Wondering What You Need To Apply For A Security Clearance?

Many defence industry jobseekers will be familiar with seeing the words ‘Australian defence security clearance required’ on a job advert.

It’s a bit of a chicken and egg situation; it’s hard to get a defence industry role without already holding a security clearance, but you can’t apply for one without a sponsor… which is normally your employer. We deep dive into how sponsorship works in a previous blog here.

Luckily more and more employers are open to considering non-cleared (but eligible) candidates, whose clearance can be obtained after the job offer has been made.

So, if you do find yourself in the situation of having to start the clearance application process, you’re probably wondering what documents you’ll need to provide.

Be Prepared

The list of documents you need to provide is extensive, and in the interest of obtaining your clearance as quickly as possible, it’s important to have an idea of what you’ll need before you’re asked for it.

The documentation requirements are different depending on the level of clearance you are applying for. For the most basic clearance (Baseline) you’ll only have to gather five years’ worth of information, whereas a Top Secret Positive Vetting will require whole of life information.

You’ll only have 20 days from when you receive your ePack to upload the documents; get organised early by using this list.

Before we go on, wondering what we’re talking about? Take a look at our other security clearance blogs, they will fill in the gaps.

What Is A Security Clearance

How Long Does A Security Clearance Take?

What Happens If My Security Clearance Is Rejected?

ePack Information

Requirement	Baseline	NV1	NV2	TSPV
Details of partner, parent, siblings, children, cohabitants	🗸	🗸	🗸	🗸
Overseas relatives	🗸	🗸	🗸	🗸
Official foreign government contacts	🗸	🗸	🗸	🗸
Financial information*	🗸	🗸	🗸	🗸
Employment history	5 years	10 years	10 years	Whole of life
Address history	5 years	10 years	10 years	Whole of life
Education history	5 years	10 years	10 years	Whole of life
Overseas travel	10 years	10 years	10 years	Whole of life
Passport and travel documents	🗸	🗸	🗸	Whole of life
Character and professional references	5 years	10 years	10 years	Whole of life
Social memberships	If applicable	If applicable	If applicable	If applicable
Legal proceedings	If applicable	If applicable	If applicable	If applicable
Security clearance history	If applicable	If applicable	If applicable	If applicable

*Financial information includes things like a recent tax return, annual salary, average fortnightly expenditure, details of investments or credit cards, details of business interests and superannuation accounts.

Personal documents

Requirement	Baseline	NV1	NV2	TSPV
Full birth certificate	🗸	🗸	🗸	🗸
Proof of Australian citizenship	🗸	🗸	🗸	🗸
Current marriage certificate	If applicable	If applicable	If applicable	If applicable
Divorce certificate	If applicable	If applicable	If applicable	If applicable
Change of name certificate	If applicable	If applicable	If applicable	If applicable
Certificate of service or discharge	If applicable	If applicable	If applicable	If applicable
Current photo ID	🗸	🗸	🗸	🗸
Current secondary identification	🗸	🗸	🗸	🗸
Current credit or bank card	🗸	🗸	🗸	🗸
Proof of current address	🗸	🗸	🗸	🗸
Proof of previous addresses	🗸	🗸	🗸	🗸
Proof of current employment	🗸	🗸	🗸	🗸
Passport(s)	🗸	🗸	🗸	🗸
Financial statements	🗸	🗸	🗸
Financial statements	🗸	🗸	🗸	🗸
Notice of tax assessment slip	🗸	🗸	🗸	🗸
Payslip	🗸	🗸	🗸	🗸

Once all the documents are provided to ASGVA, your security clearance application can be processed. For information on how long that’ll take, find the latest processing times here.

For more detail on the documents you’ll need to provide when applying for a security clearance, view the AGSVA website here.

Photo by Wesley Tingey on Unsplash

Wondering What You Need To Apply For A Security Clearance?