Guide

Verification of Identity Standard: the steps in order

The VOI Standard for conveyancers and lawyers step by step: face to face, document categories, declarants, certifying, keeping evidence, and MPR v8 status.

By Matt Collis·Updated 13 November 2026·Reviewed 13 November 2026·8 min read

The Verification of Identity Standard is a face-to-face, in-person interview at which the person produces original documents from the highest category they can meet, the verifier checks likeness and currency, and copies are kept as evidence for 7 years from lodgment. It is optional, but if a Subscriber, a mortgagee it represents or a properly appointed Identity Agent carries it out properly, the Subscriber is deemed to have taken reasonable steps to verify identity.

This guide sits under our verification of identity hub. For the overview of VOI in Australian property deals, who needs it and common document questions, read VOI requirements in Australia. Here we go step by step through Schedule 8 of the Model Participation Rules, then cover where Version 8 stands.

Page one of Google for "verification of identity standard" is mostly land registry pages, ARNECC's rules and practitioner summaries of the category table. They reproduce the table. Few walk through the full interview in order, including the Identity Declarant route, agents, certification and evidence, or say where the Version 8 consultation has landed.

Step 1: choose your route

Model Participation Rule 6.5.2 lets a Subscriber, or a mortgagee it represents, either apply the Verification of Identity Standard or verify identity in some other way that constitutes the taking of reasonable steps. ARNECC's guidance describes reasonable steps as what an ordinarily prudent Subscriber would take in the circumstances, a question of fact a court decides objectively. Only the Standard carries the deeming. Decide the route before you meet the client, because the rest of the process follows from it.

Step 2: check whether you need to verify again

ARNECC's guidance says that if identity was verified within the previous two years, by the Standard or by other reasonable steps, you need not verify again, provided you take reasonable steps to confirm you are dealing with the same person. Review the earlier evidence to do that. You also need not re-verify a client with a current Client Authorisation if you met the requirements before signing under it.

Step 3: arrange the face-to-face interview

The Standard requires a face-to-face in-person interview between the Identity Verifier and the Person Being Identified. ARNECC says both must be physically present, and that video calls do not meet the Standard. If you choose another reasonable steps method that uses video, you carry the burden of justifying it, and ARNECC warns video can be manipulated.

Step 4: work through the categories in order

First decide whether the person is an Australian citizen or resident. If they are, use Categories 1 to 5. If not, use Category 6. Start at Category 1 and move down only when you are reasonably satisfied the higher category cannot be met. In every category, add a change of name or marriage certificate where names differ.

Category	Minimum documents (summary of Schedule 8)
1	Australian or foreign passport, or Australian Evidence of Immigration Status ImmiCard or Australian Migration Status ImmiCard, plus Australian driver licence or Photo Card
2	Passport or ImmiCard as above, plus full birth certificate, citizenship certificate or descent certificate, plus Medicare, Centrelink or Department of Veterans' Affairs card
3	Australian driver licence or Photo Card, plus full birth, citizenship or descent certificate, plus Medicare, Centrelink or DVA card
4	(a) Passport or ImmiCard plus another government issued photo identity document; or (b) passport or ImmiCard plus full birth certificate plus another government issued identity document
5	(a) Identifier Declaration plus full birth, citizenship or descent certificate plus Medicare, Centrelink or DVA card; or (b) Identifier Declaration by a listed professional plus Medicare, Centrelink or DVA card
6 (not a citizen or resident)	Foreign passport plus another government issued photo identity document, or the alternative set out in Schedule 8

Step 5: sight originals and check likeness

Sight the originals of every document produced.
Documents must be current. The one exception is an Australian passport that has not been cancelled and was current within the preceding two years.
Where documents carry photos, be satisfied the person is a reasonable likeness. Schedule 8 gives examples: the shape of the mouth, nose and eyes, and the position of the cheekbones.
Where names differ across documents and a change of name certificate does not apply, ARNECC says take reasonable steps to show it is the same person, such as sighting other documents or asking and recording why the names differ.

Step 6: use an Identity Declarant only when needed

Category 5 is for Australian residents who cannot meet Categories 1 to 4. An Identifier Declaration is a statutory declaration by someone who knows the person. Schedule 8 requires that:

the person and the Identity Declarant attend the same face-to-face interview;
you verify the Declarant's identity under the Standard, without using Category 5;
the Declarant is an adult, is not a relative and is not a party to the transaction;
for Category 5(b), the Declarant is from a listed group, including Australian legal practitioners, bank managers, community leaders, court officers, doctors, licensed conveyancers, nurses, police officers and public servants; and
the declaration records the Declarant's details, their relationship with the person, how long they have known them and that, to their knowledge, the person is who they claim to be.

Step 7: companies and attorneys

For a body corporate, confirm it exists, take reasonable steps to establish who is authorised to sign or witness the seal, and verify those individuals. For an attorney, confirm the donor and attorney from the power of attorney, take reasonable steps to establish it authorises the transaction, and verify the attorney (and, for a corporate attorney, the company steps as well).

Step 8: take further steps when something is off

Further steps are required where a document does not appear genuine, a photo is not a reasonable likeness, the person does not appear to be the person in the documents, or it is otherwise reasonable. ARNECC's examples of further steps include more documents, enquiries with the client or third parties, electronic verification of Australian documents, checking foreign documents against the issuing government's website, and an authorised translation.

Step 9: certify and keep the evidence

Copies. Schedule 8 requires the Identity Verifier to retain copies of all documents produced by the person and any Identity Declarant.
Identity Agents. If you appoint one, the appointment must be in writing, before the interview, and direct them to use the Standard. You must reasonably believe they are reputable, competent and insured. They give you an Identity Agent Certification in the Schedule 9 form, with copies of the documents signed, dated and endorsed as true copies. An agent who is not an Identity Agent does not attract the deeming.
Your certification. The Subscriber certifies in the registry instrument or document that reasonable steps were taken to verify identity.
Retention. ARNECC's guidance says evidence must be kept for seven years from lodgment and may be stored electronically, securely, in a form you could produce in court. MPR 6.6(d) is the retention rule.

How this sits with your AML/CTF duties

Since 1 July 2026, conveyancers and lawyers providing designated services also have anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing (AML/CTF) customer due diligence obligations. VOI and CDD are separate regimes with separate tests. One record point needs care: the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) says the AML/CTF Act does not require you to keep copies of identity documents, while the VOI Standard requires copies to be retained. Your retention policy should say which copies you keep, under which rule, and for how long.

Terms in this section

AML/CTF: Anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing. The Australian regime, run by AUSTRAC under the AML/CTF Act 2006, that requires regulated businesses to detect and report money laundering and terrorism financing.
CDD: Customer due diligence. The checks a reporting entity makes to know who its customer is and the risk they bring, before and while providing a service.
OAIC: Office of the Australian Information Commissioner. Australia's privacy and freedom of information regulator.

Where Model Participation Rules Version 8 stands

ARNECC published the Version 8 consultation draft, marked-up draft and explanatory notes on 25 May 2026, and held a stakeholder briefing on 19 June 2026. Consultation is closed.
A public submission on the draft cites the explanatory notes as anticipating commencement in October 2026. As at 5 November 2026 we found no adoption notice on ARNECC's site, and Version 7 remains the current published version.
A public submission from the OpenID Foundation's Australian Digital Trust Community Group reads the draft's identity changes as housekeeping: excluding in-house conveyancers and lawyers from the Identity Agent definition, clarifying the two-year re-verification point, requiring Identity Agents to be directed to use the Standard, extending the Identity Agent Certification to mortgagees and strengthening Identity Agent insurance. It says Schedule 8 keeps the face-to-face model and the draft does not address digital identity.

Until a jurisdiction adopts new Participation Rules, follow the rules in force where the land is.

What StackGo does here

IdentityCheck is a remote biometric check: a photo of a government ID document plus a live selfie with liveness (Verify). It is not a face-to-face interview, so it does not apply the Verification of Identity Standard, and a firm that uses it relies on the "some other way that constitutes reasonable steps" route and decides for itself whether that is reasonable. In Australia, government document verification through the Document Verification Service (DVS) is an add-on, quoted on request. StackGo is not an Identity Agent and does not give Schedule 9 certifications or legal advice.

Frequently asked questions

Is the Verification of Identity Standard mandatory?

No. ARNECC says it is not mandatory, but properly applying it by a Subscriber, a represented mortgagee or an Identity Agent is deemed to be reasonable steps.

Can I do VOI over video?

Not under the Standard. A video call can form part of another reasonable steps method, at the Subscriber's risk.

How long do I keep VOI evidence?

Seven years from lodgment, according to ARNECC's guidance.

Has Version 8 replaced Version 7?

Not as at 5 November 2026. Consultation closed and no adoption notice had been published.

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