Guide to 100 points of ID for Australian homebuyers

Applying for a home loan involves a lot of paperwork. 

It means answering numerous questions – sometimes repeatedly – to assure a bank or lender you’re capable of managing the repayments comfortably.

Equally crucial is verifying your identity. 

Banks and lenders must ensure a home loan is not mistakenly attributed to the wrong person, as such a mistake could complicate your application and adversely affect someone else's financial standing.

On top of that, financial institutions have a responsibility to make sure people using their services aren’t engaging in terrorist activities or money laundering. Part of that responsibility is making sure those who sign up to their products are who they say they are.

That means a bank or lender will demand that you provide enough identification to ensure you are, in fact, you.

Many Australian businesses and governments measure the quality and quantity of identification documents with a points system, with certain documents commanding a higher points value than others, and Aussies asked to provide 100 points of identification in total. 

How many points a certain type of identification document commands can vary between lenders, states, and processes. 

What are 100 points of ID?

Australia’s ‘100 points’ system for establishing the true identity of individuals has been around for decades, having seemingly been established in the 1980s on the birth of the Financial Transaction Reports Act. 

It is governed by federal regulations, but might not be uniform throughout Australia. So, what counts as 100 points of ID for a bank in Western Australia, might not be considered enough for a lender in NSW.

For instance, an Australian passport appears to carry 70 points of ID with the Victorian Government, but apparently only 50 with the Queensland Government.

Primary documents and secondary identification documents

Generally speaking, government-issued documents are called primary documents. These are things like passports and driver licences.

However, you’ll usually need to provide an institution with some secondary documents too. 

Here are some of the most common identity documents that you can use to verify your ID:

Primary documents

• Birth certificate
• Driver licence
• Passport
• Certificate of citizenship
• Visa
• Tertiary student card
• Government employee or Defence Force ID card

Secondary documents

• Licence or permit, such as a boating and or shooting licence
• Council rates notice
• Utility bill addressed to you
• Marriage certificate 
• Change of name certificate
• Credit or EFTPOS card
• Medicare card

Typically, not all primary documents will offer the same number of points, and it's the same with secondary documents.

For instance, a person applying for a National Police check can realise 70 points of ID by providing their passport and another 40 points for handing over their Australian driver licence. Meanwhile, a Medicare card is worth 25 points and a utility bill just 20 points.

On the other hand, Queensland's births, deaths, and marriages division counts a passport as 50 points of ID while a driver licence is worth 60 points.  

How many ID documents do I need to provide?

Once again, there are often discrepancies around how many primary and secondary documents a person needs to provide to prove their identity around Australia, and various banks and lenders might use various methods.

Take for instance, South Australia. The SA Police demand a person providing 100 points of ID hand over at least one primary identification document, at least one that includes your signature and photograph, and also provide a document proving their address. 

Now, all of those demands would be met on the provision of a typical Australian driver licence, but that would only worth 40 points in SA. Therefore, a person proving their ID using a driver licence will need to offer up at least one more document. 

Here are the ID requirements of Australia’s largest bank, CommBank, for new customers:

At least one photo ID document, like:	Or two non-photo ID documents, like:	Or one non-photo ID document and one of these:
Australian or international passport	Australian or foreign birth certificate	A notice from the Commonwealth or your state or territory showing your name, address, and financial benefits (issued within the past 12 months)
Current physical Australian or New Zealand driver licence	Australian or foreign citizenship certificate	Australian Tax Office (ATO) notice showing your name and address (issued within the past 12 months)
Foreign national ID card	Centrelink or Department of Veterans’ Affairs pension or health care card	Utilities notice from a local government or utility provider showing your name, address, and services (issued within the past 3 months)
Australian proof of age card	Australian driver’s licence (if it doesn’t include a photo)	Overseas driver licence
NSW photo card/birth card or WA photo card		Commonwealth/State or territory security guard/crowd safety officer ID card
Government-issued firearms licence

CommBank asks that all documents are original or certified copies, and a person needs a Change of Name certificate if they’ve changed their name. 

For those new to Australia or holding tax residency outside of Australia, a passport, Tax Identification Number (TIN) for each country of tax residency, and student ID or letter of enrolment are required. If those documents aren’t in English, they’ll need to be translated by an accredited translator.

_{Photo by Spencer Davis on Unsplash}