Nominate someone to help with your Financial Assistance Scheme application

You can nominate someone to help you with your Financial Assistance Scheme (FAS) application. You will be able to do this through our online portal.

You can choose someone to act on your behalf and make decisions about your application. This person is called an authorised representative.

If you are not able to make an application because you have diminished capacity, someone can nominate themselves to be your authorised representative.

About authorised representatives

An authorised representative has the same access to an application as the applicant. They might be someone the applicant knows or is related to, or a professional providing services (such as a lawyer or case manager).

An authorised representative can:

• make decisions on behalf of the applicant about their application
• provide support to gather documents
• start, edit and complete a FAS application
• receive notifications about an application
• speak with FAS about an application (and update their own contact details)
• view a submitted application.

An authorised representative cannot:

• change the authorised representative arrangements (unless withdrawing themselves or updating their contact details)
• receive payments (unless they are a parent of a child or are otherwise authorised by law to manage payments on your behalf).

An authorised representative must agree to:

• act in the best interests of the applicant
• respect any cultural considerations that apply to the applicant
• communicate with FAS on important things to progress an application
• notify FAS of any changes to the applicant’s circumstances that may impact the application
• stop being an authorised representative and disclose to FAS if they are, or are likely to be, subject to criminal and/or civil family violence matter(s)
• support and keep the applicant updated as they go through the application process.

Verifying your identity

As part of the FAS online application process, the authorised representative and the applicant (if aged 18 or over) will be required to verify their identities.

How an authorised representative can verify their identity

When the authorised representative registers for an account on the FAS portal, the authorised representative will be redirected to the Service Victoria website to verify their identity.

The authorised representative will need 2 Australian government issued identity documents.

The authorised representative can choose to create an ongoing digital ID with Service Victoria so that they can use this saved identity when using Service Victoria’s services for other applications. Alternatively, authorised representatives can verify their ID through Service Victoria for each application.

Further information, including on how Service Victoria handles personal information, will be provided to the authorised representative when they are completing the application through the FAS portal.

Once the authorised representative has completed the identity verification they will be redirected back to the FAS portal to continue the application.

How an authorised representative can verify the applicant’s identity

When the authorised representative starts an application in the FAS portal, they will be required to ensure that the applicant also verifies their identity.

Once the authorised representative has started the application, they will be asked to provide the applicant’s email address. After entering the applicant’s email address, an email containing a link to the Service Victoria website will be automatically sent to the applicant asking them to verify their identity.

The link that is sent to the applicant expires after 20 minutes, and cannot be resent. If the applicant is unable to verify their identity within 20 minutes, the authorised representative can also verify the applicant’s identity by attaching certified copies of 2 Australian government issued identity documents to their application.

The authorised representative must submit certified copies of 2 of the following identity documents on behalf of the applicant:

• Australian passport (current or less than 3 years expired)
• Australian driver licence or learner permit
• Medicare card
• Full Australian birth certificate (not a birth extract or birth card)
• Australian citizenship certificate
• Immicard issued by the Australian government
• Foreign passport with a valid Australian visa.

The applicant should use identity documents where their Given Name and Family Name appear the same on both documents. For some identity documents, the Given Name may include their First and Middle Name.

The applicant should try to use identity documents where the name matches the name being used for the application. Authorised representatives should review the applicant’s FAS account details to ensure that the names match the applicant’s identity documents.

If the applicant has recently changed their name, they will need to contact the issuing authority and request that the documents be updated into the same name.

If we don't receive confirmation that the applicant’s identity has been verified or certified copies of the applicant’s identity documents are not attached to their application, we will contact the authorised representative to request certified copies of the applicant’s identity documents.

We will deal with the ID documents in accordance with its collection notice and the department’s information privacy policy. We will will destroy all ID documents once verification has been confirmed.

Failing identity verification

For more information or support with the application, including in relation to identity verification failing, please:

• call the FAS helpline on 1800 161 136 
• call the Marra Yattakunar helpline on 1800 849 778
• submit an online enquiry.