A background check or also known as a police check is one of the requirements that employers in Australia usually ask for when you apply for a job. This also includes when you apply to become a gig worker such as a rideshare or delivery driver on various platforms such as Uber, Doordash, Amazon Flex, etc. In addition, if you are a non-citizen then they will ask for additional requirements to conduct a VEVO check.
Usually, the two checking processes are carried out at the same time by an agency chosen by the company. The police check is a process to check your details (including but not limited to your name and date of birth) against national police history information. Whereas a VEVO check is a process to check your visa details, it is useful for companies to find out your work right in the country.
To carry out this check, Australia’s most well-known gig economy companies work directly with National Crime Check (NCC), an ACIC accredited agency. So all the background check and VEVO check processes are done with this agency. Drivers don’t need to do it themselves manually so that it speeds up the process.
Some platforms like Uber sometimes require their drivers to renew their background checks and VEVO check to maintain the company’s safety standard. However, according to several gig drivers in the country, not all drivers get a notification to renew their background checks. Other platforms like Doordash don’t seem to require their drivers to renew their background checks either.
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How long is a Background Check valid for?
According to ACIC, a background check is considered a ‘point in time’ check, this means the results only show you national police records on the date the result is issued. There’s no standard period of time a background check result is valid for. Though, the organisation may request you to renew the check based on their own risk assessment or operational policy.
The expiration period of a background check can only be determined by the party who asked for it, in this case, rideshare and food delivery platforms such as Uber and Doordash. That’s why not all of these platforms require their drivers to renew their background checks regularly, like once a year for example. If a platform asks you to rerun your background or police checks again, then there is no other way but to comply.
How long is a VEVO check valid for?
While a police check covers the driver’s criminal history, a VEVO check is used to validate the driver’s work rights in the country. As you know a VEVO stands for Visa Entitlement Verification Online (VEVO), therefore this requirement should only be for non-Australian citizens.
This check will provide information related to the driver’s current in-effect visa including which visa, the expiry date, the must not arrive after date, how long you can stay legally as well as what you can and can’t do in the country. However, this check cannot provide information on a not ‘in-effect visa, such as when you are going to check for a bridging visa but your substantive visa has not yet expired.
Unlike a police or background check, a VEVO check result has an expiration date and is related to a visa held by a non-Australian citizen. So the check results may still be considered valid as long as there are no changes to the visa. The changes include but are not limited to the expiration or changes to current visa conditions.
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How to renew background check and VEVO check?
As we all know, to conduct both checks, a company usually use the services of an organization or agency that will assist drivers to apply for and submit a Nationally Coordinated Criminal History Check.
Well-known gig economy companies such as Uber, Doordash and Menulog cooperate with an agency named National Crime Check or abbreviated as NCC, an agency that has been accredited by the ACIC (Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission).
If you previously conduct checks with NCC, then the renewal should be done through the same agency. When you use an agency other than NCC, the check results will not be accepted and you will be asked to rerun the checks through the chosen agency.
Let’s use Uber as an example, as a rideshare or delivery driver you can’t go directly to the NCC website, renew your check from their website then upload the results to Uber. It doesn’t work like that at least for this food delivery platform. You must do so via a specific link created and confirmed by Uber. Information about police checks and the VEVO check renewal links can be found in the notification email sent by the company.
Using specialized URLs or links is useful for several reasons, one of which is for efficiency because drivers do not need to fill in the required personal information because their driver account will be linked to NCC. In addition, this also makes it easier for Uber to get check results faster because they don’t have to wait for the driver to dispatch the results to them.
How long does it take?
Although there is no standard regarding the validity period of the police check result, the NCC will only keep the police history information for 3 months as per ACIC accreditation requirements, it will be destroyed after that period of time. So, when you are asked to complete a background check renewal, you seem to have to start from the beginning.
The time needed for the renewal process is the same as when you conduct the check for the first time which takes up to 14 days. However, some applicants are experiencing delays up to 30 days to complete due to pandemic situations.
Background Check Notification
Uber will usually notify you via the app if your account is chosen to rerun background checks as well as VEVO checks for non-Australian citizens. So it’s better if you start doing the check as soon as possible. This is to avoid background check issuing delays that may occur.
Are you curious and want to know your check results progress? You can start to find out by asking NCC support about your ongoing check status, has it been completed and has been forwarded to Uber? Because to renew your checks or reactivate your driver account, Uber must receive the latest checks results from NCC.
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