Anna Bligh eyes retrospective criminal checks on NZ staff

QUEENSLAND Premier Anna Bligh has opened the door to retrospective criminal checks on New Zealanders working in Australia.

QUEENSLAND Premier Anna Bligh has opened the door to retrospective criminal checks on New Zealanders working in Australia after the two countries agreed to trial integrated CrimTrac screening of people in sensitive roles.

The deal signed off yesterday by Julia Gillard and NZ Prime Minister John Key is a win for Ms Bligh, who pushed for action after her government was embarrassed by revelations surrounding former grants officer Joel Barlow, who faces charges including defrauding $16.6 million from Queensland Health.

Mr Key acknowledged the existing system, which involved manual checks by police, was "clunky" and needed reform.

Unlike other migrants who arrive in Australia to work, New Zealanders are not subject to automatic criminal checks by the Immigration Department.

Adding weight to trans-Tasman checks were media reports last week stating Kiwis with convictions at home were continuing to offend in Australia after declaring no criminal history on their Australian entry cards.

Ms Bligh said the trial would allow police in Australia and NZ to electronically share information on criminal histories from each country's databases.

This meant the 44,000 criminal history checks carried out by Queensland police annually on the domestic CrimTrac system would be extended to NZ.

At present, taxi drivers, teachers, childcare workers, those dealing with vulnerable groups such as the disabled and public servants handling big budgets are subject to criminal history checks.

"Today's decision is a very important breakthrough," Ms Bligh said. "It makes something that was only ever possible on a manual basis, and therefore limited, now technically possible."

Announcing the deal with Mr Key, the Prime Minister said the data-sharing made sense when Australia and NZ essentially had a shared job market.

Ms Bligh said she was unaware of how many New Zealanders were working in the Queensland public service. She said the checks initially would be confined to new staff, but could be extended to cover existing workers.