The standard document set
Nearly every register works to a points-style check: one primary photo identity document, one secondary document, and proof of your current residential address.
Primary documents are an Australian passport, driver licence or birth certificate. Secondary documents include a Medicare card, citizenship certificate or a government concession card. Proof of address is a recent utility bill, bank statement or rates notice in your name.
Copies usually need to be certified by an authorised person - a pharmacist, police officer, accountant, justice of the peace or Australia Post outlet. Never send original documents by post.
Linking yourself to the money
As well as proving who you are, you must show the record belongs to you. The strongest evidence is a document with the old account number or the address the record is held against.
Useful items include old bank statements or passbooks, share certificates and holder identification numbers, superannuation member statements, payslips, tenancy agreements and bond receipts.
If you have nothing, say so. Registers can often verify a match from your date of birth and address history alone, particularly for smaller amounts.
When your name or address has changed
Provide the document that connects the two names: a marriage certificate, divorce order, deed poll or change of name certificate issued by births, deaths and marriages.
For addresses, list every address you have lived at going back as far as the record. A statutory declaration setting out your address history is commonly accepted where you have no documents from that time.
Claiming for someone else
For a deceased person you need the death certificate plus probate, letters of administration, or a statutory declaration as next of kin for smaller sums.
For someone living who cannot claim themselves, you need a valid power of attorney or a guardianship or administration order, along with your own identity documents.
For a company, you need evidence of your authority to act - usually an ASIC company extract showing you as a director.
Tip: Get your copies certified once, then use the same certified set for every claim you lodge.
Common questions
Official sources
This guide is based on the official Australian registers and the bodies that administer them. Always search and claim through these sites directly - they are free.