Verifying Your Identity

Occasionally, AvSuper requires verification of your identity to help us process and administer your membership; for example, by law we need to verify your identify before we release any money.

The following information outlines the verification process.

AvSuper is required by law to verify the identity of members before we process some transactions, such as certain withdrawal claims, or income stream (pension) applications.

The Trustee generally requires members to verify their identity electronically at the time of making the transaction request. Thus, even if you have provided evidence before, we must request it again for future withdrawal requests.

Electronic identity verification

Our withdrawal and Income Stream application forms request some details from specific ID documents (your passport or Australian drivers licence or Medicare). We then electronically confirm those details against Australian Government databases.

While electronic identity verification is more secure for members and provides for faster processing, certified identification is available for those members unable to meet electronic identity verification.

Getting a certified copy of your documents

We understand that some members are unable to provide electronic verification details (for example if you don’t have a passport or drivers licence). In this case, you may be able to provide us with certified copies of specific identification documents.

What certified documents can be used for identity verification?

If the original document is not in English, we will also need certified copies of a professionally translated version and a certificate of accuracy.

What is a certified copy?

A certified copy is one that an approved person (see below) has verified that it is a genuine copy of the original document. Each and every page must include the phrase “certified true copy” and the signature, name and qualification of the approved person, plus the date of certification. Using certified copies means that you keep the original but we can be sure of the authenticity of the information.

Who is an approved person?

The following people can certify copies of the originals as ‘true and correct copies’:

• A financial adviser or financial planner
• A finance company officer with 5 or more continuous years of service with one or more finance companies (for the purposes of the Statutory Declaration Regulations 2018)

NOTE: Most AvSuper staff meet this requirement so we can assist you with certifying copies of original documents in our Canberra office or when we visit other locations.

• A Justice of the Peace
• A person enrolled on the roll of the Supreme Court of a State or Territory or the High Court of Australia as a legal practitioner
• A judge or magistrate of a court
• A police officer
• Certain medical practitioners including a pharmacist, dentist, nurse, psychologist and optometrist
• A member of State, Territory, Local or Federal Government
• A teacher employed full or part-time by a school or tertiary education institution
• An agent or permanent employee of the Australian Postal Corporation with 5 or more years of continuous service in an office supplying postal services to the public
• A member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Australia, CPA Australia, the Association of Taxation and Management Accountants or the Institute of Public Accountants

The Statutory Declaration Regulations (2018, schedule 2) lists all qualifications currently accepted for certification of documents.