You've made your decision. The candidate is great. Now everyone's waiting on the background check, and nobody wants to be the one to tell a candidate their start date is TBC.
The honest answer to "how long does a background check take?" is that it depends almost entirely on which checks you're running. A national police check and an automated reference check are not the same thing, and treating them like they are is usually how mismatched expectations start.
Here's what the timelines actually look like, and what moves them in either direction.
There's no single turnaround time for background screening because "background check" is a catch-all for a range of different searches. Some complete in minutes. Others are in the hands of government bodies and take weeks.
Here's a quick-reference breakdown for ANZ employers:
If you're running a full pre-employment screening package — police check, reference check, identity verification, right to work — you're looking at anywhere from same-day to five business days in most cases, assuming the process runs smoothly.
This is the part nobody else really talks about honestly.
The candidate is the biggest variable. If they haven't submitted their documents, responded to referee requests, or completed their part of the application, everything stops. The platform can't do anything until the candidate has. Platforms like Checkmate send reminders automatically, which takes this off your plate — but it doesn't change the fact that the clock doesn't start until the candidate acts.
Third-party response times are the next biggest factor. Katherine Padilla, Checkmate's Support Lead, sees this happen regularly: "The most common delays we see come from waiting on third-party verifications — employers, schools, or government agencies that don't respond quickly. Document discrepancies that need clarification before we can proceed are the other big one."
Referee availability is the next culprit, particularly for manual reference checks. Chasing referees by phone is where the process dies. Automated reference checks send a questionnaire directly to the referee, which they complete in their own time. No phone tag and no waiting for someone to call back between meetings.
Criminal history flags trigger a manual review. This is genuinely outside anyone's control. An application that might ordinarily clear in 24 hours can take several days or more if there's a flag in the system that requires human review by ACIC. It's not common, but it happens, and it's worth setting expectations with candidates upfront.
Common names and multiple addresses add another layer. A common name can return several potential matches instead of one clean result, and someone has to manually confirm which record actually belongs to your candidate. It’s the same story if they've lived across more than one state or territory, their history needs to be checked against each jurisdiction, not just one.
Document quality causes more friction than people expect. Blurry ID uploads, expired documents, or a name mismatch between what's on the form and what's on the ID can stall an application at the identity verification stage. Clear instructions to candidates upfront prevent most of this.
Jurisdiction plays a role with state-based checks. The Working with Children Check is administered separately in each state and territory, with different terminology and verification methods across all eight jurisdictions. Checkmate verifies clearance status directly with the relevant state authority on your behalf, and most results come back the same business day. But where a clearance hasn't been obtained yet, that timeline sits with the government body, not the platform.
Incomplete setup on the employer side is avoidable but can happen. If the check hasn't been configured correctly or the candidate invite hasn't been sent, time passes before the process even starts.
Most of the focus goes on what slows things down, but now let’s focus on what happens when everything goes right.
Checkmate’s Support Lead, Katherine sees it firsthand: “When everything lines up — complete candidate information, responsive institutions, no discrepancies — a full screening package through Checkmate can be finalised within 24 to 72 hours.”
That's what the process looks like when it runs smoothly. When referees respond quickly, automated reference checks can be completed within hours. The traditional model of calling three referees and waiting for callbacks used to take days. An automated questionnaire sent directly to the referee removes that bottleneck almost entirely.
Identity verification with digital document scanning is effectively instant. Upload, verify, done. “Making sure candidates supply relevant supporting documents such as marriage or divorce certificates also helps speed up the ID verification process”, says Nathan Pye, Head of Service Delivery, Compliance & Integrations at Checkmate.
Right to work checks via VEVO are also near-instant when run through an integrated platform. The integration queries the Department of Home Affairs system directly and returns a result in seconds.
The other thing that makes a meaningful difference is running checks in parallel rather than sequentially. A manual process often means completing one check before starting the next. A platform running multiple checks simultaneously (reference, identity, right to work) can have a full results package ready the same day.
Most of this is in the setup, not the screening itself.
How long does a National Police Check take in Australia?
There are two types of national police checks in Australia. The NCCHC (via ACIC) is the standard check for candidates based in Australia. The AFP check is used where results need to be accessed or shared internationally, for example, in global hiring workflows. Most National Police Checks submitted through ACIC are returned within 1–5 business days — and candidates with a No Disclosable Court Outcome (meaning there's no criminal history to report) are often back within minutes of submission. Both typically return within a few business days for straightforward applications, though the AFP advises processing can take up to 15–25 working days in some cases.
Can I start someone before their background check is complete?
Some employers do, using a conditional start arrangement while checks are pending. Whether that's appropriate depends on the role, your industry, and your obligations. In regulated sectors such as healthcare, financial services, NDIS, childcare, checks typically need to clear before a candidate can start or access certain environments. If you're unsure what's required for your industry, this is worth clarifying with your legal or compliance team rather than assuming.
What's the fastest background check in Australia?
Identity verification and right to work checks return results in seconds through an automated platform. Reference checks via automated questionnaire typically complete within 24–48 hours when referees respond promptly. National police checks for uncomplicated applications usually return within 48 hours. If something does come up during the process, Checkmate's support team typically responds within the hour.
Does using a screening platform make background checks faster?
Yes, in several ways. Using a screening platform means multiple checks run at the same time rather than sequentially. Automated candidate reminders reduce the time lost to chasing. Integrated workflows remove manual handoffs between systems. And digital document verification cuts what used to be a manual admin step down to seconds.
What causes a background check to take longer than expected?
The most common reasons are candidates not completing their part of the application, referees taking time to respond (or not responding at all), criminal history flags requiring manual review, and state-body processing queues for checks like the Working with Children Check. International checks add more complexity. The timeline depends on the country, the database, and whether the candidate's records are easy to locate. Being upfront with candidates about what each check involves and why it matters helps move things along.
Checkmate's average support response time is 21 minutes. If you're tired of background checks being the thing that slows down your hiring, that's a good place to start.
