How to Update Your Name, Date of Birth or Contact Details on Your USI

What details can you update on your USI?

The USI account separates information into personal details and contact details. Personal details include your name, preferred name, date of birth, country of birth, town or city of birth and gender. Contact details include your email address, mobile number, home phone number and postal address.

The evidence required depends on what you are changing. A first name, last name or date-of-birth change requires one verifiable form of ID. Your updated details must match the identification exactly. Preferred name, gender, country of birth, town/city of birth and contact details do not require verifiable ID.

How do you change your name or date of birth?

Log in to the USI Student Portal, select Update Personal Details, choose the field you need to change and enter the new information exactly as it appears on your verifiable ID. You then select the identification type and enter its details for verification.

If the name currently recorded on your USI is wrong, the USI Office says you can correct it by providing a different verifiable ID showing the correct name, or by first updating your name with the organisation that issued your ID and then using that updated ID for your USI.

If you need to change more than one personal detail, such as both your first and last name, the USI Office instructs you to contact them rather than completing the normal single-field process.

What identification can you use?

The USI Registry System uses the Document Verification Service to check identity information. The USI Office publishes accepted identification options including Australian passports, eligible non-Australian passports with an Australian visa, Australian birth certificates, Australian driver licences, citizenship documents and ImmiCards, subject to the requirements applying to each document.

A Medicare card cannot be used to update personal details. Although Medicare cards can be used for some USI identity-verification purposes, the official USI identification guidance specifically excludes them from personal-detail updates.

For a non-Australian passport with an Australian visa, the USI Office states that the visa must be current and valid and the person must have landed in Australia and passed through customs before the passport and visa can be used to create or update a USI.

How do you update your contact details?

You can update your email address, mobile number, home phone number and postal address through your USI account. No proof of ID is required for contact-detail changes. The USI Office recommends keeping these details current because they can be used for account authentication, password assistance, USI recovery and notifications about changes to the account.

The USI Office also recommends using a personal email address rather than a school, training, work or shared address. For privacy reasons, an email address cannot be used on more than one USI account.

Why should your USI, TFN and myGov details be consistent?

The USI Office recommends using consistent identity information for your USI, Tax File Number (TFN) and myGov account. After changing personal information on your USI, you should also check and, where necessary, update your TFN and myGov details using the same identification.

This is particularly important for Commonwealth financial assistance. The USI Office states that information supplied for Commonwealth assistance through an electronic Commonwealth Assistance Form must match information held by the Australian Taxation Office against your TFN. A mismatch can prevent access to a HELP loan until the error is corrected. If you are studying in a Commonwealth supported place, see the separate guide to applying for HECS-HELP.

What if your identification cannot be verified?

Check that every personal detail has been entered exactly as it appears on the identification document, including the required name information and document details. Different identification types have their own verification requirements.

After three failed identification-verification attempts, the USI Office says you can lodge a Help Request through the Student Portal and attach a photo of your ID for the team to action. You can alternatively contact the USI Office by phone.

Can your education or training provider update the details?

Yes, in permitted circumstances. The USI Office states that an education or training provider can update details in the USI Portal when you have given the provider permission. To update your first name, last name or date of birth, the provider needs a copy of your verifiable ID. Identification is not required for a provider to update your preferred name, gender or contact details.

What happens after the update?

For the online name or date-of-birth process, the official instructions state that your details are updated after successful completion of the verification steps and that you receive a notification advising that an update has been made. The USI Office does not publish a separate routine processing period for a successful portal update.

After a personal-detail change, make sure the name and date of birth supplied to your education or training provider also match your USI record. Accurate matching is important because providers use identifying details to verify a USI, and mismatches can interfere with enrolment administration, access to records, graduation or Commonwealth study assistance.