Northern Territory Consolidated Acts Northern Territory Consolidated Acts(1) In this section:
"criminal record" has the same meaning as in section 6.
"offender" means a person who was convicted in a court other than the Youth Justice Court (within the meaning of the Youth Justice Act 2005 ) for an offence the offender committed before attaining the age of 18 years.
(2) The criminal record of an offender is not a spent conviction unless:
(a) subject to this section:
(i) 5 years has expired since the date of conviction of the offence; and
(ii) the offender applies under subsection (3) for the conviction to be a spent conviction and is given notification under subsection (6) that the conviction is a spent conviction; or
(b) subject to section 6, the period specified in section 6(2)(b) has expired.
(3) After the expiry of 5 years after the date an offender is convicted of an offence, the offender may apply to the Commissioner of Police for the conviction to be a spent conviction.
(4) On receipt of the application, the Commissioner must conduct an inquiry to ascertain whether 5 years during which the offender has not:
(a) been convicted of an offence punishable by imprisonment; or
(b) served all or any part of a sentence of imprisonment,
has expired since the date of the offender's conviction.
(5) In ascertaining whether the 5 year period has expired:
(a) a conviction for a subsequent traffic offence and any period of imprisonment served in respect of the offence is taken into account in calculating the 5 year period only in respect of a conviction relating to a traffic offence; and
(b) a conviction for a subsequent non-traffic offence and any period of imprisonment served in respect of the offence is taken into account in calculating the 5 year period only in respect of a conviction relating to a non-traffic offence.
(6) If the 5 year period has expired in accordance with subsections (4) and (5), the conviction is a spent conviction and the Commissioner must give written notice to the offender accordingly.