Why MyGovID?

MyGovID is a personal identifier that will be relevant for an increasing number of government agencies and services and is entirely separate from an individual’s myGov account. It is designed to be a digital equivalent to providing “100 points of ID” to government agencies to prove your identity and will therefore provide more functionality than the existing AUSKey technology.

Unlike AUSKey, myGovID is not tied to any one device and instead allows you to access the relevant services like the ATO’s portal from anywhere and from any device once you have set up your account and your MyGovID app.

MyGovID uses encryption and cryptographic technology as well as the security features in your device, such as fingerprint, face or password which enhances security beyond what is currently provided via AUSKey.

Setting up myGovID

Each person that has an AUSkey needs to setup a myGovID account. To setup your myGovID you need to do the following:

Step 1: Download the app onto your mobile device;

Step 2: Enter your name, date of birth and email address; and

Step 3: Add the details of at least two Australian identity documents, such as a:

• passport (not more than three years expired)
• driver’s licence (including learner permit)
• birth certificate
• Medicare card.

Once you have entered the details of at least 2 identifying documents, the app will change your Identity Strength from Basic to Standard. This will enable you to take the next steps and link one or more businesses to your myGovID account.

See https://www.mygovid.gov.au/how-do-i-get-set-up for more instructions on setting up your myGovID.

Important note about your password: If you forget your MyGovID password and click on the link “I forgot my password” in the app, this will delete your authenticated identity and you will need to re-identify yourself. Therefore please make sure that you remember your myGovID password even if you use fingerprint or face ID as the app will require you to re-confirm your password from time to time.

Linking Businesses

If you are the principal authority (primary person) of a business, such as an individual who is also a:

• Sole trader;
• Partner in a partnership;
• Trustee of a trust; or
• Director or public officer of a company,

then you will be able to link your associated businesses through the Relationship Authorisation Manager (RAM), but only once you have set up your MyGovID and reached a Standard level of Identity Strength as described above.

After you have entered your personal details into RAM and followed the prompts, any businesses that have been matched to you from the Australian Business Register (ABR) will appear in your list of linked businesses.

A business may have more than one primary person, but only one needs to complete the linking process to proceed to the next step – granting access to the business account to other users.

Assigning access to other users

Once the primary person has linked their own myGovID to the business, they can then grant access to the business account to other users who have their own myGovID accounts. This is done through the “View or manage authorisations, machine credentials and cloud software notifications” menu in the RAM.

When granting access rights to other people in the RAM, you will need to ensure that each user’s name entered in the RAM matches exactly the name in that user’s own myGovID login.

You can find more information about myGovID at https://www.mygovid.gov.au/.

If you have any questions in relation to setting up your myGovID, linking businesses or assigning access to other users, please contact our office.

DISCLAIMER:

Liability limited by a scheme approved under Professional Standards Legislation.

The content of this newsletter is general in nature. It does not constitute specific advice and readers are encouraged to consult their Ruddicks adviser on any matters of interest. Ruddicks accepts no liability for errors or omissions, or for any loss or damage suffered as a result of any person acting without such advice. This information is current as at 03 March 2020, and was published around that time. Ruddicks particularly accepts no obligation or responsibility for updating this publication for events, including changes to the law, the Australian Taxation Office’s interpretation of the law, or Government announcements arising after that time.

Any advice provided is not ‘financial product advice’ as defined by the Corporations Act. Ruddicks is not licensed to provide financial product advice and taxation is only one of the matters that you need to consider when making a decision on a financial product. You should consider seeking advice from an Australian Financial Services licensee before making any decisions in relation to a financial product. © Ruddicks 2020