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Kooky
Builder of Shaka, the payment router that pays every agent their commission on closing date.
About Kooky and Shaka →Somewhere between signing a contract and settlement day, a Queensland buyer or seller is asked to bring a passport and a driver licence to an appointment, in person, with the originals. People who have dealt with the same law firm for years are sometimes surprised to be asked. People who live interstate or overseas wonder why a scan sent by email is not enough.
The request has a precise origin. In an electronic settlement the client never signs the transfer or the mortgage that reaches the titles register. The lawyer or conveyancer signs it digitally, and the rules that allow this put a matching duty on that professional: to take reasonable steps to be sure the person giving instructions is who they say they are. The check is called verification of identity, often shortened to VOI.
This guide explains that duty as the national guidance describes it. Its main source is Guidance Note 2 on verification of identity, published by the Australian Registrars' National Electronic Conveyancing Council (ARNECC), in the version updated in August 2024 to align with version 7 of the Model Participation Rules. It covers the legal test, the optional Standard that works as a safe harbour, the meeting in person, the document categories, who may carry out the check, what happens when a person is overseas or has few documents, how long a verification lasts and what is kept. A last part compares it with the rules for witnessing paper titles forms. The guidance note says of itself that it is not legal advice and overrides neither the law nor the rules, and the same is true of this guide.
Related readWorkspace, subscriber, signer: an e-conveyancing glossary for QueenslandSource: ARNECC, Model Participation Rules Guidance Note 2, Verification of Identity, updated August 2024.
Where the duty comes from
Electronic conveyancing runs under the Electronic Conveyancing National Law, which Queensland applies as its own law. The national law defines a subscriber as a person authorised under a participation agreement to use an electronic lodgment network to complete conveyancing transactions. In practice the subscribers are law firms, conveyancing practices and lenders. The same law says the participation rules are the rules determined under its section 23, and ARNECC publishes the national model on which they are built.
It is those rules, the guidance note explains, that require a subscriber to take reasonable steps to verify identity. The list of people covered is longer than buyers and sellers. It takes in clients, mortgagors (borrowers giving a mortgage), persons to whom a certificate of title is handed, and the subscriber's own people: the signers who hold a digital certificate, the subscriber administrators, and other users of the network.
The reason is structural. A paper transfer carried the handwritten signature of the owner, made in front of a witness. An electronic transfer carries the digital signature of a professional. If an impostor instructed that professional, the register would record a dealing the true owner never agreed to. Verification of identity is the control placed at the only point where the true owner and the system meet: the client's dealings with their own representative.
The subscriber then puts its name to the result. The guidance note records that a subscriber must give a certification, in the registry instrument or document itself, that reasonable steps have been taken to verify identity.
Related readFour doors, no counter: how a document reaches Queensland's land registerWhat "reasonable steps" means
The duty is not to follow a fixed checklist. It is to take reasonable steps, and the guidance note gives the measure: such steps as an ordinarily prudent subscriber or mortgagee would have taken in the circumstances and in the ordinary course of business.
Two consequences follow. The first is that the answer depends on the case. The note says whether reasonable steps were taken is a question of fact, and that ultimately a court would decide it on an objective basis. The second is that context counts. Among the things the note lists as relevant are how long the subscriber has known the person and whether it has acted for them before.
That does not exempt the long-standing client. The note takes the example of a practitioner who has known a client for more than 30 years and says this may be a situation in which the practitioner decides the requirement is met by those years of dealings. The decision, and the need to justify it later, stay with the practitioner. That explains why many firms ask everyone for the same documents, whoever they are.
The Standard as a safe harbour
Because "reasonable" is judged afterwards, the rules offer a defined route. Schedule 8 of the Model Participation Rules contains the Verification of Identity Standard. The guidance note is explicit about its status: the Standard is not mandatory. But if it is properly carried out by one of the categories of people the rules allow, the subscriber is deemed to have taken reasonable steps.
That deeming is the safe harbour. A subscriber that follows the Standard does not have to argue that its own method was prudent. A subscriber that uses another method may be perfectly compliant, but carries the task of showing it.
Related readReserved, lodged, paid: how purchase money crosses between banksThe protection has a condition. Where there is a dispute, the note says, the subscriber will be required to prove that the Standard was properly carried out. A form with ticked boxes and no evidence behind it would not do that. The note also allows the Standard to be applied in whole or in part: a law firm may, for instance, confirm for itself who is authorised to sign for a company and have an agent conduct the meeting with the company's officers.
The meeting in person
The centre of the Standard is an interview. The person verifying must conduct a face-to-face, in-person interview with the person being identified, and the guidance note spells out that both must be physically present.
- Originals on the tableThe person produces original documents from the highest category they are able to supply.
- Currency checkedDocuments must be current. An Australian passport that expired within the last two years is the one exception.
- Face comparedThe verifier checks that each photograph reasonably corresponds with the person in the room.
The guidance note links the interview to the next document in the file. Ideally, it says, the form that authorises the lawyer to sign for the client is signed at the same time as identity is verified, so that the firm knows the form was signed by the person it identified. Where the two cannot happen together, the subscriber has to take reasonable steps to make sure the person signing is the person who was identified, for example by going back to the verification documents.
The note deals directly with video calls. Using video technology, it says, would not amount to a face-to-face in-person interview, and does not allow original documents to be produced and sighted. A video call therefore cannot deliver the safe harbour.
A call on a screen sits outside the Standard, though not outside the rules
Where a subscriber is not using the Standard, the guidance note accepts that video may be useful in particular circumstances. The subscriber must then be able to justify that video, with whatever else it did, amounted to reasonable steps. ARNECC adds that video may be manipulated or forged, and that its use is at the subscriber's discretion and risk.
The document categories
The Standard ranks identity documents in six categories. The guidance note describes the logic without reproducing the full table, which sits in Schedule 8, and this guide follows the note.
Related readPaper or screen: the nine dealings Queensland lawyers must lodge onlineThe first question is whether the person is an Australian citizen or resident. If so, categories 1 to 5 are used. If not, category 6 is used.
Within categories 1 to 5 the rule is a strict order of preference. The highest category available must be used. A lower one may be relied on only when the person does not hold the documents the higher one requires, or those documents have expired. A person with a current passport and licence cannot choose to be identified on lesser documents because they are easier to find.
Three further points from the note matter to ordinary clients:
- Names that changed. A change of name or marriage certificate is to be produced where it applies. Where documents from different government bodies show variant names and there has been no official change, the verifier must take reasonable steps to be sure they belong to one and the same person.
- Digital cards. A digital driver licence, digital photo card or digital government benefit card may satisfy the Standard if the law of the jurisdiction permits. The subscriber still has to keep evidence of it, such as a screenshot or another copy.
- The last category for residents. Category 5 relies on an identifier declaration: a statutory declaration by a person who knows the person being identified. The person making it, called the identity declarant, must have their own identity verified under the Standard, and cannot in turn be vouched for by a further declarant.
Who may carry out the check
The guidance note names three kinds of verifier whose work brings the deeming provision into play.
The first is the subscriber. Where the subscriber is an organisation, any duly authorised person in it may conduct the verification, so the person across the desk may be a solicitor, a conveyancer or a trained member of staff.
The second is a mortgagee. A lender that is not itself a subscriber, but is represented by one, may apply the Standard to its borrower. The firm acting for an incoming lender must then verify the borrower's identity unless it is reasonably satisfied that the lender has taken reasonable steps to do so.
The third is an identity agent, appointed by the subscriber or the mortgagee. The note attaches conditions to that appointment:
- It is made in writing, before the agent meets the person being identified, and it directs the agent to use the Standard.
- The subscriber or mortgagee must reasonably believe the agent is reputable, competent and insured, with insurance that covers the agent's verification work.
- After the meeting the agent supplies a certification substantially in the form of Schedule 9 of the model rules, stating who was verified, when, by whom and on which documents. Only superficial formatting changes to that wording are allowed.
- The agent also supplies copies of the documents relied on, signed, dated and endorsed as true copies.
The note gives two examples of who an agent might be. A mortgage broker may act as a lender's identity agent if it meets the licensing and insurance conditions the note sets out. A justice of the peace may be appointed only if the subscriber is satisfied that the justice holds the required insurance and is reputable and competent to do the work.
Related readQueensland without paper title deeds: what proves ownership nowA subscriber may also use an agent who is not an identity agent, directing how the check is to be done and reviewing the supporting documents for inconsistencies. That may well amount to reasonable steps. It does not attract the deeming provision.
Overseas, or without the usual documents
The guidance note does not create a special rule for people abroad. It says the subscriber or mortgagee must decide what steps to take, having regard to the services and options available in the circumstances.
One option it describes in detail is an Australian embassy, high commission or consulate. An appendix sets out the sequence. The lawyer reviews with the client which documents are available, prepares the papers to be signed and a certification form, and sends written instructions. The client books an appointment at the nearest Australian consular office and attends with the originals. The consular officer confirms that the photographs are a likeness of the person, and ends the process if that cannot be done. The officer then prepares endorsed copies of the identity documents, witnesses the client's signature, and completes, signs and dates the certification. The client sends the signed papers, copies and certification back to the lawyer. If the lawyer later doubts the stamps or signatures, the appendix says they can be confirmed by email with the consular officer or the consular policy unit of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.
Two qualifications are stated. Use of the consular service is not mandatory. And an international financial institution or law practice would also be able to use its own overseas personnel to verify identity. Whatever route is taken, the note's wording is that it must be coupled with any further steps needed for the subscriber to be reasonably confident of the person's identity.
Related readRequisitions at Titles Queensland: when a lodged dealing is sent backNot everyone has a passport or a licence. The guidance note works through several cases as questions for the practitioner, without prescribing an answer.
| Person | Documents the note mentions | Who might give a declaration |
|---|---|---|
| Resident of a nursing home, aged 92, with no passport or licence | Records held by the nursing home | A doctor, nurse, police officer, social worker or minister of religion |
| An 18-year-old with no passport or licence | A photo card showing age, a birth certificate, a Medicare card | A teacher, lecturer, employer, doctor, nurse or police officer |
| Resident of a remote Aboriginal community | Whatever identification is available; whether the person is an existing client | An employer, health worker, community leader, police officer, bank manager or government officer |
| Person whose birth was never registered | A Medicare card; papers showing where they have lived, what they own, their part in the community | A person who knows them and can be identified under the Standard |
Source: frequently asked questions in ARNECC Guidance Note 2, updated August 2024. The note presents these as considerations, not as rules.
In each case the first decision is whether to apply the Standard, through its lower categories and an identifier declaration, or to take other steps and be ready to justify them. Each answer in the note ends on the same sentence: whether reasonable steps were taken is a question of fact for the individual case.
When more than the routine is required
A completed check is not the end of the matter if something looks wrong. Further enquiries should be made, the note says, where doubt arises, or should reasonably have arisen, about a transaction and a person's identity.
It lists the triggers found in the rules: a document that does not appear genuine, a photograph that is not a reasonable likeness, a person who does not appear to be the one the documents relate to, or any other case in which further steps are reasonable. Its own examples include a client with very few documents and no explanation, documents the subscriber learns have been cancelled, and signatures that differ between the identity documents and the papers signed.
The further steps it suggests are ordinary ones: asking for more documents, making enquiries of the client or third parties, using an electronic verification service for Australian documents, comparing a foreign document with the issuing government's website, or having a document translated by an authorised translator. It also notes circumstances that call for greater care although they are not about identity as such, among them unusual urgency and a mortgage over a property that carries no existing loan.
How long it lasts and what is kept
A verification does not have to be repeated for every matter. Where one has been done within the previous two years, by the Standard or by other reasonable steps, the guidance note says identity does not need to be verified again, provided the subscriber takes reasonable steps to make sure it is dealing with the person identified before. The note expects the firm to look at the evidence from the earlier check when it does so.
There is one extension. A client who has given a firm a current authorisation to sign for them does not need to be verified again while that authorisation runs, if identity was properly verified before the first document was signed under it. The note's example is a standing authority given for three years. Once the authorisation ends, a verification more than two years old has to be redone.
The subscriber's own signers, administrators and users are treated differently: once verified, the note says, they need not be verified again.
A subscriber must keep the evidence that supports a verification, in order to show that reasonable steps were taken. The period given in the note is seven years from lodgment.
The evidence may be stored electronically. The note leaves the medium to the subscriber, with a pointed reminder: the choice should be made in light of the possible need to produce the documents as evidence to a court, and whatever is used must be safe and secure. For a client this means that copies of the identity documents shown at the interview stay on the firm's file for years after settlement.
Not the same as witnessing a paper form
Paper titles forms are still used in Queensland for some dealings, and they carry an identity duty of their own. It is worth keeping the two apart.
According to a summary published by the law firm Clayton Utz on 3 October 2019, amendments to section 162 of the Land Title Act 1994 and section 311 of the Land Act 1994 took effect on 30 September 2019. Since then a person who witnesses an individual's signature on a Queensland land registry document must take reasonable steps to verify the signer's identity, must ensure the individual is entitled to sign the document, and must retain records for seven years. The summary says the obligation applies to all witnesses, including solicitors, in-house counsel and justices of the peace, and that Part 61 of the Land Title Practice Manual treats a face-to-face interview with original identity documents as reasonable steps.
| Point | Electronic dealing | Paper titles form |
|---|---|---|
| Source of the duty | Participation rules made under the national law | Section 162 of the Land Title Act 1994, section 311 of the Land Act 1994 |
| Who owes it | The subscriber: law firm, conveyancer or lender | The witness to the signature |
| What the client signs | An authorisation for the subscriber to sign | The registry form itself, before the witness |
| Test | Reasonable steps, with the Standard as safe harbour | Reasonable steps to verify identity and entitlement to sign |
| Records | Seven years from lodgment | Seven years |
Sources: ARNECC Guidance Note 2 (August 2024); Clayton Utz summary of the Queensland witnessing changes, 3 October 2019.
The practical difference is where the duty lands. In a paper dealing it sits on whoever watches the pen move, and that may be a justice of the peace at a shopping centre. In an electronic dealing nobody witnesses a registry signature at all, because the client does not make one. The national law says that when the client's authorisation is properly completed, the requirements of other Queensland laws on execution, signing, witnessing, attestation or sealing are to be regarded as fully satisfied. The identity work moves upstream, to the firm.
Other checks, and what is scheduled
Verification of identity is one of several checks made at the same appointment. The firm must also satisfy itself that the client is entitled to take part in the transaction, a separate duty the rules call the right to deal, usually supported by papers such as a rates notice or the contract.
It is also separate from the identity checks under anti-money laundering law that are scheduled to begin on 1 July 2026: that is a different regime and is not covered here. The guidance note itself touches the overlap only for lenders, saying a subscriber may use its anti-money laundering process to verify a borrower if that is reasonable in the circumstances, at its own risk.
The rulebook is due to move as well. Explanatory notes for version 8 of the Model Participation Rules, dated May 2026, anticipate a start in October 2026. On identity they describe clarifications more than new duties: how the two-year rule links to each verification scenario, that an identity agent must be directed to use the Standard, a definition of identity agent that excludes a client's own in-house lawyers and conveyancers, and insurance cover extended to dishonest or fraudulent acts and to cyber security.
The Standard is a choice, not an obligation. What cannot be chosen is the duty behind it: reasonable steps, judged on the facts.
Kooky, from Shaka
Kooky edits Queensland Estate and builds Shaka, the payment router he made for Queensland property professionals. One payment comes in, and every agent, agency and party in the deal receives their signed share on closing date.
