criminal record in NZ & finding work
Hi everyone,
As the title suggests, I’m a 501 deportee from Australia.
I had a pretty rough childhood and got involved in a lot of petty crime as a teenager. At times, I would even commit offences just so I had somewhere to sleep. Looking back now, I know how stupid that was.
In 2014, when I was 18, I got into a fight and was charged with assault. That was my first and last adult conviction. I was sentenced to 12 months, consisting of 7 months in prison and 5 months on probation. After completing my sentence, I was deported to New Zealand, a country I hadn’t lived in since I was around four years old.
Being deported was a major wake-up call and motivated me to turn my life around. After returning to New Zealand, I found work at a factory and was doing well. Unfortunately, by the age of 21, I began losing my hearing and experiencing severe episodes of vertigo. These health issues eventually cost me my job, and the same thing happened with every job I found afterwards. During vertigo attacks, I became a safety risk in the workplace, and the attacks could last for weeks or even months at a time.
Desperate for answers, I started researching my condition myself. I saw ENT specialists, audiologists, and neurologists, but none of them could provide a diagnosis. Eventually, I decided to go to university in the hope that gaining more knowledge might help me understand what was happening to me.
After four years of study, I learned a great deal about my condition and possible vestibular disorders. However, I’m still no closer to finding a diagnosis or a treatment that allows me to live and work normally.
I feel completely stuck. Many of the jobs that are more willing to overlook a criminal record involve standing for long periods or physical work, but my condition makes that extremely difficult. I had hoped to continue my education, possibly through a Master's degree related to vestibular therapy or rehabilitation, so that I could deepen my understanding and perhaps help my doctors find answers, better yet, share that information with people going through similar situations. Unfortunately, many of these programs and the careers that follow have restrictions regarding criminal records.
As a result, I now have a degree that I struggle to use, ongoing health issues that limit my ability to work, and a criminal record that continues to affect opportunities more than a decade after my last offence.
If it weren't for my illness, I would simply do whatever work I could and get on with life. But right now, I feel as though I've done everything I can to move forward, only to keep running into barriers. It honestly feels like my life is at a standstill, and I don't know where to go from here. I am now 30 years old, turning 31. I am not asking for sympathy, I know my past comes with consequences, and im willing to deal with it. Looking back at my past, I myself struggle to understand why I did any of it, because the me today would never do anything like that. Honestly I would rather pass, than hurt anyone and moving backwards from what ive complete thus far, gives me immense fear. Unfortunately, I didn't come to an awakening earlier, but im glad I had one regardless. So any ideas on similar work I could do? Thanks all for reading.