AUAustralia
Choose your country
Contact
Reference

Glossary: Australian document fraud terms

Short answer: This glossary defines the agencies, laws and terms in our Australian guides, from Ahpra and the white card to a carriage service and identification documentation. Definitions come from the official pages we opened, and we say where a term is our own shorthand.

Last reviewed: · By Mark Dent

AAA (Australian Automobile Association)
The only authorised body to sell International Driving Permits in Australia, per the NRMA. The state and territory motoring clubs sell them as agents.
Ahpra
The Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency. It keeps the public register of registered health practitioners across 16 professions and prosecutes people who claim registration they do not hold.
ASQA
The Australian Skills Quality Authority, the vocational training regulator. It says it does not issue or replace white cards.
Austroads
The body whose Recognised Overseas Licences Scheme gained 14 countries on 25 September 2026, per WA’s Department of Transport.
BDM
A registry of births, deaths and marriages. Each state and territory has one, and only it can issue a legal certificate.
Carriage service
A term in the Criminal Code covering services such as phones and the internet. Section 372.1A applies when identification information is dealt in using one.
Identification documentation
Under Criminal Code section 370.1, any document or thing that contains identification information and could be used to pretend to be another person, whether living, dead, real or fictitious.
Identification information
Information, or a document, relating to a person that can be used, alone or with other information, to identify or purportedly identify them (section 370.1).
IDCARE
Australia and New Zealand’s national identity and cyber support service. Free; 1800 595 160 for individuals.
IDP
International Driving Permit, issued in Australia for use overseas alongside your Australian licence.
Look-alike site
Our shorthand for a website that imitates an official agency and charges for services the agency provides directly or more cheaply.
myGov
The Australian Government portal. Scamwatch warns that scammers impersonate it to steal sign-in details.
National Anti-Scam Centre
The body whose figures Scamwatch reports, such as $38.3 million lost in the first three months of 2026 to scams that began online.
PCBU
A person conducting a business or undertaking. Safe Work Australia says workers must show their white card to the PCBU on a construction site.
RTO
Registered training organisation, the kind of provider that delivers white card training.
Scamwatch
The government service where Australians report scams and read alerts.
White card
The general construction induction card, issued through a state or territory licensing body after approved training.
Document Verification Service
The service the Australian Passport Office uses inside its online renewal to verify the details of a previous passport. If a passport cannot be verified, the applicant is sent to the standard renewal process.
Grooming
Scamwatch’s term for a scammer building a trusting relationship through regular contact, often starting with a small request for money.
Impersonation, urgency, emotion
The three core tactics Scamwatch says scammers rely on: pretending to be someone you trust, pressuring you to act quickly, and manipulating your feelings.
Money recovery scam
A scam that contacts earlier victims and offers to recover stolen money for a fee. Scamwatch says you will not recover any money and the scammers will steal more.
National Law
The law under which Ahpra prosecutes people who hold themselves out as registered health practitioners without registration, as named in its media releases.
Open licence
The full licence stage after learner and provisional licences, a term used on the Queensland and Northern Territory pages.
Phishing
Scamwatch: attempts to deceive you into giving out personal information such as bank account numbers, passwords and credit card numbers.
Priority and Fast Track
The Passport Office’s faster services for eligible customers, 2-day at $308 and 5-day at $107 on top of the base fee as at 1 January 2026.
Sender ID
The name that appears instead of a phone number on a text. From 1 July 2026 messages from businesses and organisations should be branded; unregistered ones show as Unverified.
Licensing body
The state or territory agency that issues a white card after approved training, such as Service NSW or WorkSafe Victoria.
Victim certificate
A certificate a magistrate may issue under section 375.1 of the Criminal Code to a victim of identity crime, describing the dealing in their identification information without identifying the dealer.
Recognised Overseas Licences Scheme
The scheme to which Austroads added 14 countries, announced by WA’s Department of Transport on 25 September 2026.

Keep reading

About the author
Written by Mark Dent from state and Commonwealth government pages, Commonwealth legislation and public reporting. We do not sell, issue or arrange any licence or document, and we are not part of Scamwatch, Services Australia, the Australian Passport Office or any state or territory agency. See our editorial policy or report a mistake.