The Criminal Records (Rehabilitation of Offenders) Amendment Act, 2026 was passed in the Senate in January and signed by Governor General Sir Patrick Allen on February 20. In addition to the reform is the automatic expungement in certain older, non-custodial matters, where the sentence was imposed and completed prior to January 1, 2005, and the individual has not been convicted of another offence. Such individuals automatically benefits from expungement without being required to undergo the application process. Read more