Evidence of identity and authority

Under the Right to Information Act 2009 (Qld) (RTI Act) if an application includes any documents containing the applicant’s personal information then the applicant must provide evidence of their identity. Under the Information Privacy Act 2009 (Qld) (IP Act), all applications must be accompanied by the applicant’s evidence of identity.¹

If the applicant has someone (referred to as an agent) make one of these applications on their behalf, the agent must also provide evidence of their identity, as well as evidence of their authority to act as an agent for the applicant.²

Application is noncompliant

If the evidence of identity and/or authority does not satisfy the legislative requirements (for example, the copy of evidence of identity is not certified or has information blacked out, or the agent's authorisation has not been suitably established) then the agency should follow the noncompliant application process.

The processing period does not begin until the agency has a compliant application, but it is important that agencies contact the applicant as soon as possible if evidence of identity or authority does not comply with the Act.

What forms of ID are valid?

The RTI and IP Act accept the same kinds of identity documents for the applicant and the agent. Valid forms of ID under the RTI and IP Act are documents ‘verifying the person's identity'.⁴ This includes:

• a passport
• a copy of a birth certificate or extract
• a drivers licence - see below for information on digital drivers licences
• a statutory declaration from an individual who has known the person for at least one year
• for a prisoner only: a copy of a prisoner’s identity card that is certified by a Corrective Services officer.

This list is not exhaustive and other documents may also satisfy the requirement to provide evidence of an applicant’s or agent’s identity, such as an adult proof of age card.  If a lawyer is acting as the agent, a letter printed on the law firm's letterhead and signed by the principal of the firm may be sufficient to verify a legal representative’s identity as the agent.

For documents with an expiry date, eg a drivers licence, if it has expired, it is not valid ID for an RTI or IP application.⁵

Evidence of agent’s authority

Documents that will establish an agent's authority may include:⁶

• a will or court order appointing the agent to act as the applicant’s guardian
• the client agreement authorising a legal practitioner to act for an applicant
• evidence the agent is the child’s parent⁷

This not an exhaustive list and other documents can establish an agent’s authority.

Generally, evidence of an agent's authority should:

• be in writing
• be current⁸
• state the full name of the applicant and the name of the agent
• set out the scope of the authority to act as the applicant's agent; and
• be signed and dated by the applicant and agent.

Ways of providing evidence of identity and authority

Original identification sighted by agency

If the agency has public facing offices, the original identification documents could be shown to an agency officer, who could make a file note confirming the original documents have been sighted. There is also an area on the application form where the officer and confirm the original identification was sighted.

There is no need to copy the evidence of identity document, however, the agency may wish to take a copy of an agent authority.

Certified copies

The most common method of providing evidence of identity is by way of a certified copy. A copy of the evidence of identity document must be certified as a correct copy of the original by a ‘qualified witness’ which means a Justice of the Peace, lawyer, Commissioner for Declarations or notary public.⁹ Under no circumstances can a qualified witness certify their own identification.

As noted above, the entire identity document must be provided, with no information redacted from the certified copy, for it to be valid under the RTI and IP Act.

There is no requirement for a copy of an agent’s authority to be certified by a qualified witness.

Digital drivers licences

The Queensland Digital Licence app (the app) allows people to store Queensland Department of Transport issued identification, eg drivers licences and adult proof of age cards, on their mobile device.

Due to the specific requirements of the RTI and IP Regulations, to be used as evidence of identity for an access or amendment application, the digital identity must be displayed to the agency.¹⁰ This means agencies can sight evidence of identity documents contained in the official Queensland government app instead of a physical drivers licence,¹¹ but if a copy of the identity document, eg drivers licence or proof of age card, is being provided as evidence of identity, it must be an appropriately certified copy of the physical card.

However, the Regulations' list of acceptable identification documents is not exhaustive. It is open to an agency to accept the PDF which can be exported from the app¹² if it has been certified by a qualified witness and the agency is satisfied it evidences the individual's identity.

Other states and territories, such as New South Wales, have developed similar apps. Agencies considering digital evidence of identity issued by other states or territories should refer to information provided by the relevant state or territory, to ensure they are able to satisfy themselves of its authenticity. See for example: Licence checkers and the NSW Digital Driver Licence.

Providing electronic copies

The RTI Act and the IP Act do not specify how copies of evidence of identity documents are to be given to an agency.  If the agency allows, they can be provided electronically, such as by email or fax.

The Electronic Transactions (Queensland) Act 2001¹³ provides that where a State law requires or permits the production of a paper document an electronic version may be provided if the following conditions are met:¹⁴

• The method used to produce the electronic copy of the document ensures the integrity of the document’s information, ie the information is complete and unaltered, apart from immaterial or endorsed changes.
• The information in the electronic document will be readily accessible for subsequent reference.
• The person the paper document is to be given to agree to receive an electronic copy of the document.

It is up to each agency to decide whether it is appropriate to accept identity documents electronically, taking into account any general restrictions about receipt of sensitive personal information documents. However allowing these documents to be provided electronically can help simplify the application process.

Dealing with a second agent

On some applications which have an applicant and agent, or a parent applying on behalf of their child, the agent or parent will ask someone else to deal with the agency. This ‘second agent’ will often, but not always, be a lawyer. Sometimes, particularly in the case of a parent applying on behalf of a child, it may be another family member.

There is nothing in the RTI or IP Act that prevents this. For these applications, agencies will need to first satisfy the identity and authority requirements of the RTI or IP Act in relation to the applicant and agent or parent and child. Then they will need to decide, as a matter of policy, what they require to satisfy themselves that the second agent is properly authorised to represent the parent or agent.

Where the applicant is a child, written confirmation from the parent that the second agent is acting for them may be sufficient. Where the applicant is an adult, the agency may want confirmation from the applicant as well as the first agent that the second agent is authorised to deal with the agency in relation to the application. Where the second agent is a lawyer, confirmation on firm letterhead that the lawyer is acting for the agent or parent may be enough to satisfy the agency.

Applications for access to non-personal information

If none of the documents being applied for contain the applicant's personal information:

• the applicant does not need to provide evidence of their identity; and
• an agent does not need to provide evidence of identity or evidence of authority to act for the applicant.

However, if an agent applies for sensitive information about the applicant, such as confidential information about a company they claim to be acting for, and the agency has concerns about the agent's authority to act, then those concerns may be taken into account when making the access decision.

Before doing so, however, it would be reasonable for the agency to speak with the agent, explaining those concerns and the possible ramifications for the decision, and ask them to provide proof of their authority to act for the applicant. The agent is not required to provide this evidence, and the application will be valid even if they refuse, as it is not a requirement of the RTI Act.