Online Screening Applications

In reply to Ms SANDERSON (Adelaide) (6 May 2015).

The Hon. Z.L. BETTISON (Ramsay—Minister for Communities and Social Inclusion, Minister for Social Housing, Minister for the Status of Women, Minister for Ageing, Minister for Multicultural Affairs, Minister for Youth, Minister for Volunteers): I have been advised:

The Department for Communities and Social Inclusion (DCSI) has established an online application form for screening which commenced on 28 July 2015. The Australian Government's Document Verification Service (DVS) is used to verify identity. DVS is a secure system that operates 24/7 and matches key details contained on Australian-issued credentials, providing a 'yes' or 'no' answer within seconds. This is a national on-line system that allows organisations to compare a customer's identifying information with a government record.

The DVS is an initiative led by the Australian Government and used across Australia, both for private and government organisations.

The DVS provides authorised organisations with a means to electronically verify identity information issued by government organisations in Australia. The DVS is supported by all Australian Governments as part of the National Identity Security Strategy.

This service seeks to reduce identity fraud and theft by providing information if the identification document has been cancelled and suspended.

The applicant will create a secure login account with a user name and password for their account in the DCSI Screening System. The applicant will complete their identification verification process through the DVS system. To complete this section of the online form, the application will need a birth certificate, Australian citizen certificate or a passport and a driver's licence. These documents are immediately verified through the DVS with the relevant government organisations.

If applicants don't have the required identification documents they can:

take their identification documents to the organisation that they will be working or volunteering with and that organisation can view the documents in person and complete the identity verification process through the system on their behalf; or

print the application form and get their identity verified by an authorised person and then send the form to the DCSI Screening Unit.

Online applications will not be signed as they are completed online in a secure environment, through an individual secure user-identification and initiated by a requesting organisation. Each applicant is required to accept a declaration statement before submitting the application form, to secure the approval of submission of the application.