Many employers will not employ a person with a criminal record, particularly where an offence involves an element of dishonesty. However, the dismissal of an existing employee because of a conviction may give rise to an application for unfair dismissal if the conviction is not relevant to the employee's work, see: Employment: unfair dismissal.

Some criminal convictions may affect license holders and registered professionals. Those who work with children and people with disability, and must have a clearance check conducted, will find that both prior charges and convictions may form part of the information assessed for the clearance check.

For information about license holders, registered professionals and employment clearances, see EMPLOYMENT, Criminal Records and Clearance Checks.