Some customers from diverse backgrounds or those facing challenging circumstances may have difficulty providing standard identification documents to access essential financial services.

To support financial inclusion, AUSTRAC released updated guidance to help financial institutions adopt a flexible approach to assist their customers and use alternative methods to verify their identity. This guidance will address specific information for assisting customers who are:

• Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples
• affected by family and domestic violence
• affected by a natural disaster or emergency
• incarcerated or about to be released from prison
• intersex, transgender or gender diverse persons.

This guidance will help you implement a risk-based, flexible approach, and provides examples of how it can be applied.

What has been updated?

The updated guidance includes additional information on:

• which customers may require a flexible approach due to their circumstances;
• the suggested risk-based approach, particularly in low-risk situations and when there is a change in a customer’s risk profile;
• the forms of alternative reliable and independent identification that can be used; and
• examples of the flexible approach in action.

Read the guidance on assisting customers who don’t have standard identification.