territory police agencies. 

If your check is delayed, the ACIC generally does not allow for it to be fast-tracked unless the strict criteria above are met. 

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