ARNECC-Aligned Client Identity Verification Template for Bunbury Conveyancers: A Defensible VOI Workflow Your Team Can Actually Follow

You’re a regional Bunbury practice. A new seller walks in (or, more often, doesn’t — they’re in Perth, or interstate, or “overseas for work”). Your team is the last line of defence between an impersonator and a Landgate dealing. The Verification of Identity step is the one your firm gets audited on, and the one a stolen-identity fraud will turn on if it ever lands in front of a court. This template gives your team a single, written protocol to follow — every file, every client, every time.

Why it matters now

Under the Electronic Conveyancing National Law, Subscribers (including conveyancers and settlement agents who lodge through PEXA) are required to comply with the Participation Rules made by the Registrar in each State and Territory. Those Participation Rules — built from the Model Participation Rules maintained by the Australian Registrars’ National Electronic Conveyancing Council (ARNECC) — require Subscribers to take reasonable steps to verify the identity of their clients and to retain evidence of that verification. The current version is Model Participation Rules Version 7, published January 2024. Regional firms in markets like Bunbury are exposed because a higher proportion of clients are non-face-to-face (FIFO workers, interstate investors, deceased estate beneficiaries living elsewhere), and impersonation fraud targeting Australian land titles has been flagged repeatedly by Landgate and the Australian Cyber Security Centre.

The 5-minute view

ARNECC Model Participation Rules Version 7 (January 2024) is the current published version. Each State and Territory Registrar determines a local version of the Participation Rules under section 23 of the Electronic Conveyancing National Law.
The Model Participation Rules require Subscribers to take reasonable steps to verify the identity of their clients (Client Authorisation and VOI obligations sit within the Rules and their accompanying Guidance Notes).
The “Verification of Identity Standard” set out in the Model Participation Rules is a safe-harbour: if a Subscriber follows it, they are taken to have taken reasonable steps. Departures from the safe-harbour must be justified and documented.
Client identity theft in conveyancing typically presents as: a substituted seller, a forged passport or driver licence, a “mortgagor” who is not the registered proprietor, or a deceased-estate executor impersonation.
Records of the VOI process must be retained for at least seven years after the transaction (per the Model Participation Rules retention period applied across jurisdictions).
The Australian Cyber Security Centre publishes general guidance on identity theft and document verification at https://www.cyber.gov.au/.
Western Australian land titles practice is administered by Landgate (https://www.landgate.wa.gov.au/), which has previously issued public warnings about title fraud and impersonation in WA.

What DRMO does about it

The Identity Verification Protocol Template is a productised L1 deliverable: a written, ARNECC-aligned VOI protocol that your firm can adopt, brand, and operationalise the same week you buy it. The template is built from the structure of the ARNECC Model Participation Rules Verification of Identity Standard and the accompanying Guidance Notes, and is intended for Western Australian Subscribers operating under the WA Participation Rules. It covers face-to-face VOI, video-link VOI for remote clients (common in regional WA), agent-assisted VOI for interstate sellers, document-category requirements (Category 1 through Category 4/5), the evidence-of-retention checklist, and the file-note template that records why any departure from the safe-harbour was made. The walkthrough explains how to slot the protocol into your existing matter-opening workflow without rebuilding your file system.

This is a template product, not legal advice. It is operational support for your firm’s existing ARNECC obligations, and it is designed to be reviewed by your principal or legal adviser before adoption.

The deliverable

PDF VOI protocol template (Word-source available on request) — approximately 18 pages
Decision tree: which VOI pathway applies to this client (in-person, video-link, identity agent)
Document category reference table mapped to the Model Participation Rules Verification of Identity Standard
File-note template for the evidence-of-retention requirement (seven-year retention)
“Reasonable steps” departure log for matters that cannot follow the safe-harbour
20-minute recorded walkthrough video explaining how to adopt the template across your matter-opening workflow
Delivered via email within 1 business day of payment

CTA

Buy the ARNECC Identity Verification Protocol Template — AUD $149

A single, productised template purchase. No discovery call required. Suitable for any WA conveyancing or settlement practice that wants a written, defensible VOI protocol aligned to the ARNECC Model Participation Rules.

Sources

Australian Registrars’ National Electronic Conveyancing Council (ARNECC) — Model Participation Rules (Version 7, January 2024): https://www.arnecc.gov.au/publications/model-participation-rules/
Australian Cyber Security Centre — identity-theft and document-verification guidance (domain root): https://www.cyber.gov.au/
Landgate (Western Australian Land Information Authority) — WA land titles administration (domain root): https://www.landgate.wa.gov.au/

DRMO capability references:

Identity Verification Protocol Template (L1 service shape, productised PDF + walkthrough)