What is MyGovID and What Does it Mean for me as a Business Owner?

myGovID is replacing the AUSkey from 27 March April 2020, and will be the way you authenticate with the ATO Business Portal, as well as many other government services.  If you don’t get your MyGovID, you won’t be able to access these services any longer.

Here are the three key terms you need to know;

1. myGov
2. myGovID
3. Relationship Authorisation Manager (RAM for short)

myGov

Hopefully by now most of us have heard of and used myGov. If you haven’t, myGov is the Australian Government’s online system for accessing an array of government services through a common portal, with the one username and password. myGov is generally targeted towards services provided to you as an individual, and not as a business. If you lodge your own tax return you would do it through here. If you deal with Centrelink, you would do it through here and so forth. Some of the key services you can access here are:

• ATO
• Centrelink
• Child Support
• Medicare
• My Health Record

You can think of myGov as a central place that you can login and see all of the government services you have access to in one place.

Now, let’s contrast this to the new MyGovID.

myGovID

myGovID (as distinct from myGov) is a new system released by the Australian Government that is designed to make it easier to manage your online dealings with the government. In the near future, you will actually use myGovID to login to myGov, rather than having a separate login.

To start with, myGovID will first be used to access a variety of business-related government services. These include:

• ATO Business Portal
• Australian Business Register

Basically, myGovID is just a simple way to identify you as you online and is similar to a 100 point ID check.

It functions through a handy iOS or Android authentication app which you use for the initial registration and then every time you want to login to a myGovID service.

To get started, simply download the myGovID app (from the App Store or Google Play Store), and follow the steps to verify your identity (A drivers licence, and Medicare card will be sufficient).

Once set up, you go to a supported website (ATO Business Portal as an example), click login with myGovID, type in your email address attached to your myGovID, and then accept the login using the mobile app (no passwords!).

Relationship Authorisation Manager (RAM)

Relationship Authorisation Manager is the new way to authorise people to act on behalf of a business and to let them access government services of that business.

You will use RAM to attach your business(es) to your newly created myGovID.

So what do I have to do?

1. Using your new myGovID, login to RAM here.
2. To link yourself to your business, click Link your business and follow the steps. You will need to be an associate of the business to be able to link yourself. If you are not a director or the trustee of your business, get in touch and we can let you know if you can Link your business, or if someone else will have to invite you in.
3. To link others to your business (ie key staff if necessary) Go back to the RAM home page, then click View or manage authorisations, machine credentials and cloud software notifications. Fill in the details of the person you are inviting, and select the appropriate permissions for them. The user will need to have their own myGovID. When inviting someone to access your business, use their business email address to invite them. They can then login to RAM with their personal email address, and type in the code they received.

That’s it. Its fairly straight forward to get set up, and once done, its easy to login to the various government systems which use myGovID.

If you need a hand with this, you can call the ATO on 1300 287 539 (Option 3).