21.1.2 When an applicant or victim has a serious criminal history

The FAS will consider an applicant or victim’s criminal history to be relevant to the outcome of an application when they have a serious criminal history.

When considering this, the FAS will consider their past criminal history and their circumstances, and the impact this has had on the community.

The FAS will generally consider a victim to have a serious criminal history when they have been:

  • sentenced to a term of imprisonment for five years or longer for an offence against the law of the Commonwealth, a State or Territory, or
  • convicted of an offence which is a category 1 or 2 offence within the meaning of section 3 of the Sentencing Act 1991.

Criminal history is relevant because it is serious and impacts the community

Example:

Darren was assaulted in prison which resulted in him breaking his arm and nose. Darren has an extensive criminal history, including two murder convictions and several serious sexual offence convictions that caused significant public fear and outrage.

Due to the significant impact his crimes have had on the community and the seriousness of his criminal history, the FAS considered Darren’s criminal history is relevant.

Updated