Following the regulations that apply in Australia, every Uber drivers and delivery partners are required to have a valid identity before activated. In addition to the official personal identity issued by the government where they come from, drivers are also required to have a special licence to do this work. Uber will then verify the document with data held by the local government where they will work.
For personal identity verification, Uber requires drivers to upload a passport, an Immi Card or a State Issued Photo Card. One of the licences required is a driver licence and several additional licences for rideshare drivers. All these requirements must be in the name of the same person.
During the Uber rideshare and Uber Eats delivery partner application process, drivers will see a list of requirements they will need to upload. You may notice an “Australian Proof of Age OR Australian Photo ID OR Statutory Declaration” requirement.
Some people who just start the registration process may be confused by this, whether the document is mandatory or optional. Then in some cases, why is this document required? We will try to describe more about this.
Contents
What is the Australian Proof of Age card and Australian Photo ID?
This card is used to show proof of age for people over 18 years and issued by the State Government where you come from. The card may be accepted as identification in most places around Australia. The main purpose of this card is to prove a person’s age when purchasing age-restricted products across the country.
Every state in the country has its own proof of identity card design and all of them are displaying a card holder’s portrait photo. The card contains some personal information such as name, home address, date of birth, expiry date and card number.
To be able to work with Uber, a driver must be over 18 years. Uber can utilize this additional identity as an optional requirement to be compared with other personal documents, like a driver licence or passport.
What is a Statutory Declaration?
It’s a written statement which a person (the declarant) swears, affirms or declares to be true in the presence of an authorised witness. You need to download and fill a statutory declaration form, get one from your state service website.
When you signing it, you agree that the information in it is true. Don’t even think about filling it with false information or you will be charged with a criminal offence. For example in Victoria, you can get fined up to 600 penalty units, imprisonment for up to 5 years or both.
The next step is to have the statutory declaration witnessed by an authorised witness, such as a justice of the peace, police officer, court registrar, bank manager, medical practitioner, dentist, etc. No time to go to a witness? You still have an option, get the statutory declaration online. Prosesnya sama namun kamu bisa bertemu dengan witness thru Skype or Zoom. The form can be sent via fax, email or some other way of electronically sending docs.
This optional document is also used by Uber to assist them in verifying the driver’s personal identity. And usually used by non-Australian drivers or delivery partners.
Is a Statutory Declaration Doc required by Uber?
As you can see on the Driver Requirements page during the registration process, the Australian Proof of Age, Australian Photo ID card and Statutory Declaration are optional requirements. This means that drivers are not required to upload any of these docs to be accepted as Uber partners around the country.
Some drivers we know also say they don’t fulfil this requirement. So, based on the drivers’ experience and the requirements that are marked as optional, we can say that you can still get your account activated without this doc uploaded.
Statutory Declaration Requirements
So why did they bring up these requirements? According to our research, this requirement was needed when Uber found some discrepancies in the previously uploaded driver’s docs. Like your driver licence name that doesn’t match with your other docs, the portrait photo in your passport is not clearly visible or significantly different from the other docs.
If Uber sees a problem with your account, the Photo ID and Statutory Declaration requirement will change from “Optional” to “Need your attention” on a red background. If you see that, you will need to immediately complete it and start driving with UberX service or delivering with Uber Eats.
As we all know, gig-economy jobs, such as being an Uber rideshare driver or an Uber Eats delivery courier, are currently the most popular side hustle in Australia. Especially during the Covid-19 pandemic where some people’s income is cut down or even has no income at all. There’s no need for a big investment to start this work, you only need to use an already owned vehicle and a smartphone.
The requirements to be a part of this gig economy are fairly easy. To be approved as a food delivery courier, you only need a driver licence, proof of ID, background checks, rego, vehicle insurance. If you plan to deliver with a push bike or electric bike the requirements will be much simpler.
Meanwhile, it’s a bit more difficult to become a rideshare driver because it requires several additional licenses that are different in each state around the country. For example PTLC in New South Wales, BHSL in Queensland, Driver Accreditation in Victoria, T or F driver licence condition in Western Australia and so on.
0 Comments