Understanding certification standards and requirements

Depending on the structure of the account, you may be required to submit certified copies of documents.

To ensure supporting documents are current and correctly certified, please refer to the certification requirements.

Common issues that delay processing include:

• Certification is older than 12 months or undated
• ID document provided has expired (i.e. an expired driver licence)
• Certifier’s years of service isn’t provided
• Certifier’s capacity is missing
• Certification, or certifier's signature, is digital.
• Certifier wasn’t an independent person. For example, they were:
  • a related party to the individual customer (e.g. parent, child, sibling, spouse etc.)
  • a related party to the non-individual customer (e.g. beneficial owner, signatory to an account, director, trustee, beneficiary etc.)
  • the customer
• Previously certified documents were re-certified.

We can only accept government issued photo ID documents (e.g. passport, driver licence, proof of age card). 

Your client's ID must be valid and not expired, unless their ID document is an Australian Passport that hasn't been expired for more than two years. 

See Verifying your identity via certified documents in Personal Help Centre for a list of acceptable ID documents.

For documents to meet the certification requirements, the document must clearly be certified as a true copy of the original by an appropriate person. Each certified copy document must be certified separately and must show clearly:

• the date of Certification (which is to be no more than 12 months old at the time of acceptance by Macquarie)
• the words "I certify that this is a true copy of the original document which I have sighted"
• the signature of the certifying officer
• the full name of the certifying officer
• the certifying officer’s provider/registration number (if applicable), and
• the certifying officer’s profession/qualification and years of service (required if specified for the profession/qualification below), legibly printed below the signature.

Please note, if the document doesn’t meet the standards, we ask that you do not rely on the document to complete ID verification. Instead, you’ll need to ask your client to provide another fresh copy of the certified document (meaning the original certified copy cannot be amended).

As a financial adviser, you may be qualified to certify your client’s photo ID. 

For other acceptable occupations please refer to Verifying your ID via certified documents in Personal Help Centre. 

How do I confirm years of service?

Please note, where a certifier’s capacity is based on two or more years of service, this must be confirmed in the certification statement. 

For example, if the document was certified by a Bank Officer, the certification should look similar to the below:
 

If there are multiple pages, it’s recommended industry practice for the certifier to use the following suggested wording on the first page of the document:

“I certify that this is a true copy of the original document which includes xx pages which I have sighted.” 

Subsequent pages can be signed and dated by the certifier and don’t need to contain the full certification statement. This is to clearly demonstrate that each page of the document (including pages that include trust name, trustees, beneficiaries or membership class and execution page) has been certified to be a true copy of the original. 

Note, for a copy of a driver’s licence, only the front of the licence needs to be certified. 

Where a client cannot have documents certified by a person in Australia as listed above, certification can be completed by the following persons in a foreign country:

• Australian Consular Officer, being one of the following offices:
  • Consul-General
  • Consul
  • Vice-Consul
  • Trade Representative
  • Consular Agent
• Australian Diplomatic Officer, being one of the following offices:
  • Ambassador
  • High Commissioner
  • Minister
  • Head of a Mission
  • Commissioner
  • Chargé d’Affaires
  • Counsellor, Secretary or Attaché at an Embassy, High Commissioner’s office, Legation or other post
• Employee of the Australian Trade and Investment Commission (Austrade) who is:
  • authorised, in writing, by the Secretary of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) to collect fees for consular acts; and
  • exercising the employee’s function at that place
• Employee of the Commonwealth of Australia who is:
  • authorised, in writing, by the Secretary of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) to collect fees for consular acts; and
  • exercising the employee’s function at that place
• Notary public (however described)
• Any other person who is authorised by law in a foreign country to administer oaths or affirmations or to authenticate document.