The Criminal Records (Clean Slate) Act 2004 is an Act of Parliament in New Zealand administered by the Ministry of Justice. It allows for a criminal record to be hidden from the public if the person is eligible. At the time the act was passed, the Ministry of Justice estimated that it may be applicable to 500,000 people (an eighth of the country's population at the time), the majority of which committed a minor offence in their youth. In 2015 it was reported that just over 220,000 people have had their convictions wiped since the Act was introduced in 2004.