If you have been a victim of identity theft, you may be eligible for a Commonwealth Victim’s Certificate.
This certificate may be helpful if a Commonwealth identity crime is causing you problems in your business or personal affairs.
This article explores what a Commonwealth identity crime is and how to apply for a Commonwealth Victims’ Certificate, as outlined by the Department of Home Affairs.
What is a Commonwealth identity crime?
If someone has accessed your personal information without your consent to gain benefits or steal money, you are the victim of an identity crime. This applies whether or not the person was successful in achieving their intended aim.
A Commonwealth identity crime occurs when this type of crime is punishable by more than twelve months’ imprisonment.
Examples of Commonwealth identity crimes include:
- Your birth certificate was used by someone else to falsely claim a payment from Centrelink in your name.
- A person pretended to be you by using your identification details to have your Medicare rebates redirected to their bank account.
- A person used your credit card without your permission to purchase and import illegal substances.
- A person established a false business in your name to fraudulently claim GST.
- A person used your passport or citizenship details to pass themselves off as you and travel overseas.
Applying for a Commonwealth Victims’ Certificate
If you are a victim of a Commonwealth identity crime, you can apply for a Commonwealth Victims’ Certificate. This certificate will contain your name and describe the circumstances of the crime.
You can present the certificate to an organisation such as a government agency or a business (such as a financial institution or credit agency). This may help you negotiate with them to re-establish your credentials or to remove a fraudulent transaction from their records.
The process to apply for a certificate is outlined below:
- Complete an application for a victims’ certificate.
- Complete a Commonwealth statutory declaration.
- Submit the completed application form and statutory declaration to a magistrate of a state or territory magistrate’s court. Details of state and territory magistrates are listed at the bottom of this page.
- Present proof of your identity to the magistrate (e.g. driver licence, passport).
- The magistrate may seek further information from you to help them decide whether to issue a certificate.
The magistrate will only issue a certificate if they are satisfied that it may help you to address problems with personal or business affairs resulting from a Commonwealth identity crime committed or intended to be committed against you.
It is important to note that a certificate does not compel any organisation to take a particular action. It will not automatically re-establish your credit rating or remove a fraudulent transaction from your record. It is also not admissible in any legal proceedings.
Certificates for organisations
An organisation can also be affected by Commonwealth identity crime. An organisation can apply for a Commonwealth Victims’ Certificate if a certificate might help that organisation to rectify the impacts of identity crime on their business.
Key takeaways
If you have been a victim of a Commonwealth identity crime, you may be eligible for a Commonwealth Victim’s Certificate. This certificate may be helpful if the incident is causing you problems in your business or personal affairs. It can be presented to government agencies and financial institutions, for example to help restore your credit rating or to remove a fraudulent transaction recorded against you.
