How to prove your identity for natural disaster support

You need to prove your identity with us by giving us certain documents or using your Digital ID before you can claim a payment or service.

If you have proven your identity with us before, you don’t need to prove it again to claim a natural disaster payment.

If you want to claim a payment or concession, you need a Centrelink Customer Reference Number (CRN). You can get a CRN by proving who you are with us in one of the following ways:

• online
• over the phone
• in person at a service centre.

We also need to confirm we’re speaking to the right person and the owner or authorised representative of the record we’re accessing. We do this each time you contact us by either:

• asking questions only you or your authorised representative should know the answer to
• checking photo identification in person at a service centre.

We call your authorised representative a correspondence nominee.

We cannot discuss any business with you until we’ve confirmed who you are. We call this authentication.

Authentication is an important step in preventing fraud and protecting your privacy. It ensures we’re accessing the right customer record. It also stops other people from accessing your information or pretending to be you.

If you have a password on your record, we’ll also ask you to confirm that each time before doing any business with you.

How to prove who you are

You can prove who you are for a natural disaster support payment by giving us an identity document or using your Digital ID.

If you have lost your identification in the disaster, call us on the Emergency information line. We can still help you.

Identity documents

To prove who you are for a natural disaster support payment, you can give us an identity document. We need both sides of the document to prove your identity.

You or your Centrelink correspondence nominee need to give us one of the following:

• your Australian birth certificate
• Australian citizenship certificate
• Australian citizenship by descent certificate
• Australian driver licence
• Australian marriage certificate
• Australian passport
• Australian visa
• Certificate of identity
• Document of identity
• ImmiCard.

Learn more about how you can have someone to act for you.

You or your Centrelink correspondence nominee need to provide the document in one of the following ways:

• online using your Centrelink online account through myGov or your Express Plus Centrelink mobile app
• over the phone
• in person at a service centre or agent.

We check the document details with the issuing authority to confirm they match.

You or your Centrelink correspondence nominee can call us to prove your identity. If we can verify your Centrelink correspondence nominee over the phone, we’ll accept your identity details and tell them if we need anything else.

Digital ID

You can prove your identity online using your Digital ID.

You can connect a strong level Digital ID to your myGov account. If you use a strong Digital ID to prove who you are, you won’t need to contact us about your identity.

myID is currently the only Digital ID provider that offers the strong level Digital ID needed for Centrelink.

Download and use the myID app to get a strong level Digital ID. You’ll need to enter details from your identity documents and verify your photo.

Find out how to download and set up the myID app on the myID website.

How to avoid scams and fraud

It’s important to be aware of scams and fraud during natural disasters. We may need to contact you for more information about your identity, but there are some things we don’t do. Find out how to avoid scams and fraud.