New Zealand and Australia have agreed to work together to improve criminal checks for job applicants, but only with the applicant's approval.
Under a new memorandum of understanding some New Zealand agencies will be able to make requests through the police for criminal history checks from the Australian police, and vice versa.
The memorandum builds on an earlier trial that involved the exchange of people's criminal histories when vetting people for certain jobs.
Justice Minister, Amy Adams said it formed part of a wider programme of work on reciprocal information-sharing.
However, the Teachers' Council said it already checked arrangements with all the Australian state registration boards.
